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Summary

A 19th century whim platform, shaft and ponds at Wheal Florence are recorded on Crownhill Down. These features probably correspond with earthwork mounds and pits visible on aerial photographs of 1940s onwards and digital images derived from lidar data captured between 1998 and 2014. The earthworks have been destroyed by the expansion of open cast mining on Crownhill Down.

Location

Protected Status: none recorded

Other References/Statuses

• National Monuments Record: 438405
• Old DCC SMR Ref: SX55NE/14
• Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division: SX55NE13

Monument Type(s) and Dates

• TIN MINE (XVIII to XIX - 1800 AD to 1900 AD)

Full description

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

The visible earthworks correspond with the remains of the mine of ‘Wheal Florence (Tin, Disused)’.

Royal Air Force, 1946, RAF/CPE/UK/1890, RAF/CPE/UK/1890 FP 1126-1127 10-DEC-1946 (Aerial Photograph). SDV169268.

Mounds and pits are visible as earthworks.

Ramsden, J. V., 1952, Notes on the Mines of Devonshire, 94 (Article in Serial). SDV60737.

F9 Florence, see Boringdon, Plympton. Other details: Figure 1.

Ordnance Survey, 1969, OS/69296, OS/69296 V 018-019 29-JUN-1969 (Aerial Photograph). SDV361475.

Mounds and pits are visible as earthworks.

Edwards, C., 1979, An archaeological survey of an area surrounding Hemerdon Ball, 20-1 (Report - Survey). SDV337241.

Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division, 1980, SX55NE13 (Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division Card). SDV343821.

Wheal Florence (disused). (OS 6" 1968)

The remains of Wheal Florence Tin Mine stand on Crownhill Down. In 1846, under the name 'Wheal Albert' a shaft, drained by a whim was sunk to a rich branch of pure tin, but the workings were abandoned within 18 months. Eleven years later the mine re-opened as 'Wheal Florence' but was only slightly worked, and there are no recorded outputs. (Devon Committee for Rescue Archaeology, August 1979, 20-1, Edwards, C.)

Gilbertson, D. + Collis, J., 1982, Mapping Three Millennia of Settlement and Land Use on Crownhill Down, South West Dartmoor (Article in Serial). SDV362901.

Tin mine opened in the 19th century.

Gilbertson, D. + Collis, J., 1985, Linear Banks on Crownhill Down, Dartmoor (Article in Serial). SDV337244.

Tin mine opened in the 19th century.

Royal Commission on the Historical Monuments of England, 1985, SX55NE (Cartographic). SDV337243.

Recorded on aerial photograph interpretation.

Griffith, F. M., 1988, DAP/KA, 5-12 (Aerial Photograph). SDV337242.

Griffith, F., 1988, Devon's Past. An Aerial View, 29 (Monograph). SDV64198.

Butler, J., 1994, Dartmoor Atlas of Antiquities: Volume Three - The South-West, 194-6, Map 52, Figure 52.16 (Monograph). SDV137656.

'Wheal Florence Tin Mine' shown on the south side of Crownhill Down.

Environment Agency, 1998-2017, LiDAR DTM data (1m resolution) EA: South Devon Coast to Dartmoor, LIDAR SX5659 Environment Agency DTM 01-JAN-1998 to 31-MAY-2017 (Cartographic). SDV361470.

Mounds and pits are visible as earthworks.

Bluesky International Ltd/Getmapping PLC, 1999-2017, Pan Government Agreement Aerial Photographs, Next Perspectives APGB Imagery SX5660 31-MAY-2016 (Aerial Photograph). SDV363087.

The earthworks have been destroyed by the expansion of open cast mining on Crownhill Down.

National Monuments Record, 2002, 438405 (National Monuments Record Database). SDV343822.

Wheal Florence 19th century tin mine also known as Wheal Albert was worked intermittently from 1846 to circa 1860. The evidence, situated within the remains of an older streamwork, comprises a group of at least five shaftheads, a reservoir, spoil heaps and a whim platform.

Fletcher, M., 2002, The Archaeological Landscape of Crownhill Down and Ridding Down: Survey Report, 5 (Report - Survey). SDV343412.

Wheal Florence or Wheal Albert Tin Mine comprising blocked shaft-heads and spoil tips. Other details: Figure 3 and Crownhill Down Survey.

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

'Wheal Florence (disused)' shown on modern mapping with two ponds and a 'Shaft'.

Hegarty, C., Knight, S. and Sims, R., 2019-2021, The South Devon Coast to Dartmoor Aerial Investigation and Mapping Survey. Area 2, Avon Valley to Plymouth (AI&M, formerly NMP) (Interpretation). SDV362982.

Earthwork mounds and pits are visible on aerial photographs 1946 onwards and digital images derived from lidar data captured between 1998 and 2014, on the west facing slopes of Crownhill Down, on the northern edge of an extensive band of reworked medieval streamworks. The earthworks correspond with earthwork mounds and pits depicted on the Ordnance Survey First Edition map of the 1880s-1890s and annotated as ‘Old Shaft’ and ‘Wheal Florence (Tin, Disused)’.
The earthworks are interpreted as the remains of a former tin mine shaft, ponds and possibly horse whim associated with the 19th century mine.
The earthworks have been destroyed by the expansion of open cast mining on Crownhill Down.

Sources / Further Reading

Associated Monuments

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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