MDE21107 - Two post-medieval quarries on Cosgate Hill (Monument)

Two post-medieval quarries were visible on the 1st and 2nd Edition Ordnance Survey maps, annotated as 'old quarries' indicating that they had been abandoned by this time. These were still visible, but not annotated on the 1962 mapping. The site was not present on the 2014 MasterMap. [1-4] Two quarries lie adjacent to the A39 road 155 metres north of County Gate, at about 335 metres above Ordnance Datum. The smaller of the two, A (SS 7935 4883) is 10.3 metres long, 7.9 metres wide and 3 metres high with an entrance on its eastern side; there is a small mound of spoil at its centre 0.4 metres high. Southeast of this lies a much larger quarry, B (SS 7936 4881), which is 21.5 metres long, 3.1 metres wide and 4 metres high and is covered in brambles and gorse. [5] Both these features appear on the Ordnance Survey 1st edition map of 1890 and are anotated 'Old Quarries' , indicating they were out of use by this time. [1] These features were recorded at 1:2500 scale using GPS equipment as part of an archaeological survey of the Cosgate Hill area. The survey was undertaken by the Exeter office of English Heritage at the request of the Exmoor National Park Authority. A report was compiled as part of the survey work and is available from the NMRC, Swindon. [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]