Q-pit

[1] Some evidence exists to suggest that some had a secondary use in the charking of coal into coke.

The pits were dug from the end of the Middle Ages up to around 1760, the start of the Industrial Revolution.

The pits are a common feature in lead mining districts such as the Leadhills in Scotland and East Derbyshire.

[1] Due to their small size, they are not likely to be confused with quarries, although bomb craters from World War II can occasionally lead the landscape historian astray.

In 2007 an isolated example was identified and excavated in Westbury-sub-Mendip near the lead smelting areas on the Mendip Hills in Somerset.