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Summary

Also known as Clearbrook Leat, this was the cause of a dispute in the early 17th century, when it's instigator, William Crymes (Lord Mayor of the Manor of Buckland Monachorum) took water from the Plymouth Leat. The leat stil runs until SX52548 65029 but the dry course can be traced around the contour of the hill to approximately SX5204 6541.

Location

Protected Status

• SHINE: Earthwork and structural remains of the World War II RAF Harrowbeer airfield, as well as medieval fields and farms, industrial tin working, sections of the Devonport and Plymouth Leats, and part of the Plymouth and Dartmoor Tramway on Roborough Down

Other References/Statuses

• Old DCC SMR Ref: SX56SW/102
• SHINE Candidate (Yes)

Monument Type(s) and Dates

• LEAT (Constructed, XVI to XVII - 1600 AD to 1605 AD (Between))

Full description

Devon County Council, 1838-1848, Tithe Mosaic, approximately 1838-1848 (Cartographic). SDV349431.

The earthworks do not correspond with any curvilinear features in this location.

Royal Air Force, 1946, 106G/UK/1190, 4195 (Aerial Photograph). SDV170515.

Royal Air Force, 1946, RAF/106G/UK/1190, RAF/106G/UK/1190 RP 3217-3218 27-FEB-1946 (Aerial Photograph). SDV363067.

Narrow curvilinear ditches are visible as earthworks.

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

Gray, V., 1984, Leat/s on Roborough Down, Bickleigh, 18/2/1984 (Worksheet). SDV168703.

A leat course can be traced from SX51846464 to SX52426479. It is cut by field walls in six places at SX52026455, SX52126450, SX52256444, SX52326441, SX52616435 and SX52656452. It can be traced clearly through two fields. At SX52436476 the leat is not apparent but 40 metres north-west of here a leat emerges from under the road, on the east side, and continues north to Clearbrook (in Buckland Monachorum). The line of both sections is about on the contour 512 feet.

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

Leat on Roborough Down visible on aerial photographs. Entering map from SX56NW at SX52546500. Visible until SX52596456.

Gray, V., 1990, A Leat on Roborough Down and an Early Seventeenth-Century Tinners' Dispute, 71-82, figs 2 and 3 (Article in Serial). SDV168705.

Leat running from SX51946538 to SX51846463. Consists of two branches, of which this is the southern. Circa 0.5 metres deep. Blocked by later walls at several points. This may be the leat referred to in documents concerning a 1600 dispute over water diversion.

Exeter Archaeology, 1996, Archaeological assessment of South West Water Burrator to Crownhill water main upgrade, 3 (Report - Assessment). SDV273792.

Site of the northern branch of Cryme's (?) leat (SX52546500).
It is believed that this leat was dug around 1600 by William Crymes, Lord of the Manor of Buckland Monachorum, with the intention of abstracting water from the recently created Plymouth Leat. He claimed the right to use the water for tinworking under Stannary Law, and this led to litigation, resolved in 1603, when the Star Chamber granted him the right to work two tin mills with the water (Gray, 1990). A probable mill site has been identified 200 metres north of the pipeline route. Parts of the northern branch were affected by later tin working and other parts have been used in the recent past for drainage.
Site of the southern branch of Cryme's leat (SX52006457).
The southern branch of Cryme's Leat has been less affected by later workings than the northern branch but it has been blocked in several places by field walls before returning to open moorland. Two 17th century mines, Heathparke and Blewstone are believed to have lain quite close to it (Gray, 1990).
Site of feeder to Crymes'(?) Leat from Plymouth Leat (SX5306489 - digit missing from grid reference).
The litigation was over the right to abstract water from the Plymouth Leat and this site would appear to be the feeder channel. However the channel here is known to have been dug out and used in recent times by the Water Authority (see Gray, 1990).

Bayer, O. J. + Sage, S. A., 1997, Archaeological recording on the South West Water Burrator to Crownhill Main water upgrade: Stage 2, 4 (Report - Survey). SDV273785.

