Monument record MDO24553 - Quarry, Poxwell

A series of linear quarries with associated spoil heaps are visible as earthworks on aerial photographs to the south of Poxwell. This quarry, north of Upton, is the easternmost of the principal Ridgeway Quarries north of Weymouth, and exploited both the Lower Purbeck and Portland Limestones. It is a linear excavation circa 300m by 20m, aligned east-west. Its age is indeterminate, but the extraction methods resemble those of the mediaeval and later Windsbatch Quarry near Upwey

A series of linear quarries with associated spoil heaps are visible as earthworks on aerial photographs to the south of Poxwell {1-2}. The features, which were digitally plotted during the South Dorset Ridgeway Mapping Project are considered to be post medieval in origin.

English Heritage, 1997, Monuments Protection Programme Step 3 Report: The Quarrying Industries, Dorset 11 (Monograph). SDO20419.

‘Poxwell quarry, which exploited both the Lower Purbeck and Portland limestones is the easternmost of the principal Ridgeway Quarries north of Weymouth. It consists of a c.300m by 20m linear excavation running along the natural slope with the higher ground to the north. Occasional small exposures of the strata occur in the south side but the area is grassed. Its age is uncertain though it bears a resemblance to the extraction methods adopted at the medieval/post-medieval Windsbatch Quarry near Upwey (Dorset 7). A nearby hillside quarry, situated east of the A353 at SY743835, probably dates to the later 19th or 20th century and includes the poorly preserved remains of a building.’

<1> Royal Air Force, 04-NOV-1946, RAF/CPE/UK/1821 4445-6 (Aerial Photograph). SDO11771.

<2> Royal Air Force, 04-NOV-1946, RAF/CPE/UK/1821 4443-4 (Aerial Photograph). SDO11784.

<3> National Record of the Historic Environment, 1466574 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

Record last edited

Aug 19 2025 10:52AM