See important guidance on the use of this record.

If you have any comments or new information about this record, please email us.

Summary

Quarry or levelled area for clay working facilities visible on the aerial photographs and shown on mid-20th century historic maps (no map coverage for this area for the older historic maps).

Location

Protected Status

• SHINE: Earthwork remains of the early 20th century China Clay works at Redlake Mine and the associated railway, as well as prehistoric remains on Ugborough Moor

Other References/Statuses

• Old DCC SMR Ref: SX66NE/199
• SHINE Candidate (Yes)

Monument Type(s) and Dates

• QUARRY (Constructed, XVIII to Mid 20th Century - 1751 AD? to 1950 AD (Between))

Full description

Royal Air Force, 1946, RAF/CPE/UK/1890, 4275 (Aerial Photograph). SDV169268.

Ordnance Survey, 1953-1969, 1953-1969 National Grid OS A edition imperial (Cartographic). SDV352727.

Depicted on the mid-20th century historic maps (no map coverage for this area for the older historic maps).

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

Small quarry, possibly for clay? Visible on the 1946 aerial photograph. Area 0.3 hectares.

Newman, P., 2018, Erme Valley Survey data (GIS and Excel spreadsheet) (Cartographic). SDV361913.

Feature shown on survey.

Newman, P., 2018, The Upper Erme Valley, Dartmoor National Park, Devon: An Archaeological Survey, Appendix 1 (Report - Survey). SDV362921.

A large sub-rectangular cutting to the north of the Greenhill clayworks (MDV 5169) at Crossways, is likely to have been associated with clayworking. The cutting is up to 54 metres long by 20 metres creating a level terrace with scarps to the west, east and south sides but open to the north. Most of the spoil was removed via the north and dumped just down the slope, on level topped finger dumps. A low curved revetted bank has been constructed across part of the north side, partly enclosing the level area. The feature is not depicted on any Ordnance Survey maps but one of its spoil heaps overlies a section of the Zeal Tor Tramway, effectively blocking it, which would date it to later than the 1870s. Its purpose is also unclear but with a deliberately levelled floor it is more likely to have been a base for a building for clay refining processes rather than extraction, though this cannot be confirmed, as no evidence of either has survived. It is possible that it was the intended site for a set of settling tanks , but never used, or perhaps timber mica drags. A silted ditch can be traced from the open end of the cutting, 135 metres south to the upper mica pond at Greenhill Works, implying that some form of waste was flowing from it.

Sources / Further Reading

Associated Monuments

Associated Finds: none recorded

Associated Events

• EDV8082 - Survey of the Upper Erme Valley

Search results generated by the HBSMR Gateway from exeGesIS SDM Ltd.