MMO2805 - Post-medieval quarry pits on Bye Common (Monument)

Two quarry pits of probable post-medieval date are visible on aerial photographs as earthworks on the western edge of Bye Common, Winsford parish, centred approximately on SS 8771 3576. The pits are both roughly circular in shape, the eastern pit measuring approximately 11 metres in diameter, the western pit almost 30 metres. Both show possible entrance tracks entering the pits, the western pit to the east and the eastern pit to the south. Only the larger of the two is marked as an earthwork on the 1st Edition Ordnance Survey map [2], but it is not annotated. A much larger pit to the east, obscured from view by vegetation on the aerial photographs, is annotated as an Old Quarry, and had therefore passed out of use by 1890 and it is likely the smaller pits are contemporary with this feature. [1-3] The 25 inch 2nd Edition Ordnance Survey map depicts both features. The eastern quarry is of a similar size to that shown on the 1st Edition map and is labelled "Old Quarry". The western feature is shown as a bigger earthwork and is labelled "Quarry", suggesting it was still in use at this time. [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]