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Summary

Three rectangular buildings about 10m by 4m and associated enclosures are visible on aerial photograph. One of the former dwellings noted to incorporate a granite sett from the former tramway but the cottage appears to have been in use at the same time as the railway.

Location

Protected Status

• SHINE: Earthwork and structural remains on Walkhampton Common including 19th century Swelltor and Foggintor Quarries, a section of the early 19th century Plymouth and Dartmoor Tramway, later converted to railway, also streamworks along the Yes Tor Brook

Other References/Statuses

• National Monuments Record: SX57SE86
• National Record of the Historic Environment: 440272
• Old DCC SMR Ref: SX57SE/149
• Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division: SX57SE86

Monument Type(s) and Dates

• DESERTED SETTLEMENT (Constructed, XVIII to XIX - 1750 AD (Between) to 1899 AD (Between))
• FARMSTEAD? (Constructed, XVIII to XIX - 1750 AD? (Between) to 1899 AD (Between))
• COTTAGE NON SPECIFIC (Built, XVIII to XIX - 1800 AD (Between) to 1899 AD (Between))

Full description

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

Buildings and associated enclosures depicted on the historic map.

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

West Air Photography, 1975, CA 1889, 3 (Aerial Photograph). SDV276882.

SX 55717321 Three rectangular buildings about 10m by 4m and associated enclosures are visible on aerial photograph. May be a deserted Medieval site.
NB this is a undated source description, Author: Ordnance Survey?

Royal Commission on the Historical Monuments of England, 1985, Aerial Photograph Project (Dartmoor) - Dartmoor Pre-NMP (Cartographic). SDV319854.

Not visible on the Royal Air Force 1946 aerial photographs.

Bluesky International Ltd/Getmapping PLC, 2015 onwards, 2015 onward Aerial Photographs (Aerial Photograph). SDV362959.

Ruined walls visible on the aerial photograph.

Wakeham, C., 2016, Report on an Audit of Archaeological Features and Structures Relating to Railways and Tramways on Dartmoor Phase 1, DR+T_PDR_005, 006 (Report - Assessment). SDV360397.

