Hi there Listers
I belong to an archaeological group called CHERT (CHarterhouse Environs
Research Team) and we are researching the dams and slimes at Velvet Bottom
just below Charterhouse on Mendip. Willie Stanton says these dams were
Victorian but we have reason to doubt this. The volume of the slimes is
enormous (knocking on 100,000 cubic metres) and the depth over 3M in
places. We have a carbon date of 1st C AD from the base of one of our cores
but this was material out of context and not "prime evidence". The site is an
SSSI and under the control of AONB so we have very little chance of even a
small trial trench.
Can you help us with any history of these dams? We are slowly trawling
through the Mining Journals, local newspapers etc but cannot find any
references to these dams, their purpose or date
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