See important guidance on the use of this record.

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

Summary

Two leats, now disused and silted, merge into one on the steep hillslope above Ditsworthy Stone Rows. They drew water from the River Plym (at about SX60236721) and merged at SX59176720; the lower leat clearly post-dates the upper leat and this indicates a re-alignment of the water supply. The single leat then follows a sinuous route around the hillside thence to cross the deep openworks at Ditsworthy at SX59416737, a point just below one of the extensive dressing floors of Ditsworthy Mine. This leat could have serviced this openwork but it seems more likely that it was laundered across the openwork to supply either one of the two large leats (one flows northwards and the other southwards) or alternatively it served the extensive openworks at Gutter Mire (SX58196682).

Location

Protected Status

• Scheduled Monument 1014145: Three stone alignments, 15 cairns, a cist, a partially enclosed stone hut circle settlement and a small clapper bridge at Drizzle Combe

Other References/Statuses

• National Monuments Record: SX56NE233
• National Record of the Historic Environment: 1245304
• Old DCC SMR Ref: SX56NE/367
• Old SAM Ref: 24104

Monument Type(s) and Dates

• LEAT (Constructed, Post Medieval to XIX - 1540 AD to 1900 AD (Between))

Full description

National Monuments Record, 1983, SF2134, 79 (Aerial Photograph). SDV231262.

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

Leat on Ditsworthy Warren to the east of the Drizzlecombe Brook, running between 1100 and 1125 foot contours. Western termination at streamwork (SX56NE/376) on Drizzlecombe at SX59156740. Eastern termination at SX59646707 cuts through enclosure (SX56NE/445). Crosses hollow way (SX56NE/378) at SX59336705. Junction with leat (SX56NE/374) at SX59326605.

Gerrard, S., 1990-2002, Monument Protection Programme. Archaeological Item Dataset., MPP 133446 (Report - Survey). SDV277946.

(12/03/1993) SX59416705 to SX59266711. Leat, now dry, leads from the River Plym at SX60176720 to the tin streamwork on the Drizzle Combe Brook at SX59156740 and may have once continued to Ditsworthy at SX58366630 and to Sheepstor at SX56056764.
Within the monument, the leat survives as a 1.5m wide and 0.3m deep channel and the associated bank of material upcast downslope during construction measures 2.3m wide and 0.6m high. This leat cuts through an enclosure and boundary bank and is bridged by a small clapper bridge. A clearly defined scarp lying a short distance upslope along part of its length may represent an earlier abandoned route of the leat.

Butler, J., 1994, Dartmoor Atlas of Antiquities: Volume Three - The South-West, Map 49 (Monograph). SDV137656.

Fletcher, M. + Newman, P. + Probert, S., 1999, Drizzlecombe, Eylesbarrow, Ditsworthy and Hartor areas in the Plym Valley, West Devon (Report - Survey). SDV346268.

(02/08/1999) Two leats, now disused and silted, merge into one on the steep hillslope above Ditsworthy Stone Rows. They drew water from the River Plym (at about SX60236721) and merged at SX59176720; the lower leat clearly post-dates the upper leat and this indicates a re-alignment of the water supply. The single leat then follows a sinuous route around the hillside thence to cross the deep openworks at Ditsworthy at SX59416737, a point just below one of the extensive dressing floors of Ditsworthy Mine. This leat could have serviced this openwork but it seems more likely that it was laundered across the openwork to supply either one of the two large leats (one flows northwards and the other southwards) or alternatively it served the extensive openworks at Gutter Mire (SX58196682).

English Heritage, 2001, Amendment (Schedule Document). SDV221261.

(09/03/2001) Post medieval leats close to Ditsworthy stone rows. (It is unclear whether these are the same as those referred to in source (1999 Ditsworthy survey) or are separate but associated with them). The southern leat cuts across the southernmost of the Ditsworthy stone alignments. It leads from the River Plym at SX 59426696 to the tin streamwork on the Drizzle Combe Brook at SX 59036708. This leat survives as a 1.3 metre wide and 0.15 metre deep channel. The northern leat leads from the river at SX 61076720 (?) to the tin streamwork on the Drizzle Combe Brook at SX 59156740. It survives as a 1.5 metre wide and 0.3 metre deep channel and is spanned by a small clapper bridge. This bridge consists of 5 parallel stone slabs laid across the channel and measures 2 metres long by 1.5 metres wide. Scheduled.

Probert, S. A. J. + Fletcher, M. J., 2002, Plym Valley survey (Report - Survey). SDV350782.

Probert, S. A. J., 2005, Field investigators comments (Report - Survey). SDV254627.

(10/03/2005) The leats described by Fletcher in 1999 formerly fed the extensive streamworking remains on the Sheepstor Brook. They remain in a good and stable condition.
The features recorded in the English Heritage scheduling amendment could be any of 4 leats that cut through the Drizzlecombe lithic complex. None of the NGRs given accord with the DGPS derived RCHME survey.

English Heritage, 2005, Leats Survey Information (Report - Survey). SDV347529.

Sources / Further Reading

Associated Monuments

Associated Finds: none recorded

Associated Events

• EDV8155 - Plym Valley Survey: EH Project (Feb 2001 - Dec 2002)
• EDV4966 - Survey of Drizzlecombe, Eylesbarrow, Ditsworthy and Hartor. The Eylesbarrow archaeological landscape
• EDV7443 - Condition survey of archaeological sites in Ringmoor Training Area
• EDV7551 - Ditsworthy Warren: An archaeological investigation
• EDV7569 - Condition survey of Ringmoor Down training area
• EDV8227 - Ringmoor Training Area: Monument Baseline Condition Survey

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