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Summary

A series of linear and roughly circular earthwork pits are visible along the southeast slopes of a scarp, to the northwest of Sims Copse. They are interpreted as the openings and collapsed remains of post-medieval to 20th century whetstone mine tunnels, and are visible, although partially obscured by tree cover, on aerial photographs of 1947 and on digital images derived from lidar data captured in 2016.

Location

Protected Status: none recorded

Other References/Statuses: none recorded

Monument Type(s) and Dates

• MINE (Post Medieval to XX - 1540 AD to 2000 AD (Between))

Full description

Royal Air Force, 1947, RAF/CPE/UK/1974, RAF/CPE/UK/1974 FS 2296-97 11-APR-1947 (Aerial Photograph). SDV356127.

A series of linear earthworks are visible.

Bluesky International, 2016, LiDAR DTM data (0.5m resolution) Blackdown Hills and East Devon AONBs: 3 transects, LIDAR ST1209 Bluesky International DTM 05-MAY-2016 (Cartographic). SDV359714.

A series of linear and pit-like earthworks are visible.

Hegarty, C. + Knight, S. + Sims, R., 2016-2018, The Blackdown Hills AONB and East Devon River Catchments National Mapping Programme Project (Interpretation). SDV359463.

A series of linear and roughly circular earthwork pits are visible along the southeast slopes of a scarp, to the northwest of Sims Copse. They are interpreted as the openings and collapsed remains of post-medieval to 20th century whetstone mine tunnels, and are visible, although partially obscured by tree cover, on aerial photographs of 1947 and on digital images derived from lidar data captured in 2016. The linear earthworks, up to 24m in length and 2m in width are northwest to southeast aligned and perpendicular to the contours of the scarp. These are interpreted as the remains of collapsed galleries dug into the hillside to follow the veins of silicate rock. Interspersed with these are a series of earthwork pits between 2 to 4m in length, and interpreted as collapses of overlying soil into the abandoned galleries that run into the hillside. Where they were clearly defined the earthworks have been transcribed, although the actual extent of the original mines is likely to be more extensive than that recorded from the lidar images.

Sources / Further Reading

SDV356127	Aerial Photograph: Royal Air Force. 1947. RAF/CPE/UK/1974. Royal Air Force Aerial Photograph. Photograph (Paper). RAF/CPE/UK/1974 FS 2296-97 11-APR-1947.
SDV359463	Interpretation: Hegarty, C. + Knight, S. + Sims, R.. 2016-2018. The Blackdown Hills AONB and East Devon River Catchments National Mapping Programme Project. Historic England Research Report. Digital.
	Linked documents:2
SDV359714	Cartographic: Bluesky International. 2016. LiDAR DTM data (0.5m resolution) Blackdown Hills and East Devon AONBs: 3 transects. Not applicable. Digital. LIDAR ST1209 Bluesky International DTM 05-MAY-2016. [Mapped feature: #77368 ]

Associated Monuments: none recorded

Associated Finds: none recorded

Associated Events

• EDV7508 - The Blackdown Hills AONB and East Devon River Catchments National Mapping Programme (NMP) project (Ref: ACD1228)

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