A natural hard reddish brown clay with patches of sandy clay and limestone was recorded along the route and represented the natural geology. Sealing the natural geology were firm mid orangey brown sandy silt subsoils with occasional sub-angular limestone fragments. These deposits measured c.0.12m thick and contained three pieces of worked flint retrieved at the eastern end of the route (dating from the Mesolithic or earlier Neolithic to the late Neolithic or early Bronze Age); Roman; 13th century and post-medieval pottery;post-medieval clay pipe stem; copper slag, and iron nails. Overlying the whole route was a 0.32–0.34m thick topsoil comprising a firm dark greyish brown clayey silt with occasional small to medium sub-angular stones. Lead shot and a 13th century silver half-penny was retrieved from the topsoil at the eastern end of the access route, suggesting some activity in the late 12th-early 13th century.

Tobin Raynor, 2017, Archaeological Watching Brief Report: Sturton-Le-Steeple Quarry, Nottinghamshire (Unpublished document). SNT6027.