Pit/Hollow Type

Extractive Pit

An extractive pit is the negative feature resulting from industrial surface workings such as open-pit mining methods, shallow shafts, and quarrying, including some mines for stone, clays and various minerals.

(see Industrial Site type for different types of extractive pits including, Gravel Pit, Quarry and Mining also Agricultural: Peat Cutting)

Small-scale Extractive Pits may now be considerably different from their original form, including being smoothed-out, grassed-over, or filled with water making them difficult to distinguish from other earthworks.

Further Reading:

Historic England’s Introductions to Heritage Assets: Pre-industrial Mines and Quarries

What to look for:

  • Overgrown shallow pits alongside small spoil heaps (hummocks)
  • No regular alignments to the pits and hummocks
Archaeology / In Your Hands
  • Heritage Lottery Fund
  • CIfA

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