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Summary

Vis=30/9/1973 (greeves) possible tin mill on right bank of ivy tor water evidence of possible mill structure with settling pits in area of extensive tinworking (greeves).

Location

Protected Status

• Scheduled Monument 1015760: A prehistoric settlement complex, length of reave, tin streamwork and stamping mill on the western slopes of Cosdon Hill

Other References/Statuses

• National Monuments Record: SX69SW90
• National Record of the Historic Environment: 1223085
• Old DCC SMR Ref: SX69SW/104
• Old SAM Ref: 28800

Monument Type(s) and Dates

• STAMPING MILL (Built, Early Medieval to Early 20th Century - 1066 AD (Between) to 1901 AD (Between))
• BLOWING HOUSE (Built, Post Medieval to Early 20th Century - 1540 AD (Between) to 1901 AD (Between))

Full description

Untitled Source (Migrated Record). SDV236186.

Des=greeves, t. /list of doubtful devon tin mills c 1450-c 1750/(1981)no 29 (in smr). Vis=30/9/1973 (greeves) possible tin mill on right bank of ivy tor water evidence of possible mill structure with settling pits in area of extensive tinworking (greeves).

Untitled Source (Migrated Record). SDV236187.

Des=plan(1:100)in parish file. Vis=28/6/1983 (greeves + robinson) site surveyed at 1:100. Plans in possession of t. Greeves.

Untitled Source (Migrated Record). SDV236188.

Greeves, t. /dartmoor magazine/23(1991)20;fig 2/blowing and knocking - the dartmoor tin mill before 1750.

Untitled Source (Migrated Record). SDV236190.

Des=greeves, t. /an assessment of dartmoor tin working/(1990)42/in smr.

Untitled Source (Migrated Record). SDV236191.

Des=viant, j. /dtrg newsletter/25(july 2003)2/belstone walk 22nd march 2003. Water for the stamping mill was obtained from three reservoirs with leats + sluices located to the east. No mortar stone or bearing stone have been found (viant).

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

Not visible on 1946 RAF photos.

Gerrard, S., 1990-2002, Monument Protection Programme. Archaeological Item Dataset., MPP 140748 (Report - Survey). SDV277946.

(19/06/1996) At SX 62859176. Tin stamping mill within a substantial eluvial streamwork. The mill survives as a rectangular building, with an associated wheelpit served by a leat cut into an embankment and at least 2 buddles each served by a leat. A plan of the site by Greeves shows most of the features directly associated with the mill building, but does not clearly demonstrate that the mill lies within earlier streamwork earthworks, which have been utilised in the layout. This relationship indicates that this mill post dates streamworking in this area and demonstrates that extraction was being carried out elsewhere at a time when this particular area had been already been exhausted. The absence of any known mines within the area suggests very strongly that the cassiterite which was being crushed at the mill must have been derived from the streamwork.
The mill building measures 4.2m by 2.5m, is defined by drystone wall standing up to 0.6m high and is orientated NW-SE. The wheelpit measures 1.4m wide. This is one of the smallest mill buildings known on Dartmoor and its size is much more reminiscent of a tinners' shelter. The buddles lie immediately ne of the mill, are triangular in shape and the one nearest to the mill survives as a 2.1m by 2m by 0.4m deep hollow, whilst the other is 2.6m by 2m.

Historic England, 2022, National Heritage List for England (National Heritage List for England). SDV364675.

(24/09/1997) Stamping mill on the western slopes of Cosdon Hill. Within the streamwork (MDV27469) a stamping mill in which tin ore was crushed is visible. The mill building survives as a rectangular drystone structure with internal dimensions of 4.2 metres long by 2.5 metres wide.
This is one of the smallest mill buildings known on Dartmoor and its size is much more reminiscent of a tinner' shelter. The buddles in which the crushed tin was separated and concentrated lie immediately north east of the mill building and survive as small triangular hollows. Scheduled.

Sources / Further Reading

Associated Monuments

Associated Finds: none recorded

Associated Events: none recorded

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