In 1874 William Boyd Dawkins reported on the discovery of numerous grooved hammer stones at Brynlow Levels on the Edge which he referred to as the tools of Bronze Age miners.

Later in 1878 the Rev. Sainter described a primitive oak shovel recovered from one of these pits.

The latter now resides within the collections of the Manchester Museum and has been radiocarbon dated to circa. 1750 BC.

The Alderley Edge Landscape Project carried out archaeological work on the Edge including the excavation of an Early Bronze Age prospecting pit discovered on the south side of Engine Vein.

It contained broken and carefully deposited stone tools, plus a 12 metre-deep square-cut Roman mining shaft upon the north side.

The latter connected with workings on the vein and within its base were found a number of oak planks which probably date from mining carried out early during the first century AD.

The top of the shaft was first uncovered by the Derbyshire Caving Club in 1995 when they recovered a pot containing a hoard of 4th century AD bronze coins (Timberlake & Prag, 2005)

Side of prospecting pit with peck marks from use of stone tools

Engine Vein opencast, Alderley Edge with bisected Early Bronze Age pit-workings along its northern side