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Summary

Site of a mill pond which was excavated 2003-2008. Finds from the sediments included two rifleman's gold plated tunic buttons from the American Civil War, an extensive range of North Devon pottery sherds and clay pipes together with the by-products of lead smelting and silver refining from the nearby mine including lithrage, lead slage and smithing waste all giving insight into the life of the 19th century miner and blacksmith at Combe Martin. The pond, however, appears to have been originally dug as a hemp retting pool in the early 12th century; sherds of pottery of this date were found in the lower silts. A few sherds of late Saxon pottery were also recovered from the primary fills. The excavations also showed the pond to have originally been clay-lined.

Location

Protected Status: none recorded

Other References/Statuses: none recorded

Monument Type(s) and Dates

• MILL POND (XII to XIX - 1101 AD (Between) to 1900 AD (Between))

Full description

Dunkerley, T., 2006, Investigating a Fulling Mill at Combe Martin, 9-11 (Article in Serial). SDV351621.

A millpond is referred to in a report in the North Devon Journal in 1840 which records the drowning of the blacksmith's son. Excavations in 2006 revealed the sediments of a millpond abutting a substantial wall with large buttresses. Finds from the ponds included two rifleman's gold plated tunic buttons from the American Civil War, an extensive range of North Devon pottery sherds and clay pipes together with the by-products of lead smelting and silver refining from the nearby mine including lithrage, lead slage and smithing waste all giving insight into the life of the 19th century miner and blacksmith at Combe Martin. A few sherds of late Saxon pottery were recovered from the primary fills. The excavations also showed the pond to have originally been clay-lined.

Dunkerley, T., 2008, The hidden and lost industries of Combe Martin, 25-27 (Article in Serial). SDV365172.

Excavations on the site of the mill pond on a silver/lead mining complex found that it was originally dug as a hemp retting pool in the early 12th century; pottery sherds of this date were found in the lower silts. The pool, which was large, was probably monastic and associated with a nearby hemp processing mill.
The mill was converted to fulling in the 15th century and the pool became redundant. It was used to provide water to drive a waterwheel to pump water from the mines in the early 19th century and subsequently to provide water to power hydraulic pumps but by the late 19th century the pond had become a dumping ground for mine waste.
A newspaper report of 1845 records the drowning of the son of a blacksmith at the mining complex in the mill pond.

Sources / Further Reading

Associated Monuments

Associated Finds

• FDV5514 - POT (Unknown date)
• FDV5515 - POT (Saxon - 701 AD to 1065 AD)
• FDV5513 - PIPE (SMOKING) (Post Medieval to XIX - 1540 AD to 1900 AD)
• FDV5512 - BUTTON (XIX - 1861 AD to 1865 AD)

Associated Events: none recorded

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