MMO607 - World War Two construction quarry on North Hill (Monument)

A Second World War construction quarry was mapped from aerial photographs taken in 1946. It is associated with the extensive military training area and tank firing range that covered North Hill during the war.

A substantial levelled area with a quarry pit or shaft at the east end measures 30 by 15 metres and 2 metres deep. The quarry is 4 by 3 metres and 3.5 to 4 metres deep and contains a mass of barbed wire and other debris. It is close to Moor Wood on North Hill lies at SS 95269 47427. [1] SS 9526 4742 A Second World War construction quarry, visible as a large cut feature, was mapped from aerial photographs taken in 1946. Located on Minehead's North Hill, the quarry is associated with the extensive military training area and tank firing range that covered North Hill during the war (MMO627). The feature is a shallow, irregular cut about 40 metres northeast to southwest and 24 metres northwest to southeast, at the east end of which is a deeper 18 metres by 10 metres pit. This quarry may have been created to provide foundation material for the construction of Hill Road by the military for access from Minehead railway station to the tank firing range. An earthwork mound immediately to the southwest (MMO608) may be the earth spoil from the quarry. Eyewitness accounts describe the use of conscientious objectors from the area to build the military roads. Aerial photographs taken in 2001 shows the quarry to have been much infilled and covered with vegetation. [2-6] This record was enhanced as part of the National Record of the Historic Environment to Exmoor National Park Historic Environment Record data transfer project. [7]