Monument record 0295500000 - PITSTONE HILL (W ANGLE OF)

ON W SIDE OF DYER'S 'DYKE' (D1) ON SLOPE SLIGHTLY BELOW 'MINES' AN AREA OF LOOSE TIP, FORMERLY COVERED BY SCRUB & PROBABLY FROM MINE PRODUCED 9 FLINT FLAKES, OF WHICH 4 ARE CORTICAL (B2).
TOPOGRAPHIC SITUATION SUITABLE FOR FLINT-MINING, BUT EXISTING FEATURES BEAR NONE OF CHARACTERISTICS OF KNOWN FLINT MINES. WORKINGS COMPRISE 3 SURFACE QUARRIES C 0.84M DEEP WITH ADJACENT SPOIL HEAPS, SLOPES OF WHICH ARE STEEP INDICATING A PROBABLE MEDIEVAL DATING (B3).
SIMILAR FEATURE AT FOOT OF HILL SHOWN TO BE C12-13 (PHOTOS) (B6).
DIGGING INTO SPOIL HEAPS FOUND WORKED FLINTS SO MINES SEEM MORE LIKELY (B7).
Group of quarry pits of varying sizes and with associated spoil dumps on western slopes of Pitstone Hill. Comprises two main pits, circular, 17m-21m in diameter and 3.5m deep. Steep-sided, flat-bottomed. Spoil heaps around S and W sides with possible entrance passage through spoil on S side (either original or later). Shallower pits to N and W from 8-12m diamater and surviving 1.0-1.7m deep. Three low oval mounds lie to S of pits. The date of quarry pits is uncertain and some limited excavation may help resolve whether it is a Neolithic flint mine or a medieval chalk pit (B8).



(SP 9497 1405) Three depressions resembling those at Cissbury and known to be flint mines. Also two hollows dug into the hill slope possibly to extract out-cropping flint. (Note
nearby 'causewayed' ditch at SP 9497 1415) (B1).
Though the topographical situation is suitable for flint mining, the existing features bear none of the characteristics of known flint mines. The workings comprise three surface quarries circa 2m deep with adjacent spoil heaps, the slopes of which are steep, indicating a probable Medieval Dating (B9).
The site was visited in October 1995 as part of the RCHME project to record industry and enclosure in the Neolithic period. The site consists of a small group of quarries with spoil heaps placed irregularly around them. No significant quantities of knapping debris were noted, although a number of nodules could be seen eroding from spoil heaps. These quarries are most likely to represent medieval or later chalk extraction. See the archive report for further details (B10).

This record includes National Record of the Historic Environment Information provided by Historic England on 4 June 2025 licensed under the Open Government Licence.