It was formerly the site of a large chalk quarry featuring a pillar and stall mine,[6] an entrance to which still exists, however, it is sealed off for human entry.

During the construction of the Grand Union Canal where it flows through Boxmoor, the navvies who carried out the work lived on an encampment at Roughdown Common.

[7] The navvies where not the only group that made use of the Common; in 1809 a Good Friday funfair was held in the chalk pit,[8] while 1939 saw the first recorded football match on the site, played by young evacuees from London.

An explanatory panel, placed by the Box Moor Trust, stands by the quarry entrance near the Roughdown Avenue railway bridge.

Starting in September 2017, the Box Moor Trust, working in conjunction with Natural England will begin felling self-seeded trees and clearing scrub at the site in order to encourage the reestablishment of calcareous species originally found there.