More information : Remains of several quarries are visible within the precinct of
Furness Abbey (SD 27 SW 12). Presumably stone for the abbey buildings
was taken from these quarries. Three of them, in the southern part of
the precinct, were surveyed by RCHME in 1989.
The quarry at SD 2178 7160 is very large and retains some exposed
vertical rock faces. It is surrounded on the uphill side by an
earthen bank, 0.7 m high, with faint traces of an external ditch no
more than 0.2 m deep. Slippage of the quarry face, possibly due to
relatively late re-working of the quarry, has resulted in the
destruction of the bank at one point. A hollow way leads from the
centre of the quarry floor down to Manor Road.
The quarry to the east at SD 2202 7157 is also large but is now
almost entirely turf-covered. The quarry floor is divided by stony
scarps and banks, up to 0.5 m high, into a series of rectangular
enclosures, and a substantial terraceway runs along its north side.
The third quarry is cut into the foot of the slope at SD 2214 7169,
to the north of the railway line. It is smaller than the others. Its
flat floor may subsequently have been used for building.
Elsewhere in the precinct traces of quarrying were noted in the
garden of Tunnel Cottage at SD 220 717 and further north on the east
side of the Vale of Nightshade at about SD 219 722. (1) |