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Summary

The remains of 18th, 19th and early 20th century whetstone mine galleries and spoil are visible as linear and roughly circular earthwork pits with irregular banks along the northwest slopes of a hillside within Pittmore Copse 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 RS 4294-4295 11-APR-1947 (Aerial Photograph). SDV356127.

A series of earthwork cuttings, pits and earthwork mounds are visible.

Bluesky International, 2016, LiDAR DTM data (0.5m resolution) Blackdown Hills and East Devon AONBs: 3 transects, LIDAR ST1207 Bluesky International DTM 05-MAY-2016 (Cartographic). SDV359714.

A series of earthwork cuttings, pits and earthwork mounds 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 northwest slopes of a hillside, within Pittmore Copse. They are interpreted as the openings and collapsed remains of post-medieval 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, which measure up to 30m in length, are northwest to southeast aligned and perpendicular to the contours of the hill slope. 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, typically between 2 to 4m on length, and interpreted as collapses of overlying soil into the abandoned galleries that run into the hillside. On the downward side of these earthworks are a number of sub-oval and elongated shaped mounds, up to 20m in length and presumably the extracted waste from the mines. Where the earthworks were clearly defined they have been transcribed, but in some cases the edges of the earthworks could not be clearly distinguished and the extent of the area has been transcribed. The actual extent of the original mines is likely to be more extensive than that recorded from 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 RS 4294-4295 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 ST1207 Bluesky International DTM 05-MAY-2016. [Mapped feature: #77212 ]

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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