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Byfield Entrance 2

Combe Down, Bath.

Cox's Quarry was part of the main area of quarrying in the 18th Century. It was essentially worked as a surface quarry and is shown on Victorian maps as a large irregular depression. However, two entrances in the east of the quarry provided access into the westernmost workings of the Byfield and Firs Quarry complex. Either this entry point, or Byfield Entrance 1, was known as the 'Byfiled Entrance.' It is unknown as to whether one entrance was used more than the other.

The entrance is gated for bat conservation to protect a swarming area and hibernation areas for both Vesper and Horeshoe bats.

Alternative Names: Byfield Mine, Firs Quarry, Firs Mine, Collibee's Quarry, Coxes Quarry, Cox's Quarry, Cox's Cave 2, Coxe's Cave 2

Notes: The entrance is shown on a plan (figure 12.20) in 'Finished Labour of a Thousand Hands': The Archaeology of the Combe Down Stone Mines, Bath, Somerset published in 2011. It is labelled as as 'Byfield Entrance.'

According to the report "Finished Labour of a Thousand Hands", regarding post-mining use of the workings: "At the westernmost entry to what is now the bat conservation area of Byfield, the space under the high pillars had been used to store mushroom boxes, though it was not the actual farm." The company was Byfield Farm Mushrooms.

The entrance is shown on large scale modern-day Ordnance Survey maps as one of two "caves."