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Summary

Disturbances believed to be remains of workings for extraction of umber; may be Ugborough Mine. Situated in Torrs Wood, Wrangaton, on the north side of the road, and also on the south side in Monksmoor Copse. Late 19th century records 'Umber Works (disused)' at Torrs Barn.

Location

Protected Status: none recorded

Other References/Statuses

• Dartmoor Non-designated Heritage Asset (Evidential)
• Old DCC SMR Ref: SX65NE/161

Monument Type(s) and Dates

• UMBER WORKINGS (XVIII to XIX - 1800 AD to 1880 AD (Between))

Full description

South West Heritage Trust, 1838-1848, Digitised Tithe Maps and Transcribed Apportionments (Cartographic). SDV359954.

Barn is depicted on the Tithe Map, as an L-shaped structure, divided into three rectangular sections. Plot number 1067. Monksmoor Estate; 'Court, Barn and Road etc.'

Ordnance Survey, 1880-1899, First Edition Ordnance 25 inch map (Cartographic). SDV336179.

'Umber Works (Disused)' recorded on the late 19th century historic map. Map shows a large rectangular building (Torrs Barn), divided into two (long ways), with two separate additional structures to the north, and 'Shafts' recorded in the woods to the north and west of the site. Chimney and pit to the west of the road may be associated.

Ussher, W. A. E., 1912, Geology of the Country around Ivybridge and Modbury, 116 (Monograph). SDV161599.

Royal Air Force, 1946, RAF/CPE/UK/1890, Devon County Council RAF/CPE/UK/1890 FP 1143-1144 10-DEC-1946 (Aerial Photograph). SDV169268.

Torrs Barn is visible as a structure situated on a slight rise, around which the ground surface appears disturbed.

Gaskell-Brown, C. + Hankin, C., 1975 - 1978, Torrs Wood, Wrangaton Umber Works (Worksheet). SDV161991.

Torrs Wood, Wrangaton Umber Works. SX675 578.
Disturbances believed to be remains of workings for extraction of umber. Situated in Torrs Wood, Wrangaton, on the north side of the road, and also on the south side in Monksmoor Copse. Date of workings not known. Ground fairly thickly covered with trees and scrub and appears to be on a small water course, the ground being usually very wet.
Ussher's list of 'Mines and Minerals' includes: "Umber Works (disused), in open pits in calc-flintas on either side of the road by Torrs Wood (east of the Plymouth Asylum)".
Notes obtained from a local resident include 'Ugborough Mine. In 1876 sold 300 tons of brown hematite (iron ore) for £225.10s and 100 tons of ochre (iron oxide) for £75. Location not given.'
Local knowledge is that 'burnt sienna' was extracted here. The owner of Monksmoor once owned this land and states that some sort of mining operation is known to have taken place in the land north of the Wrangaton road, on the west side of the lane from Leigh Cross to the Moorgate. Mining believed to be for 'iron stone'. This operation could well be Ugborough Mine, or both sites could be together known as Ugborough Mine.
Probably associated with chimney (MDV3074).

Bluesky International Ltd/Getmapping PLC, 1999-2017, Pan Government Agreement Aerial Photographs, Next Perspectives APGB Imagery SX6757 20-APR-2015 (Aerial Photograph). SDV363087.

The land around the barn has been landscaped for use a s a golf course. Previously visible subtle earthworks have probably been levelled.

Pratt, N., 2018, Torrs Barn (Un-published). SDV360694.

Description of significance:
Barn and Umber Works, probably pre-1840s. Isolated building of three parts, shown on 1840 Tithe Map. By 1st ed. OS shown as Umber Works (disused) with shafts approximately 40 metres to west and name ‘Torrs Barn’. There is a horseshoe-shaped enclosure and other structures depicted to north-east. (Value: evidential, historic, communal and aesthetic).

Hegarty, C., Knight, S. and Sims, R., 2019-2020, The South Devon Coast to Dartmoor Aerial Investigation and Mapping Survey. Area 2, Avon Valley to Plymouth (AI&M, formerly NMP) (Interpretation). SDV362982.

Torrs Barn is visible on aerial photographs of 1946 as a structure situated on a slight rise, around which the ground surface appears disturbed. However, little evidence explicitly related to Umber works is identifiable on the aerial photographs.
The land around the barn has since been extensively landscaped for use a s a golf course, as visible on digital images derived from aerial photographs of 2015, and the previously visible subtle earthworks have probably been levelled.

Sources / Further Reading

Associated Monuments

Associated Finds: none recorded

Associated Events

• EDV8098 - The South Devon Coast to Dartmoor Aerial Investigation and Mapping (formerly NMP) Survey, Area 2, Avon Valley to Plymouth (Ref: ACD2040)

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