Monument record 2275 - Quarries on Windmill Hill

Windmill Hill was probably quarried for sandstone from the medieval period onwards. The rock outcrop is pockmarked with quarry pits. It was the possible source of stone for the construction of Norton Priory. Within some of the quarries traces of tooling is visible as horizontal bands of diagonal marks. The hill continued to be used as a source of stone in the 18th & 19th C. One large quarry that operated in the 19th C is still visible (1).

<1> Beamont, W, 1873, A history of the Castle of Halton and the Priory or Abbey of Norton, /38 + 60 (Book). SCH7586.

<1> Greene J P, 1989, Norton Priory, /38 + 60 (Book). SCH2262.

<1> Brown, F & Howard-Davis C., 2008, Norton Priory: Monastery to Museum Excavations 1970-1987, p.38 + 60 (Monograph). SCH7585.