[DR+T_PDR_005] SX 55701 73237 Ruined northeast-facing cottage along the southwest side of the Princetown Branch track bed, and before that the Plymouth and Dartmoor Railway. It was built of coursed granite rubble and measures 9.24m by 5.67m externally, with walls of 0.46-0.49m thickness. The doorway was located somewhere within the 1.97m wide gap in the northeast wall. A short stub of walling, at least 0.6m thick, may be found projecting c.0.2m in from the middle of both end walls. These small stubs are possibly remnants of fireplaces at either end of the building. There are no traces of any internal walls, but the opposing fireplaces suggest there may have been a wooden partition. The stonework of the cottage was neatly executed and some fine quoins are still evident on the southern corner, which stands to 2.2m in height. A more crudely constructed dry stone sub-rectangular garden was added to the back of the building. It is orientated northeast-southwest and measures c.4.9m by c.2.7m internally. Its walls are roughly 0.7m thick and it was entered via a c.2m wide opening in its northern corner. A crude looking rectangular structure at the southwest end of the garden, attached to the southern corner, may have been a small outbuilding. It measures c.3m by 1.1m internally and has 0.54m thick walling. Amidst the rubble is a piece of granite with 2.5cm diameter, 9cm deep holes set 10cm apart. A strip across the stone, almost 0.2m wide and containing the holes, has been stained a rusty red (see photograph DR+T_PDR_005_e). It appears that a tramway sett may have been reused in the construction of the cottage - a curious possibility is that the cottage appears to have been built while the Plymouth and Dartmoor Railway was actually still in use. A boulder near the northern corner of the cottage contains two 4cm diameter holes, 5cm deep, set 5cm apart. The boulder itself measures c.1.4m by c.1.1m and is about 0.5m deep. Its purpose is unclear. Further to the southwest of the cottage, garden and possible outbuilding lies a small circular structure of 2.2m internal diameter and c.0.6m thick walling. It has a southeast opening and is reminiscent of a small hut circle, although that may not be the case. The cottage is one of at least two built at White Thorn and the remains of a building to the southeast (DR+T_PDR_006) may be another cottage. The Walkhampton parish tithe map depicts a building either side of the tramway in 1840 and two dwellings named "Railway Cottage" are listed on the 1841 census return. Both were inhabited by agricultural labourers (John Kivel and James Perkins) and their families. This suggests that this cottage or the neighbouring ruin was built in 1840 or earlier. There are no discernible traces of the building depicted to the northeast of the track bed on the tithe map, suggesting it may have been completely destroyed during the 19th century, perhaps one of these buildings superseded it and was built out of its materials. Alternatively the northeast building may have been destroyed when the Great Western Railway line was laid. The cottages were listed as "White Thorn" in 1851. James Perkins and family were still resident in one cottage and Henry Pascoe, stone mason, and his family were living in the other. James Perkins is absent from the 1861 census, but Henry Pascoe is listed at "Hanging Tor" - the only reference in a census return to such a property and possibly relating to one of the White Thorn cottages. It appears that one of the cottages had been completely abandoned/destroyed by 1861. None of the aforementioned building names appear on the 1871 census and unless yet another name was in use, it seems quite possible that the second dwelling had also fallen into disuse. The southeast end of this building is shown in pink on the first edition Ordnance Survey map, suggesting that the end of the building was perhaps in use as a small outbuilding, or at least in a usable condition in the 1880s. All occupation at the site appears to have ended by 1904, as the nothing is depicted as being in use at White Thorn on the second edition Ordnance Survey map. A photograph taken by a member of the Taylor family in 1955 shows the southeast gable wall and chimney standing to their full height (Dartmoor Archive, photograph da906).
The building is in very poor condition. It is ruinous and there are signs of a recent collapse and further deterioration at the southeast end. The northwest end appears to be fairly stable. The attached garden and possible outbuilding are also in a very rundown condition. Bracken is encroaching on the ruins.
[DR+T_PDR_006] SX 55713 73227 Ruined northeast-facing building along the southwest side of the Princetown Branch track bed, and before that the Plymouth and Dartmoor Railway. It was built of coursed granite rubble and measured 13.84m by at least 3.98m externally, with walls varying in thickness from 0.45m to c.0.95m. The northeast wall is entirely missing. There is a bit of masonry, at least 1m wide, projecting 0.25m in from the southeast end wall, which may be the location of a fireplace. There is one perpendicular internal wall, 0.45m thick, running off the southwest wall. The rooms either side of the partition wall are 4.93m and 7.11m in length - the widest being the southeastern room. A 0.72m thick buttress was built part way along the back wall of the southeast room, 5.03m from the southern corner. It is 2.06m in length and incorporated into the dividing wall between two rectangular gardens at the back. Both gardens are c.10m wide, bounded by c.0.6m thick dry stone walling and on a parallel alignment to the building. The northwest garden is c.10m in length and overshoots the end of the building slightly. It was possibly entered via a small gap between its northwest end wall and a 1.57m long stub of walling running north-westwards from the western corner of the building. The southeast garden overshoots the other end of the building by several metres. It was probably entered via a 2m wide gap between the building's southeast end wall and a 0.5m thick parallel wall. This latter wall may be a remnant of another building - perhaps an outhouse. Part way down its length there is a short perpendicular wall remnant running south-eastwards. The maximum height of the ruined building, in the vicinity of the buttress at the back, is 1.15m. There is a potential open-ended outbuilding at SX 55732 73202, measuring c.2.2m by c.2.3m internally, and an adjacent sub-oval enclosure of c.3.4m by c.4m internally. Both are built onto the outer edge of fields enclosed between 1840 and 1883 and have c.0.35m thick walling, standing to a maximum internal height of 1.6m. The main building here was seemingly one of at least two cottages built at White Thorn. Remains of another building to the northwest (DR+T_PDR_005) was certainly another cottage. The Walkhampton parish tithe map depicts a building either side of the tramway in 1840 and two dwellings named "Railway Cottage" are listed on the 1841 census return. Both were inhabited by agricultural labourers (John Kivel and James Perkins) and their families. This suggests that this building or the neighbouring northwest ruin was built 1840 or earlier. There are no discernible traces of the building depicted to the northeast of the track bed on the tithe map, suggesting it may have been completely destroyed during the 19th century, perhaps one of these buildings superseded it and was built out of its materials. Alternatively the northeast building may have been destroyed when the Great Western Railway line was laid. The cottages were listed as "White Thorn" in 1851. James Perkins and family were still resident in one cottage and Henry Pascoe, stone mason, and his family were living in the other. James Perkins is absent from the 1861 census, but Henry Pascoe is listed at "Hanging Tor" - the only reference in a census return to such a property and possibly relating to one of the White Thorn cottages. It appears one of the cottages had been completely abandoned/destroyed by 1861. None of the aforementioned building names appear on the 1871 census and unless yet another name was in use, it seems quite possible that the second dwelling had also fallen into disuse. All occupation at the site appears to have ended by 1904, as the nothing is depicted as being in use at White Thorn on the second edition Ordnance Survey map.
The main building (the presumed cottage) is in a very poor state and is not well-defined in places. The buttress at the back is actually in a better overall state than the walling it was built to support. The gardens are inundated with bracken. The walling of the possible small building and the sub-oval enclosure attached to the field system is partly collapsed.

Sources / Further Reading

Associated Monuments: none recorded

Associated Finds: none recorded

Associated Events: none recorded

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