Monument record 1440/0/19 - Prehistoric Pit Workings

Site of prehistoric Pit workings. This area was documented by Roeder and Graves but was destroyed during further works around 1874/5. The exact number of workings and their location is not known but sketches from Roeder and Graves’ field notes seem to place it to the northern central area of the 19th century opencast mine. A possible drawing by Boyd - Dawkins shows the contemporary levels with pits up to between 8 to 11 feet deep above them. A wooden shovel (CSMR: 1440/0/14) was found at the bottom of one of these pits along with some stone tools but the context of these were never recorded. The shovel was dated to 1750 cal BC which would suggest that the pits date to the same period or earlier. Geophysical work carried out in 1997 revealed evidence for further below ground pits around the periphery of the opencast (1).

<1> 1998, Alderley Edge Landscape Project Archive, 188 (Unpublished Report). SCH4334.

<2> Timberlake, S. and Prag, A.J.N.W., 2005, The Archaeology of Alderley Edge (Book). SCH4769.