Man-made underground passage (Site of)

In undulating pastureland. Marked 'Man-made underground passage (Site of)' on the 1948 edition of the OS 6-inch map. On initial inspection in February 1984 no visible surface trace survived. However, during the course of farm development works in September 1994 a mechanical digger broke through one of the roof lintels when excavating an E-W running trench. Access to the Man-made underground passage was then possible through a small aperture. The Man-made underground passage (L 4.5m; Wth 1.2-1.55m), which was aligned N-S, extended off the SW end of the trench. It was filled with loose clay and varied in height from 0.25m at N to 0.5m at S. The side walls were constructed of random coursed drystone limestone and were battered slightly inwards towards the roof. A single course of corbels at the top of each wall provided support for the lintelled roof. In all five lintels were visible. There was no visible trace of a creep or a 2nd chamber. The broken roof lintel was exposed at a depth of 1.9m below the ground level and 5m away from the trench. Following the site inspection it was intended to backfill the trench. The Man-made underground passage itself would not be impacted by the proposed development. Compiled by: Olive Alcock Date of upload: 24 October 2019