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Summary

A 19th century leat, now dry, which had its source on the north bank of the River Plym at SX 57664 6559 and conveyed water to a clay works on the eastern side of Wigford Down. The channel is 0.5m wide and up to 0.8m deep with spoil from its digging forming a bank along the downslope side. The leat was cut through two prehistoric enclosures, slighting their walls, and it transects three of the Legistor Warren pillow mounds.

Location

Protected Status

• Scheduled Monument 1019876: Prehistoric settlement, three round cairns and a post-medieval rabbit warren at Legis Tor

Other References/Statuses

• National Monuments Record: SX56NE325
• National Record of the Historic Environment: 1408246
• Old DCC SMR Ref: SX56NE/466
• Old SAM Ref: 22289

Monument Type(s) and Dates

• LEAT (Constructed, XIX - 1801 AD (Between) to 1899 AD (Between))

Full description

Royal Air Force, 1946, RAF/106G/UK/1190, 4259 (Aerial Photograph). SDV340833.

Cambridge University, 1967, CUC/AQX, 45 (Aerial Photograph). SDV355237.

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

Leat visible on the aerial photographs, mainly running between the 850 and 875 foot contours western termination SX 5673 6543 and eastern termination SX 5751 6523 both within streamwork crf: SX56NE/465. Cuts through enclosures crf: SX56NE/4 and SX56NE/72.

Greeves, T. A. P., 1985, The Archaeology of Dartmoor from the Air, plate 13. (Monograph). SDV337812.

19th century leat course serving Yeoland Consols Tin Mine.

Gerrard, S., 1990-2002, Monument Protection Programme. Archaeological Item Dataset., MPP 130860 (Report - Survey). SDV277946.

(22/02/1993) 800m length of Yeoland Consols Leat runs SX 5742 6525 - SX 5674 6542 and cuts through the prehistoric settlement and rabbit warren on the south-facing slope of Legis Tor. This leat was constructed during the 19th century to serve Yeoland Consols Mine at Clearbrook, some 5 kilometres distant. The leat measures 1.7m wide by 0.7m deep and the associated bank upcast downslope during the cutting of the leat is 1.6m wide and 0.8m high. A number of granite slabs laid across the channel represent original foot-bridges. The leat cuts through a number of prehistoric enclosure walls, pillow mounds and other features associated with the rabbit warren.

Probert, S., 2005, Ringmoor Training Area: Monument Baseline Condition Survey (Report - Survey). SDV363484.

(08/02/2005) SX 57566526 to SX 56736543. A dry leat channel formerly taking water from the right bank of the River Plym to the hamlet at Brisworthy. The sharply cut channel is 0.8m wide and a maximum of 1.0m deep with a bank on its downslope margin.
This appears to be a relatively recent feature as it remains well-defined and cuts through several pillow mounds on its course across Legis Tor Warren.

Newman, P., 2018, Archaeological Sites within Ringmoor Training Area, Dartmoor National Park, Devon: A condition survey on behalf of Defence Infrastructure Organisation (Report - Survey). SDV361636.

Depicted on the GIS survey layer from survey.

Newman, P., 2022, Ringmoor Down Premier Archaeological Landscape Dartmoor National Park, Devon. A new survey, Table 1 (Report - Survey). SDV365490.

Leat (Legistor Warren section) SX 57241 65248. A 19th century leat, now dry, which had its source on the north bank of the River Plym at SX 57664 6559 and conveyed water to a clay works on the eastern side of Wigford Down. The channel is 0.5m wide and up to 0.8m deep with spoil from its digging forming a bank along the downslope side. The leat was cut through two prehistoric enclosures, slighting their walls, and it transects three of the Legistor Warren pillow mounds.

Sources / Further Reading

Associated Monuments

Associated Finds: none recorded

Associated Events

• EDV7443 - Condition survey of archaeological sites in Ringmoor Training Area
• EDV7569 - Condition survey of Ringmoor Down training area
• EDV8227 - Ringmoor Training Area: Monument Baseline Condition Survey
• EDV8917 - Survey of the archaeological features on Ringmoor Down

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