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Summary

Remains of a cider mill at Longstone Manor, adjacent to Burrator Reservoir.

Location

Protected Status

• SHINE: Remains of Longstone Manor House on the shore of Burrator Reservoir
• Scheduled Monument: The Remains of Longstone Manor House, Wind Strew and associated features

Other References/Statuses

• Old DCC SMR Ref: SX56NE/2/4

Monument Type(s) and Dates

• CIDER MILL (Early Medieval to XXI - 1066 AD to 2009 AD)
• CIDER PRESS (Early Medieval to XXI - 1066 AD to 2009 AD (Between))

Full description

Beckerlegge, J. J., 1939, Eighth Report of the Plymouth and District Branch, 182 (Article in Serial). SDV149484.

The reconstructed cider press and mill are in working order, set up by the city water company. The 'windstrew' or threshing floor is unique in Devon. There are also various troughs, a slot bar gate, a holed gate hanger and other worked stones to be found.

Worth, R. H., 1949, The Moorstone Age, Part 1, 331 (Article in Serial). SDV274816.

Worth, R. H., 1950, The Moorstone Age, Part 2, 333,335-336 (Article in Serial). SDV336081.

Longstone's reconstructed cider mill is still in working order, and consists of the poundstone, edge runner and granite vat to receive the juice. It was erected by the Plymouth Corporation, but not for use. The poundstone is in two parts. The edge runner is a granite wheel used in the cider press, plane on side towards the centre of the poundstone, and convex on side towards the circumference. The tread of the wheel is slightly rounded and is fluted parallel to the axle. The stone base of the cider press is a circular stone with a moderate extension of "snout". It is an enlarged version of a cheese press without diametrical channels.
Poundstone (diameter 1.98 metres, 483 millimetres thick), runner (diameter 1.1 metres, (maximum 305 millimetres, minimum 229 millimetres thick), weight 660 kilograms), flutes width 127 millimetres, hole (length 152 millimetres), stone base (diameter 1.78 metres, 229 millimetres thick), channel (diameter 1.372 metres, width (top 89 millimetres, bottom 64 millimetres), depth (minimum 25 millimetres, maximum 44 millimetres)).

Greeves, T. A. P., 1979, South West Water Authority Burrator Survey, No.46 (Report - non-specific). SDV278356.

Hemery, E., 1983, High Dartmoor, 115-118 (Monograph). SDV249702.

Behind the remains of the manor house is the cider-house which at one time had a modern timber framework and protective roof from a restoration project (this had become entirely derelict in 1981). This structure contained the manor’s cider-making apparatus, comprising the base and lever-beam of the press and a complete mill, with base, edge-runner, centre beam, and the roller-axle to which the ever-gyrating horse was harnessed. The depth of the cider trough beneath the press, 0.46 metres, would seem to indicate a fruitful production.

Woods, S. H., 1988, Dartmoor Stone, 174-5 (Monograph). SDV346790.

Images of the cider mill, cider press base and kieves (a type of trough that the apple juice flowed into after being squeezed from the fruit) at Longstone.

Sources / Further Reading

Associated Monuments

Associated Finds: none recorded

Associated Events: none recorded

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