Monument record GED 040 - Post Medieval quarry pit.

A quarry pit of probable Post-Medieval or modern date is visible as an earthwork on photographs of 1943 onwards on Gedgrave Broom, centred at circa TM408494 (S1). The quarry is roughly 'V' shaped, with the point of the V at circa TM41014932, and the pit itself extending to the north-west for roughly 230m, until it is circa 110m wide. Large heaps of spoil are visible to either side of the pit, with more amorphous piles of spoil visible in a neighbouring field further to the north-west, that may be associated with the quarrying. By 1943, although the quarry is out of use and the area is under cultivation, the height of the spoil heaps is still enough to determine the direction in which the field is ploughed. In 1943 the spoil heaps to the north west are visible on uncultivated land, probably pasture. The quarry earthworks are still visible on photographs of 1965, although they are much eroded, probably by ploughing (S2). By this time the earthworks to the north west are obscured by tree plantations. A small quarry is marked on the first and second edition Ordnance Survey maps of circa 1884 and 1904, roughly in the area of the point of the 'V', suggesting that at least part of the quarry was worked in the Post Medieval period, although it may have been extended in the modern period (S3, S4). The purpose of the quarry is unknown, but a pit some 175m to the north east is marked on the Ordnance Survey first edition map as a sand pit.