The pipeline cut through the northern branch of Cryme's Leat at approximately SX52406500. At this point the leat was 2.05 metres wide by 0.75 metres deep. The upcast from the leat had been banked up on the east side to form a retaining wall. The sides of the leat sloped gently down to a flat base. No stone walls or lining were observed. A scale section (1:50) was drawn through the leat during pipe trenching.
The pipeline cut through the southern branch of the leat at SX52006457. The width of the leat at this point was 1.80 metres and it was seen to have vertical sides and a flat base. No observations were made of the excavation of the pipe trench through this feature. It remains about 0.5 metres deep and the mines that were close to it were Heathparke and Blewstone (see Gray, 1990).
A feeder channel taking water from the Plymouth Leat to supply Crymes' Leat was cut through at SX52406494 (channel measured 2.20 metres wide by 0.7 metres deep). The upcast from channel was dumped on the south-west side creating a bank, the sides sloping at angle of 45 degrees down to a flat base. No stone walls or lining were observed.

Environment Agency, 1998-2014, LiDAR DTM data (1m resolution) (Cartographic). SDV359177.

Visible on the lidar images of Roborough Down.

NERC, 2013, LiDAR DTM data (1m resolution) Tellus: South Devon to Dartmoor, LIDAR SX5264; SX5265 Tellus DTM 01-JUL-2013 to 31-AUG-2013 (Cartographic). SDV361514.

Narrow curvilinear ditches are visible as earthworks.

Ryan, K., 2017, DartmoorCam, http://www.dartmoorcam.co.uk/CAM/previouswalks/2013-2-10_LEATS/Leats-Clearbrook.htm (Website). SDV360157.

Clearbrook Leat; probably 'Crymes' Leat'.
The leat originally reached just past the north end of the houses at Clearbrook. When flowing in modern times - with runoff rainwater from the old WW2 RAF Harrowbeer airfield - the water is diverted down to the River Meavy (acts as a flood relief measure that started during World War II, taking a considerable amount of water in times of heavy rain from the old wartime airfield at Yelverton (RAF Harrowbeer).
Constructed around 1599, taking water from the Plymouth leat. Overseen by Sir Francis Drake, there were long disputes about who could take water from it, especially before it reached Plymouth. William Crymes, the Lord of the Manor of Buckland Monachorum and a prominent tinner, diverted Plymouth Leat water for tinning uses, causing a bitter dispute in 1602-3. He had support from Sir Walter Raleigh who was Lord Warden of the Stannaries. Documentary evidence for the dispute quoted.
Gray's 1990 article is also quoted, describing a survey of the leat, and postulates that this is Crymes' Leat. It is, in fact, two leats: both originating at the point where the breach from Plymouth Leat reaches the road to Goodameavy.
1.Crymes' Leat runs under the road and contours north around the hill, eventually crossing the road to Clearbrook, just south-west of the houses, with a terminal survey point at SX 5194 6538. It is interrupted along this route by later tin workings.
2.The other section contours away south-east and then turns north-west with a terminal survey point at SX 518 6463. This might be described as taking Roborough Lane, from the road to Clearbrook, i.e. the first road on the right, proceeding 310 metres to the end of the open Common, follow the hedge on the left, around the corner to the right, to the survey point 100 metres on a bearing of 104°.
It is not known if the two leats were built at the same time, nor is the reason for building the second leat.
The dispute between Crymes and the Mayor and Commonalty of Plymouth was so acrimonious that it ended up in the Star Chamber court at Westminster in 1603. The outcome being that William Crymes was granted rights to take water from Plymouth Leat to power "two tynne milles knocking milles or classe milles" on Roborough Down. The term "clash mylls" is used in a letter to the Queen's Principal Secretary from Sir Walter Raleigh. More modern terms, "knocking mill" and "tin mill" are also mentioned in the paper. These are mills to crush tin ore before it is smelted, also known as "stamping mills". The leat is close to four 17th century mines in the area: Pluckpenny (SX 522650), Corowesbeame (SX 520647), Blewstone (SX 518646 approximately), Heathparke (SX 527644).

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.

Narrow curvilinear ditches, typically between 2m and 3m wide, are visible as earthworks on aerial photographs taken from 1946 onwards and on visualisations derived from lidar data captured in 2013. The visible earthworks follow the 160m contour line and extend from south of Clearbrook (SX52006536) in an easterly and then southerly direction, terminating at Plymouth Leat (circa SX52256490), a total length of circa 1.3km. The earthworks do not correspond with any curvilinear features in this location on the mid-19th century Parish Tithe Map, or on later available historic mapping. A ‘Drain’ is however, shown and labelled here on the 2020 Ordnance Survey MasterMap.

Sources / Further Reading

Associated Monuments

Associated Finds: none recorded

Associated Events

• 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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