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Summary

Pumping house with a water wheel to north-west of Shillamill Viaduct, shown on early 20th century map.

Location

Protected Status

• SHINE: Structures, earthworks and below-ground mining features associated with Wheal Crebor Mine including a former canal and railway, east of Buctor Farm

Other References/Statuses

• SHINE Candidate (Yes)

Monument Type(s) and Dates

• PUMP HOUSE (XIX to XX - 1880 AD to 1906 AD (Between))

Full description

Ordnance Survey, 1904 - 1906, Second Edition Ordnance Survey 25 inch Map (Cartographic). SDV325644.

Small rectangular building shown. Map object based on this source.

Knight, S., 2013-2015, Land Management Case Work, 13-MAY-2014 (Personal Comment). SDV351543.

The building is fairly complete, but undermined in one corner and starting to collapse. Wooden launder, stone built leat and cast iron waterwheel. Corrugated metal roof with metal frame. Pumps and cast iron waterwheel are stamped 'G H Harris Wadebridge'.

Payne, S., 2014, Buctor Farm Environment Plan (Personal Comment). SDV356350.

Leat taking water from the Lumburn near the canal bridge at circa 246265,72606, running southwards to pumping house with waterwheel at 246475,72123. Water was then pumped from this building up to a reservoir to then feed all the Bedford Estate farms in the area.

Ordnance Survey, 2014, MasterMap (Cartographic). SDV355681.

Map object based on this source.

Waterhouse, R., 2014, Pump House, Shillamill (Correspondence). SDV356532.

Based on map evidence the pump house appeared between 1867 and 1884, and apparently the pumps are now laid horizontally on the bearing support walls flanking the wheel (possibly later modifications). It may have looked something like the attached 1856 drawing of the Morwellham pump wheel, in its original form.

In the late 1890s the Morwelldown Water Works Company was formed to supply water to a number of Bedford Estates farms, gravity fed from a central reservoir in the Morwelldown Plantation (SX 45757 71603) – this being seen a cheaper alternative than individually supplying ‘mains’ water to a number of farms. ‘Two pump houses were built, supplying water to farms as far away as Orestocks in the south and Chipshop in the north’ (R Waterhouse pers comm).

The stone building, possibly originally with ridged slate roof, now with a galvanised corrugated steel roof (Fig 38), still contains a pair of water pumps either side of a 10ft water wheel (Fig 39), made by GH Harris of Wadebridge. Water was pumped up hill to the central reservoir in Morwelldown Plantation. The tail-race for the water leaves the building via a small tunnel set into its east side before re-joining the River Lumburn further down the valley.

It should be noted that (one side of) the pump was working up to two years ago (D. Hutchins pers comm). The building has a four paned window in each of the north and south elevations, with double doorway in the north elevation. The building has been built with brick edging for corners and all openings – a usual architectural detail of the period.

Structurally, the south west corner of the building is falling away from its intended position. This structural movement is shown by movement (c0.3m) away from the west side of the vertical window frame, on the south side of the building. Unfortunately, this appears to have been a problem for some time – the leat is now by-passing the rusty iron water wheel and running along the outside of the south west corner of the building – softening the foundations and causing this section of wall to sink. Related structural movement is manifested in the side of the water inlet opening – on its south side, and the lintel. In addition a section of the west wall has collapsed.

Over a period of time timber has been used at a variety of locations to prop up the machinery – the main damage again having been caused by the wall movement – which has displaced the central steel beam socket on its south side which formerly supported the frame for the water wheel. The main front doors are partly unhinged, but the windows have original frames and timber shutters. The water wheel itself is quite rusty (Fig 39), as is the galvanised roof in places (Fig 37), but the building appears partly watertight. The leat is still working (approximately 1m wide and 0.3 to 0.5m deep), water slowly going down its course.

The ecological survey (CEC 2015, 26, Site 13) found ‘Adult barn owl seen roosting above entrance doorway and accumulation of mixed-age pellets suggest this is a regularly used roosting site’.

Significance
High
It is highly likely that there are very few pump houses like this remaining in the south west – or even the country. As such it is a highly significant building – its importance amplified by its original pumping machinery.

Recommendations
This building can now be seen to be structurally hazardous. It is recommended that this building is conserved as part of a project of limited structural building remediation and conservation. It is likely that the wall movement is too much to rectify, and that the wall may well need to be dismantled – the foundations stabilised, and the wall rebuilt. If this is beyond the remit of immediate funding, an alternative could be to slow down the wall movement by re-routing the leat away from the building (further to the south – allowing the wall section foundations to stabilise (as the foundations dry out). However, the seasonal winter rains are likely to soften the ground around the building as the water table in the valley floor rise, for at least four to six months per year. In the short term it is recommended that the building is closed to public access – both to preserve it’s (over a century old) intact pump and water wheel – and also to minimise the possibility of collapse to the south west corner of the building onto visitors.

Buck, C., 2015, Buctor Farm, Tavistock (Report - Assessment). SDV359746.

This study was commissioned by the landowner on behalf of Natural England as part of a Higher Level Environmental Stewardship Agreement Scheme and produced by Cornwall Archaeological Unit, Cornwall Council.

Waterhouse, R., 2017, The Tavistock Canal. Its History and Archaeology, 286 (Monograph). SDV361789.

This pump house took water from the river downstream of Lumburn Aqueduct and was installed around 1890 to supply several agricultural and domestic customers between Orestocks and Chipshop. The building is larger than that at Morewellham an contains a cast iron overshot wheel (12 foot diameter) driving a pair of horizontal plunger pumps by cranks from the axle. This wheel remained in operation until 2014, pumping water to a concrete reservoir in Morwelldown Plantation which supplied water troughs on Buctor Farm.

Sources / Further Reading

Associated Monuments

Associated Finds: none recorded

Associated Events

• EDV7058 - Archaeological Management Plan, Buctor Farm, Tavistock (Ref: 2015R055)

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