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Summary

Near the Zeal Tor Tramway and adjacent to it on the south side are a pair of rectangular buildings very ruinous and with walls 0.5 - 1.0m high built of granite. Wall thickness about 1m; it is possible that these structures are clay dries as no clear wall faces are visible.

Location

Protected Status: none recorded

Other References/Statuses

• Old DCC SMR Ref: SX66SE/245

Monument Type(s) and Dates

• CHINA CLAY DRIES (Constructed, XIX to Mid 20th Century - 1889 AD (Between) to 1950 AD (Between))
• SETTLING TANK (Constructed, XIX to Mid 20th Century - 1889 AD (Between) to 1950 AD (Between))

Full description

Robinson, R., 1978, South Brent Parish Checklist, Page 296 of 821 (Un-published). SDV137445.

SX 6668 6450 Clay dries. Remains. Could be footings of buildings.
(September 1977). Near the Zeal Tor Tramway and adjacent to it on the south side are a pair of rectangular buildings very ruinous and with walls 0.5 - 1.0m high built of granite. Wall thickness about 1m; it is possible that these structures are clay dries as no clear wall faces are visible.

Wakeham, C., 2016, Report on an Audit of Archaeological Features and Structures Relating to Railways and Tramways on Dartmoor Phase 1, DR+T_PPS_007 (Report - Assessment). SDV360397.

Settling tanks/concentrators and drags (clay works) at SX 66623 64553. Four rectangular structures concerned with the initial processing of material dug out of the Petre's Pits clay pit were laid out in a line downslope from the clay pit on an alignment roughly parallel with the Zeal Tor Tramway. The structures are arranged in pairs, the uppermost pair appearing to be drags, or for similar early stage processing, and the lower pair being settling tanks or concentrators. The uppermost drag (photograph a) lies at SX 66562 64581 and measures c.11.5m x 5.5m. It comprises an outer ditch/channel circuit of c.1m width and depth with another channel aligned northwest-southeast across its centre. It appears likely that pipeline DR+T_PPS_002 ran downhill to this first structure. The lower drag (photograph b) is located over 5m downhill at SX 66589 64571 and appears to be connected by a 1.5m+ wide bank. Overall the structure measures c.13m x 5.5m. Again, it has an outer ditch/channel circuit, but this time the rectangular structure is subdivided by at least two northeast-southwest running channels. Both of these higher structures are turfed over and quite indistinct from any distance. The lower pair of structures, located about 70m downhill, are a little closer to the Zeal Tor tramway track bed and are a little more imposing. They have raised banked sides and have the appearance of settling tanks. A raised bank, of c.1.8m width (photograph c), seems to connect the northwest wall, or bank, of the uppermost settling tank to the easternmost corner of the lower drag. The upper settling tank, at SX 66654 64540 (photographs d-e), measures about 13m by 6.75m internally. It has external banks or walls of c.1m height, which vary in thickness from c.1.5m to over 1.9m. A small projection of c.0.35m in the northwest bank probably housed the inlet pipe carrying the clay slurry/material down from the higher processing structures. There is a c.1m gap in the southeast bank (at the east corner), although it is unclear if this was a design feature or the result of later erosion. The ground is raised up about this point and creates a bank which runs along the northeast side of the lower settling tank, so it may be a deliberate opening. The lower settling tank (photographs f-g) lies about 7m to the southeast of the higher tank, at SX 66674 64526. Overall it measures about 16.35m by 6.15m internally, with external banks/walls varying in thickness from c.0.9m to 1.65m. The floor of the first 3.65m at the northwest end is c.0.3m lower than that of the rest of the structure. The overall height from the floor of the northwest end to the top of the surrounding banks is c.0.8m. A further division may have existed a further 5.5m to the southeast of the lower level, but it is unclear if the 3m long, 0.55m thick stub running out from the southwest wall is a definite partition or just some turfed over rubble. In Walking the Dartmoor Railroads, Eric Hemery (1983, page 59) referred to a potential barrack (measuring 13m by 6m) and nearby outbuilding (6.7m by 3.6m) beside a passing loop of the Zeal Tor Tramway on Bala Brook Heath. The only structures to be found near the tramway in the vicinity today are these clay processing structures and his given dimensions are strikingly similar to the internal dimensions of the upper settling tank and the northwest end of the lower settling tank.
All of the structures, including the bank containing the pipeline, are turf-covered and are all being encroached upon - to varying degrees - by yellowy moor grass.

Sources / Further Reading

Associated Monuments

Associated Finds: none recorded

Associated Events: none recorded

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