Also known as Guy’s Rift this is an open cast quarry situated in the woods to the east of Germain’s Lane Slaughterford, used for rubble stone for local buildings although it is rumoured that the stone for Malmesbury Abbey may have been quarried here.
A vertical fissure in a cliff found in 1922 by Captain Guy St Barbe, which had originally formed part of a large cave, the latter largely destroyed by quarrying. Human and animal bones were found, some given to Devizes Museum. In 1925 excavations were undertaken by the University of Bristol Speleological Society. Finds included charcoal, burnt bones, Iron Age pottery, a chalk bead, some flints, and the remains of four adults and three children. During Ordnance Survey field investigation in 1976, the site was observed as a conspicuous feature in the now abandoned and weathered quarry face. Part of the natural cave remained visible at the the base of the cliff, although the area had become a rubbish dump.
Guy’s Rift, a 75 feet long, 2 feet wide, vertical fissure in an oolite cliff was found by Capt. Guy St. Barbe, in 1922. The site was formerly known as Cloud Quarry but the name is not now used. Human and animal bones were found (some casually by boys though the majority were recovered for Devizes Museum). In 1925 the rift was excavated; finds included charcoal, from a hearth in an occupation layer, burnt bones, pot shards, a chalk bead, flint fragments, including a blade (similar flints are found in the fields above the cliff) and the remains of four adults and three children.
No surface finds were made in the ploughed fields above the cliff.
