Archaeological Watching Brief at Hartington Station Quarry, Derbyshire

ARCUS were commissioned by the Peak District National Park Authority to carry out an archaeological watching brief, during construction of a bridle way terminal, at Hartington Station Quarry, Hartington, Derbyshire. Only relatively modern features, including a boundary wall, a track and a concrete slab, were observed in the machine stripped areas. However, in the area of the overflow car park, several sherds of pottery, ranging in date from the late fifteenth to early twentieth centuries, were recovered from the topsoil, and a flint scraper, of probable Late Neolithic/Early Bronze Age date, was recovered from the subsoil. The finding of the scraper compliments the previous finding of Neolithic stone axes and flint tools in the vicinity of the quarry, demonstrating prehistoric activity in the area. The late medieval/early post-medieval pottery is also of some interest, and perhaps relates to early quarry working or lead mining in the vicinity. Additional finds, not kept, included a number of iron objects and modern glass, probably derived from rail sidings for the quarry, which was in operation from the 1920s to the 1950s. Modern disturbance of sub-surface deposits was noted in parts of the stripped areas, although the subsoil deposits may conceal earlier archaeological features, not impacted on by the redevelopment.