MSO10382 - 19th Century quarry or prospecting pit at Long Combe (Monument)

A small steep sided and deep quarried depression is cut into the hill slope on the south side of Long Combe, to the south of the large quarry (MSO10356). There is a ragged face on the up slope side under the field bank. The depth is about 3 metres. On the down slope side, the upper leat on the south side of Long Combe (MSO7046) has been constructed across the edge of this feature. (1) A small quarry or prospecting pit is visible as an earthwork on aerial photographs of the 1940s onwards, on the higher north facing slopes of Long Combe, centred at circa SS 8114 4276, approximately 475 metres to the southwest of Larkbarrow Cottage. The pit is roughly circular or oval in shape with a diameter of approximately 7 metres, although its southern edge is obscured by a field boundary. It is not possible to be sure of the pit's date or function from aerial photographs alone. A larger pit about 10 metres to the north is marked on the 1st Edition Ordnance Survey map as a quarry. However, it is one of at least six similarly sized pits visible in this area, one of which, also marked on the 1st Edition Ordnance Survey map, has been identified on the ground as a mineral prospecting pit. This may support the interpretation that the pit is possibly of late 19th Century date. Further fieldwork is necessary to determine the feature's function. [2-4] 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]