Monument record 2955/0/2 - Encircling earthwork at Church Quarry

The lower encircling earthwork of the hill and earth circle at Church Quarry Hill appears to be the tallest and widest of the banks in this area with the sharpest profile also. Some 30% of it has been removed by quarrying. Its outline reflects the NW-SE orientation of the hill but was probably 100 -120 metres longs and about 70 metres wide. There appears to be no break in the bank and a ditch can clearly be seen running out side it. It is marked on the Inclosure Award map of the edge, as a plantation. The plantation boundary may respect an earlier enclosure in this place but it seems most likely that the bank was repaired and heightened at the time of planting or enclosing the woodland (1).

The hill on which the bank is built is probably the highest feature on the Edge at between 190 and 195 m OD and is higher than the Beacon. This would make it a prominent landmark and useful look out position before the Edge became wooded.(2)

Dibben, Nigel, 2006, Personal Communiication (Written Communication). SCH4768.

<1> 1998, Alderley Edge Landscape Project Archive, 103 (Unpublished Report). SCH4334.

<2> Dibben, Nigel, 2006, Personal Communiication (Written Communication). SCH4768.