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Summary

No longer extant, this cottage is depicted on historic maps at the level crossing opposite a signal box. Demolished some time after 1962.

Location

Protected Status

• SHINE: Earthwork and structural remains of a section of the late 18th century Devonport Leat running from Yelverton Reservoir to Crofts Plantation as well as ruined remains at two deserted medieval farmsteads at Lowery

Other References/Statuses

• Old DCC SMR Ref: SX56NE/320
• SHINE Candidate (Yes)

Monument Type(s) and Dates

• CROSSING KEEPERS COTTAGE (Built, XVIII to Mid 20th Century - 1800 AD (Between) to 1962 AD (Between))

Full description

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

Cottage shown at Lowery Road level crossing; north-south aligned, rectangular building adjacent to the railway.

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

Unchanged from the previous map depiction.

Ordnance Survey, 1963-1996, 1963-1996 National Grid OS Metric (Cartographic). SDV350058.

Not shown on the later 20th century historic map (although it does feature on the 1953-1996 version), so has been demolished by this time.

Greeves, T. A. P., 1979, South West Water Authority Burrator Survey, No.55 (Report - non-specific). SDV278356.

Lowery Road Level Crossing keeper's cottage. Structures on both sides of railway line, marked on 1887 Ordnance Survey 6 inch historic map. Now only foundations visible.

Dartmoor National Park Authority, 1993-2001, Survey of archaeological sites Burrator (South West Lakes Trust), No.55 (Report - non-specific). SDV365167.

Lowery Road Level Crossing keeper's cottage. Structures on both sides of railway line, marked on 1887 Ordnance Survey 6 inch historic map. Now only foundations visible.

Wakeham, C., 2016, Report on an Audit of Archaeological Features and Structures Relating to Railways and Tramways on Dartmoor Phase 1, DR+T_GWRP_115 (Report - Assessment). SDV360397.

Buildings (site of) at SX 55028 69232. Site of the crossing keeper's cottage at Lowery Level Crossing (SX 55026 69232) and a nearby outbuilding (SX 55029 69232). The cottage was reduced to its bare footings sometime after 1962 and the outbuilding sometime before that. All that can be currently seen of the cottage above ground consists of a T-shaped bit of wall footing c.4.8m to the east of the Princetown Branch track bed. It is at least 6.2m in length (perhaps up to 7.9m) north-south, with a cross wall of c.3.7m length on the east side. There is another, small possible stretch of footing a couple of metres further east. This is on a parallel alignment to the longer north-south wall. The scant traces of the outbuilding are about 3.7m to the east of the cottage site. The remains consist of three faint earthwork sides of the building: the positions of the north, east and west walls. The earthworks cover an area of at least 1.5m (north-south) by c.3m (east-west). Both are depicted as stone-built buildings on the first edition Ordnance Survey map. The Cottage ran north-south, parallel with the railway line, and the outbuilding was aligned east-west. A second stone-built building - aligned northeast-southwest and which adjoined the northeast corner of the first - is depicted as ruinous on the second edition Ordnance Survey map. No traces of the second outbuilding can currently be identified above ground. A wood and/or iron-built signal box on the opposite side of the track, again dating to the 1880s, and an adjacent smaller building (built 1904/earlier) have both been seemingly lost without a physical trace. There is now only a narrow green verge to the west of the track bed where these other two buildings stood. According to A.R. Kingdom (1991, page 25) there was a platelayers' hut located here. Perhaps this was the second building on the later Ordnance Survey map. The small triangular site in which the cottage and outbuildings was situated, and also the site of the signal box &c opposite, was formerly the northeast corner of a field known as Three Corners. It was part of Lowery Farm until the creation of the railway and was listed as field 773 - part of Lower Lowery - on the 1839 tithe apportionment.
The site of the buildings is almost completely grassed over, with only the scantiest trace of bare stone footings still visible. The grassy plateau on which the cottage and outbuildings stood is uneven, but at least free of bracken (albeit only just). The site of the signal box and other building is likewise just a grassy verge.

Sources / Further Reading

Associated Monuments

Associated Finds: none recorded

Associated Events

• EDV8862 - Survey of archaeological sites on SWLT land in the Burrator catchment
• EDV8863 - Survey of archaeological sites on SWLT land in the Burrator catchment

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