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Summary

Remains of an engine house and other features on Crownhill Down. The probably 19th century engine house is visible as a roofed building on aerial phototgraphs of 1946, but as a roofless ruin from the 1960s onward.

Location

Protected Status: none recorded

Other References/Statuses

• National Monuments Record: 1363692
• Old DCC SMR Ref: SX56SE/155

Monument Type(s) and Dates

• ENGINE HOUSE (XVIII to Late 20th Century - 1751 AD to 1999 AD (Between))

Full description

Royal Air Force, 1946, RAF/106G/UK/1190, RAF/106G/UK/1190 RS 4252-4253 27-FEB-1946 (Aerial Photograph). SDV363067.

A rectangular building is visible.

Royal Air Force, 1965, RAF/58/7109, RAF/58/7109 F42 0128-0129 22-NOV-1965 (Aerial Photograph). SDV351186.

A ruinous rectangular structure is visible.

Greeves, T. A. P., 1979, Portworthy Mica Dam Proposal - Archaeological Features on NW Slope of Crownhill Down (Report - Survey). SDV343628.

Engine house visited on 17th December 1980 and now disused.

GetMapping, 1999 - 2000, Millennium Map 1999-2000 Getmapping (Aerial Photograph). SDV321648.

Building shown on aerial photograph.

Bluesky International Ltd/Getmapping PLC, 1999-2017, Pan Government Agreement Aerial Photographs, Next Perspectives APGB Imagery SX5760 31-MAY-2016 (Aerial Photograph). SDV363087.

Structural footings are visible.

National Monuments Record, 2002, 1363692 (National Monuments Record Database). SDV343731.

The majority of the footings are constructed of shuttered concrete but a wall at the rear of the site is built of hand made white bricks inscribed Martin, Leemoor.

Fletcher, M., 2002, The Archaeological Landscape of Crownhill Down and Ridding Down: Survey Report, 6 (Report - Survey). SDV343412.

Footings of a winding engine complete with a rusting steel cable on a winding axle. There are concrete bases, timber bearers and platforms with numerous threaded iron studs. The building was roofed in 1946 but roofless by 1962. It forms one end of an aerial ropeway which once extended across the Torycombe Valley and may have been built to dump china-clay waste into the valley. A large spoil tip shown on the 1886 map had been greatly extended by 1946 but has since been removed. Other details: Figure 3 and Crownhill Down Survey.

National Monument Record, 2007, NMR 24648, NMR 24648/19 31-JUL-2007 (Aerial Photograph). SDV363289.

A ruinous rectangular structure is visible.

Ordnance Survey, 2009, MasterMap (Cartographic). SDV341569.

Remains of the engine house visible on modern mapping.

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.

A rectangular roofed structure is visible on aerial photographs of 1946 on the north-west facing slopes of Crownhill Down, immediately downslope of the Old Bottle Hill Leat.
The building measured approximately 9m wide by 16m long, and a smaller rectangular structure circa 3 by 2m in size was visible on the western side of the structure.
The building was visible as an unroofed ruin on aerial photographs of 1965.
Only concrete footings are visible on digital images derived from aerial photographs of 2016.

Sources / Further Reading

Associated Monuments: none recorded

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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