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Summary

Coursed stone-built remains of the bridge which formerly took the Princetown Branch line across the north-north-west by south-south-east aligned Walkhampton-Sheepstor road on Woodland Hill.

Location

Protected Status: none recorded

Other References/Statuses: none recorded

Monument Type(s) and Dates

• EMBANKMENT (Constructed, XVIII to XIX - 1800 AD (Between) to 1880 AD (Between))
• RAILWAY BRIDGE (Constructed, XVIII to XIX - 1800 AD (Between) to 1880 AD (Between))
• STEPS (Constructed, XVIII to XIX - 1800 AD (Between) to 1880 AD (Between))

Full description

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

Bridge is depicted on the late 19th century historic map.

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

Unchanged on the early 20th century historic map.

Wakeham, C., 2016, Report on an Audit of Archaeological Features and Structures Relating to Railways and Tramways on Dartmoor Phase 1, DR+T_GWRP_118, 119, 175 (Report - Assessment). SDV360397.

[DR+T_GWRP_118] Bridge at SX 55034 69017. Coursed stone-built remains of the bridge which formerly took the Princetown Branch line across the NNW-SSE aligned Walkhampton-Sheepstor road on Woodland Hill. It is built along embankment DR+T_GWRP_175. The historic remains of the bridge consist of two opposing coursed stone block abutments with slightly splayed or rounded wing walls running off each corner. The two abutments are staggered or skewed to allow the north-south aligned railway line to cross over the road at an angle. The interior width of the bridge (perpendicularly to the road) is c.4.45m and its full, skewed, width is c.7.5m. The original stonework stands to a height of c.4.5m (modern material was added to the top early this century). The NNE abutment is c.8.4m in length and the opposing SSW wall is c.8.6m in length. There is notable variation between the wing walls. The western wing wall has a straight, rather than curved splay. The first 0.5m, or more, of the wing wall is level topped, this then slopes down at an estimated 30° for a metre or so before levelling off again. Its outermost end is set back c.4m from the roadside. It is less noticeably tapered back than its northern counterpart. The northern wing wall is sloped and curved to follow the course of the road. It tapers in quite noticeably. It extends out from the bridge by c.11.2m. The eastern wing wall has a straight, rather than curved, splay and has an unbroken slope from top to bottom - where it ends at a square 0.95m x 0.95m stone-built pillar, c.1.1m in height. The relatively short southern wing wall is similar in design to the northern wing wall, although it shorter at c.8.6m. All of the wing walls are capped in stone. Granite, bonded with lime mortar, is the primary material used in the construction of the bridge and there is at least one piece of reused stone within the fabric of the bridge. A block with two 4cm diameter holes set 14cm apart may be found at the western corner, next to the wing wall. The gap between the holes is greater than that generally found on former Plymouth and Dartmoor Railway setts on Walkhampton Common or Peekhill Farm. This suggests that this particular stone had a different origin. As this section of the Princetown Branch did not follow the original Plymouth and Dartmoor Railway course, the original fabric of the bridge can be easily dated to 1883. The bridge was probably fitted with a flat iron/steel deck and parapet. It was fitted with a modern iron/steel bridge deck when the bridge was incorporated into a cycle route. The new bridge deck rests on modern stone coursing at the top of the original abutments. Wooden fencing has also been added along the top of the bridge.
The bridge is in a fairly good condition. The original lime mortar has been supplemented with new mortar, during "restoration work" when it was incorporated into a cycle route.
[DR+T_GWRP_1119] Steps at SX 55027 69031. Flight of eleven granite steps ascending the c.2.5m high railway embankment of Princetown Branch at Woodland Hill (DR+T_GWRP_175). The c.0.5m wide steps are on the west side of the northern approach to the railway bridge (DR+T_GWRP_118). The steps ascend perpendicularly from the ground level of the old field - formerly Mullacroft and Woodlands' field number 88 Higher Woodland, on the Meavy tithe apportionment. The field itself is reached by another flight of at least six c.0.45m wide steps built into the stone revetment face of the field boundary. The second flight of steps ascends from the roadside in a northerly direction over a distance of c.2.9m and to a height of 1.5m. It is not clear how old either of these flights of steps are and whether they were set up during the period the railway was in use or are a later addition.
The higher flight of steps are in a fair condition, but the lower flight is in poorer condition. The lower flight has a slightly rickety appearance and is being encroached upon by brambles, nettles and other troublesome vegetation.
[DR+T_GWRP_175] Embankment at SX 55027 69065. Very slightly curved embankment either side of the Walkhampton-Sheepstor road on Woodland Hill, aligned roughly north-south. It is approximately 240m in length and c.5.5m wide, tapering out to c.12m at its base. Bridge DR+T_GWRP_118 is located about a third of the way in along the embankment from the south, at its deepest point. Here the embankment is c.4.5m or more in height/depth. The embankment is composed largely of earth presumably with rubble stone mixed in. The embankment encroached upon at least four fields: three in Meavy and the other in Walkhampton. The 1839 tithe apportionment lists the two fields affected to the south of the road as 86 - Higher Newtake and 87 - Lower Newtake (both parts of Mullacroft and Woodlands tenement). The first field truncated to the north of the bridge was the same tenement's field 88 - Higher Woodland. The fourth field was 771 - Great West Park (part of Lower Lowery, Walkhampton). In the last case, the truncation by the railway led to a consequential reconfiguration of field boundaries and the removal of a hedge - the severed western corner of the field being added to its neighbour, 773 - Three Corners. The severed corner of Higher Woodland, being under separate ownership and tenure, remained a small, relatively isolated, enclosure between railway and road.
The sides of the embankment are predominantly grass-covered and it appears to be in a generally stable condition. There is some unevenness to its profile, which may have been the result of its inclusion within Plymouth Corporation Water Works' (later South West Water Authority's) conifer plantations. The part of the plantation to the south of the road has been thinned out and the part to the north has been clear-felled in recent years following an outbreak of phytophthora ramorum. This has reduced the impact of the trees upon the embankment.

Sources / Further Reading

Associated Monuments

Associated Finds: none recorded

Associated Events: none recorded

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