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Summary

A well-built rectangular building constructed from granite at the base of a moderate slope, located 36m north of the Devonport Leat portal. The internal dimensions are 6.6m by 3.1m with walls of 0.7m thick and up to 1.2m high. The entrance is on the south wall and is 0.85m wide with upright granite door jambs still in place. A fireplace is set into the north-east corner with an opening of 0.75m by 0.75m by 0.55m deep. On the north-west corner interior is a flat-topped stone structure of 1.3m by 1m, with a single upright corner stone of 0.2m by 0.1m by 0.9m high. Although some collapse of the walls has taken place, the building is in generally good condition. The eastern exterior of the building comprises an earthen bank into the end of which is another structure set obliquely into it. This is a narrow stone-lined chamber of 1m wide which may have served as a fuel store.

Location

Protected Status

• SHINE: Earthwork and structural remains of a section of the late 18th century Devonport Leat running from Raddick Hill to Nun's Cross, including extensive tinning remains at Cramber Tor

Other References/Statuses

• National Monuments Record: SX66NW56
• National Record of the Historic Environment: 441725
• Old DCC SMR Ref: SX66NW/78
• Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division: sx66nw56

Monument Type(s) and Dates

• TINNERS HUT (Early Medieval to Post Medieval - 1066 AD (Between) to 1750 AD (Between))

Full description

Haynes, R. G., 1966-1969, Ruined Sites on Dartmoor, 96 (Un-published). SDV150434.

(04/07/1966) A substantially built dwelling house measuring 6.4m by 3.0m, with fireplace and chimney. May have been a tinner's shelter or used in construction of the Devonport Leat. Certainly not a farm. Still retained an iron roof in the 1930s. J. V. Somers-Cocks identifies it as a blacksmith's building and general purpose shop and store abandoned after the completion of the Devonport Leat tunnel.

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

Not visible on RAF 1946/7 air photos.

Starkey, F. H., 1987-1981, The area around Nun’s Cross Farm, 34 pt.3, pg 104 (Article in Serial). SDV345533.

(SX 60176991) There is a long roofless building, probably a tinners' hut rather than a blowing house, near where the Devonport Leat emerges from the hillside. The building has a good fireplace and inside the building is a square block of granite which seems to have been used for testing the drills used by tinners and quarrymen.

Wessex Archaeology, 2002, Cramber Tor Training Area Rapid Condition Survey, WA222 (Report - Survey). SDV354588.

Newman, P., 2006, Cramber Tor Training Area Archaeological Field Investigation (Report - Survey). SDV233640.

(01/08/2006) A well-built rectangular building constructed from granite at the base of a moderate slope, located 36m north of the Devonport Leat portal. The internal dimensions are 6.6m by 3.1m with walls of 0.7m thick and up to 1.2m high. The entrance is on the south wall and is 0.85m wide with upright granite door jambs still in place. A fireplace is set into the north-east corner with an opening of 0.75m by 0.75m by 0.55m deep. On the north-west corner interior is a flat-topped stone structure of 1.3m by 1m, with a single upright corner stone of 0.2m by 0.1m by 0.9m high. Although some collapse of the walls has taken place, the building is in generally good condition. The eastern exterior of the building comprises an earthen bank into the end of which is another structure set obliquely into it. This is a narrow stone-lined chamber of 1m wide which may have served as a fuel store.

Sources / Further Reading

Associated Monuments

Associated Finds: none recorded

Associated Events

• EDV7382 - Condition Survey of the Cramber Tor Training Area
• EDV8351 - Walkhampton Premier Archaeological Landscape; Field Investigation Project
• EDV8711 - Condition Survey of the Cramber Tor Training Area

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