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Summary - not yet available

Monument Type(s):

• COPROLITE WORKINGS (19th century to Early 20th century - 1840 AD to 1920 AD)
• TRAMWAY? (19th century to Early 20th century - 1840 AD to 1920 AD)
• SPOIL HEAP (19th century to Early 20th century - 1840 AD to 1920 AD)
• POND (19th century to Early 20th century - 1840 AD to 1920 AD)
• DRAINAGE DITCH (19th century to Early 20th century - 1840 AD to 1920 AD)

Associated Events:

• Aerial Investigation Mapping Project, East Cambridgeshire (Ref: P7767)

Full description

1. A layer of phosphatic nodules were found locally, mainly in the Cambridge Greensand. They were thought to be fossilized dung, probably from dinosaurs, and were therefore named coprolites. At the end of the 1850s, the coprolites were dug up and treated with sulphuric acid fro use as a phosphate-rich fertiliser. The usual method was a form of open-cast mining. A long, straight V-shaped ditch was dug down to the coprolite stratum; after digging it out, the overlying earth was dug up on one side, and wheelbarrows over planks placed horizontally in the V. Thus a fresh line of mineral was cleared without having to lift out overburden to ground level. Coprolite extraction ceased around the end of the century, but there was a brief revival during the first World War to obtain phosphate for explosives. This ditch, now water-filled, is today a nature reserve.

2-5. An area of 19th century coprolite extraction is visible on historic aerial photographs and remote sensing data as earthworks and levelled earthworks and was mapped as part of the East Cambridgeshire Aerial Investigation and Mapping project (ECB6189). Located at Stow cum Quy Fen and centred at TL 51467 62772. This area is the only area of former coprolite extraction that exists as earthworks. It is on pasture and is surrounded by arable fields; it is a SSSI and probably survives because of this designation, first applied in 1955. The archaeology includes spoil heaps, extraction trenches, ponds and a straight bank and parallel ditches of a probable tramway (not shown on historic mapping). See MCB30511 for the full extent of this area of coprolite excavation, which would have been in a similar condition before converted to arable use. When the land was reclaimed after excavation it was very fertile. Dates are for general period of coprolite extraction not specific to this location. The SSSI description does not mention that the earthworks are the remains of an industrial landscape.

<1> Balchin, N. and Filby, P., 2001, A Guide to the Industrial Archaeology of Cambridgeshire & Peterborough, S 37, p. 25-6 (Bibliographic reference). SCB19119.

<2> East Cambridgeshire AIM, 2019, LiDAR TL56SW Environment Agency 1m DTM 2004-2017 (Geospatial data). SCB62298.

<3> East Cambridgeshire AIM, 2019, US-7PH-GP-LOC285 6914 5052 10-Apr-1944 (Aerial Photograph). SCB62849.

<4> CCC HET, 2016, Observations made from 1st Edition Ordnance Survey map (1885) (Verbal communication). SCB47894.

<5> Groves, Richard, 1976, Coprolite Mining in Cambridgeshire, p36 (Article in serial). SCB67978.

Sources and further reading

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