MSO10378 - 19th Century quarry or prospecting pit south of Long Combe (Monument)

There is a small, linear cut on the down hill slope of Long Combe, with upcast on the west side. It is 1.5 metres deep. [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 8090 4281, approximately 850 metres to the west of Larkbarrow Cottage. The pit is roughly rectilinear in shape, measuring approximately 7 metres long and 3.5 wide. It is not possible to be sure of the pit's date or function from the aerial photographs alone. A larger pit about 250 metres to the east is marked on the 1st Edition Ordnance Survey map as a quarry. However, this pit 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, but 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]