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Summary

Leat visible as earthwork ditches and banks on the aerial photographs taken from 1946 onwards and on visualisations derived from lidar data captured in 2013. Associated with Cryme's Leat; this appears to have been taken off the Plymouth Leat at the same point and runs to the road to Goodameavy, before heading south-east and then cutting round north-west, to end around SX51846463.

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: SX56NW/105
• SHINE Candidate (Yes)

Monument Type(s) and Dates

• LEAT (Constructed, XVI to XVIII - 1600 AD to 1750 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, 4200-4204 (Aerial Photograph). SDV170515.

Royal Air Force, 1946, RAF/106G/UK/1190, RAF/106G/UK/1190 RP 3275-3276 27-FEB-1946 (Aerial Photograph). SDV363067.

Narrow curvilinear ditches and banks are visible as earthworks.

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

Leat visible on the 1946 aerial photograph and recorded on map overlay.

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.

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

Visible in part on the lidar images of Roborough Down.

NERC, 2013, LiDAR DTM data (1m resolution) Tellus: South Devon to Dartmoor, LIDAR SX5264 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.

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.

This leat is visible as several sections of curvilinear earthwork ditches which are flanked in places by banks, both less than 2m wide, on aerial photographs taken from 1946 onwards and on visualisations derived from lidar data captured in 2013. The earthworks follow the 155m and 160m contour lines and extend from a road at SX52406479 in a south-easterly direction towards Leighbeer Plantation, where the earthworks turn sharply around towards the northwest, terminating at SX51846446. 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.

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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