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Summary

A 19th century whim platform, shaft and ponds at Wheal Florence are recorded on Crownhill Down. These features probably correspond with earthwork mounds and pits visible on aerial photographs of 1940s onwards and digital images derived from lidar data captured between 1998 and 2014. The earthworks have been destroyed by the expansion of open cast mining on Crownhill Down.

Location

Protected Status: none recorded

Other References/Statuses

• National Monuments Record: 438405
• Old DCC SMR Ref: SX55NE/14/1
• Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division: SX55NE13

Monument Type(s) and Dates

• WHIM PLATFORM (XVIII to XIX - 1800 AD to 1900 AD)

Full description

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

Royal Air Force, 1946, RAF/CPE/UK/1890, RAF/CPE/UK/1890 FP 1126-1127 10-DEC-1946 (Aerial Photograph). SDV169268.

Earthwork mounds and pits are visible.

Ordnance Survey, 1969, OS/69296, OS/69296 V 018-019 29-JUN-1969 (Aerial Photograph). SDV361475.

Earthwork mounds and pits are visible.

Edwards, C., 1979, An archaeological survey of an area surrounding Hemerdon Ball (Report - Survey). SDV337241.

Site visited on 4th May 1979. A circular whim platform banked on the east side stands adjacent to the main shaft of Wheal Florence tin mine on Crownhill Down. It is 9 metres in diameter and obviously operated the shaft in circa 1859 when the short lived mine is known to have been in operation.

Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division, 1980, SX55NE13 (Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division Card). SDV343821.

Whim draining a shaft at Wheal Albert. (Devon Committee for Rescue Archaeology, August 1979, 20-1 Edwards, C.)

Gilbertson, D. + Collis, J., 1982, Mapping Three Millennia of Settlement and Land Use on Crownhill Down, South West Dartmoor (Article in Serial). SDV362901.

In 1846, under the name Wheal Albert, a shaft was drained by a whim.

Gilbertson, D. + Collis, J., 1985, Linear Banks on Crownhill Down, Dartmoor (Article in Serial). SDV337244.

In 1846, under the name Wheal Albert, a shaft was drained by a whim.

Environment Agency, 1998-2017, LiDAR DTM data (1m resolution) EA: South Devon Coast to Dartmoor, LIDAR SX5659 Environment Agency DTM 01-JAN-1998 to 31-MAY-2017 (Cartographic). SDV361470.

Earthwork mounds and pits are visible.

Bluesky International Ltd/Getmapping PLC, 1999-2017, Pan Government Agreement Aerial Photographs, Next Perspectives APGB Imagery SX5660 31-MAY-2016 (Aerial Photograph). SDV363087.

The earthworks have been destroyed by the expansion of open cast mining on Crownhill Down.

National Monuments Record, 2002, 438405 (National Monuments Record Database). SDV343822.

Whim platform adjacent to the north side of the shaft at Wheal Florence consisting of a low semi-circular bank defining a level platform of 10 metres diameter.

Fletcher, M., 2002, The Archaeological Landscape of Crownhill Down and Ridding Down: Survey Report, 5 (Report - Survey). SDV343412.

Other details: Figure 3 and Crownhill Down Survey.

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.

Earthwork mounds and pits are visible on aerial photographs 1946 onwards and digital images derived from lidar data captured between 1998 and 2014, on the west facing slopes of Crownhill Down, on the northern edge of an extensive band of reworked medieval streamworks. The earthworks correspond with the remains of the mine of ‘Wheal Florence (Tin, Disused)’ depicted on the Ordnance Survey First Edition map of the 1880s-1890s.
The earthworks probably include the remains of a horse whim associated with the 19th century mine, but this cannot be confidently differentiated from the other mine remains on the available images.
The earthworks have been destroyed by the expansion of open cast mining on Crownhill Down.

Sources / Further Reading

Associated Monuments

Associated Finds: none recorded

Associated Events

• EDV4559 - Archaeological Landscape of Crownhill Down and Riddding Down
• 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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