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Summary

Numerous prospecting pits of probable medieval to post-medieval date are clearly visible on aerial photographs of the 1940s to 1960s as earthworks on Crownhill Down. The earthworks have probably been destroyed by modern open cast mining.

Location

Protected Status: none recorded

Other References/Statuses

• National Monuments Record: 1355142
• National Record of the Historic Environment: 1355142
• Old DCC SMR Ref: SX55NE/147

Monument Type(s) and Dates

• TRIAL PIT (Early Medieval to Post Medieval - 1066 AD to 1750 AD)

Full description

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

Pits are clearly visible as earthworks.

Royal Air Force, 1946 - 1949, Royal Air Force Aerial Photographs (Aerial Photograph). SDV342938.

Royal Air Force, 1955, RAF/540/1625, RAF/540/1625 F22 0238-0239 24-MAY-1955 (Aerial Photograph). SDV351141.

Pits are clearly visible as earthworks.

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

Pits are clearly visible as earthworks.

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

Small row of trial pits visible on aerial photograph.

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.

The pits are identifiable as subtle earthworks.

National Monuments Record, 2002, 1355142 (National Monuments Record Database). SDV343959.

Prospecting pits associated with tin mining are scattered either individually or in small groups across a west-facing hillslope centred at SX56515922 on the south side of Crownhill Down. They survive as slight pits averaging 4 metres in diameter by 0.5 metres deep with a collar of spoil on the downslope side. Other details: NMR Number SX55NE28.

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

Other details: Figure 3 and Crownhill Down Survey.

Google, 2019, Google Earth Pro, EARTH.GOOGLE.COM 22-JUN-2018 ACCESSED 04-JUL-2019 (Aerial Photograph). SDV363088.

The earthworks have been destroyed by the expansion of opencast mining across Crownhill Down.

Hegarty, C., Knight, S. and Sims, R., 2019-2020, The South Devon Coast to Dartmoor Aerial Investigation and Mapping Survey. Area 2, Avon Valley to Plymouth (AI&M, formerly NMP) (Interpretation). SDV362982.

Numerous pits are visible on aerial photographs of the 1946 to 1969 as oval or circular earthworks between 3 and 8m across nearly 3ha of the north-west facing slopes on the southern edge of Crownhill Down. A crescent of upcast spoil is visible on the downslope edge of most pits.
Several clusters of pits are visible, most displaying a pronounced north-north-east to south-south-west alignment in the grouping of the pits.
The pits are interpreted as the remains of prospecting pits of probable medieval to post-medieval date, the north-north-east to south-south-west alignment probably intended to identify the extent of buried tin deposits.
The pits remain visible as subtle earthworks on images derived from lidar data captured between 1998 and 2014 but have subsequently been largely destroyed by modern open cast mining.

Sources / Further Reading

Associated Monuments: none recorded

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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