MMO2239 - Post-medieval quarry pits on Exford Common (Monument)

Quarry pits of probable post-medieval date are visible on aerial photographs as earthworks on Exford Common, Exford parish, centred approximately on circa SS 8509 4097. The pits are sub-rectangular and irregular in shape, measuring between 74 and 100 metres long and 14 to 40 metres wide, roughly aligned southwest to northeast on their long axes. They are marked on the 1st Edition Ordnance Survey map of 1889 as 'Old Quarries' on either side of the Porlock to Exford road, and must therefore predate the map's publication. However, they are depicted as significantly smaller than they now appear and so probably continued in use for some time after this date. It is unclear from the aerial photographs alone what was extracted from the pits, but their linear form may indicate the extraction was following the seam of a highly prized resource, perhaps iron. [1-3] The GIS mapping has been edited to include the area of quarry shown on the 1st Edition. [4] This record was enhanced as part of the National Record of the Historic Environment to Exmoor National Park Historic Environment Record data transfer project. [5] A walkover survey took place on Exford Common in adbvance of possible peatland restoration works. The survey defined the quarry pits more accurately, describing them as rectangular in shape with associated spoil heaps. They were recorded as covering an area of 0.36ha, measuring 100m NE/SE, 54m NW/SE at the SW end, and 20m NW/SE at the NE end. The pits were described as being up to 3m deep and were covered in thick heather with some gorse and scrub. [6]