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Summary

Track bed of tramway through Foggintor from the crossroad at the southern quarry entrance at SX 56536 73449, northward to the Merrivale Two Bridges Road (B3357) - an overall length of c.1.7km (just over a mile) in length. The route was retained in use as a c.2.5m wide farm track.

Location

Protected Status: none recorded

Other References/Statuses: none recorded

Monument Type(s) and Dates

• TRAMWAY (XVIII to Edwardian - 1800 AD (Between) to 1904 AD (Between))
• TRACKWAY (Edwardian to Late 20th Century - 1904 AD (Between) to 1999 AD (Between))

Full description

Wakeham, C., 2016, Report on an Audit of Archaeological Features and Structures Relating to Railways and Tramways on Dartmoor Phase 1, DR+T_FQ_013 (Report - Assessment). SDV360397.

Track bed at SX 56887 74241. Track bed of tramway through Foggintor from the crossroad at the southern quarry entrance at SX 56536 73449, northward to the Merrivale Two Bridges Road (B3357) - an overall length of c.1.7km (just over a mile) in length. The route was retained in use as a c.2.5m wide farm track. There are a large number of granite setts in situ along the track until about SX 56643 74358, a little way south of the turn-off down into Yellowmeade Farm. The setts generally have c.3cm diameter holes. Some of the holes appear to be closer together than those seen on the general Plymouth and Dartmoor Railway setts (c.6cm, rather than 8-10cm). They appear in a variety of styles: two holes, four holes, flat surfaced and holes within deep grooves. Some of the setts, particularly the deeply grooved ones, appear to be the exploitation of largely unfinished stone. A good selection of these different types may be seen about SX 56696 74237 and SX 56702 74223. There is at least one broken iron pin still embedded in its hole. Two parallel lines of setts diverge from the main lines towards the NNW at SX 56719 74062. They appear to be heading in the rough direction of the old farm buildings at Yellowmeade, although they now just disappear into the grass verge with no further trace of their course. This second alignment of setts may be the traces of a lost siding or, as the farm was founded by one of the quarry's stone masons, George Cole, and the farmhouse built c.1871, it is possible that building materials were transported to the building site via tramway. The c.630m long section of track to the north of the Yellowmeade Farm turn-off (about SX 56625 74386) has been coated in tarmac. A former apprentice at Swelltor Quarry informed Kath Brewer (Brewer, K., n.d.: The Railways, Quarries and Cottages of Foggintor, page 68) that the granite setts along this section were actually removed by quarry apprentices at the time of the 1926 General Strike. The second edition Ordnance Survey map's depiction of the whole track route suggests it was no longer in use as a tramway by 1904.
Some of the granite setts along the section not covered by tarmac are worn and a number appear to have been removed, although any resulting holes have been filled in. What is left is relatively stable.

Sources / Further Reading

Associated Monuments

Associated Finds: none recorded

Associated Events: none recorded

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