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Summary

Originally built in 1804-05 as the house of the Captain in charge of canal works, this later became the Wheal Crebor agent's house.

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

• CANAL WORKERS COTTAGE (Built, XIX - 1804 AD to 1805 AD (Between))
• HOUSE (Altered, XIX - 1850 AD? to 1899 AD (Between))

Full description

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

House is depicted on the late 19th century historic map.

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.
This site is privately owned and is out of the stewardship area – however it is historically significant. The building is shown on the earliest surface plans of the mine (and has been annotated onto the 1765 map of the area - Fig 2). One must assume the building was constructed in the first few years of the mine operating. ‘This may have been that occupied by Captain James Remfry during the early working of Wheal Crebor from 1803. It appears to have been constructed before 1811 (Canal Materials Valuation) when it was called the Comptery (Count) House and cost £150 to build. It continued to be the Captain’s or Agent’s House, as the first abandonment plan for Wheal Crebor, dated to circa 1828, it was shown as the ‘Agent’s House’ (Fig 10), (R Waterhouse pers comm). This Agent’s/Counthouse building contains a plot of land to its south and faces the mine. In later years (c1820’s) the secondary position of the 40ft water wheel powering the flat rods to the mine’s shafts was sunk in the bottom of the garden. A small stone bridge was built over the canal (Site 28), to allow vehicular and pedestrian access to the house from the mine. (Outside toilet present).
Survey: This building has not been surveyed, but appears to have a typical architectural design of its period – although it is likely to have had modifications to allow tributing and its use as a domestic house and mine office administration.
Recommendation: Not applicable.

Waterhouse, R., 2017, The Tavistock Canal. Its History and Archaeology, 326, fig 10.20 (Monograph). SDV361789.

A large, rendered house, originally built in 1804-05 as a residence for the Captain in charge of the canal works, later becoming the Wheal Crebor agent's house, stands to the north of the canal.
A high arched stone bridge carries the access track to Wheal Crebor House over the cutting into the Morwelldown Tunnel.

Ordnance Survey, 2018, MasterMap 2018 (Cartographic). SDV360652.

House is shown on the modern mapping.

Sources / Further Reading

Associated Monuments

Associated Finds: none recorded

Associated Events

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

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