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Summary

Devon and Courtenay Mine is first recorded in the 1840s and produced copper until circa 1877-8. Earthwork mine shafts and spoil heaps were transcribed as part of the NMP Tamar Valley and Tamar/Lidar AI&M surveys.

Location

Protected Status: none recorded

Other References/Statuses

• Old DCC SMR Ref: SX47SE/32

Monument Type(s) and Dates

• MINE SHAFT (Unknown date)
• MINE (XIX - 1801 AD to 1900 AD (Between))
• MINE SHAFT (XIX - 1801 AD to 1900 AD (Between))
• SPOIL HEAP (XIX - 1801 AD to 1900 AD (Between))

Full description

Ordnance Survey, 1880-1899, First Edition Ordnance 25 inch map (Cartographic). SDV336179.

Devon & Courtenay Mine (Copper, disused) marked on 1880s-1890s 25 inch Ordnance Survey map with several adjoining buildings, earthworks to the north and a rectangular building to the northwest.

Ordnance Survey, 1904 - 1906, Second Edition Ordnance Survey 25 inch Map (Cartographic). SDV325644.

Devon & Courtenay Mine (Copper, disused) marked on 1904-1906 25 inch Ordnance Survey map showing a shaft at the southern end of the site.

Collins, J. H., 1912, Observations on the West of England Mining Region (Monograph). SDV323594.

Ordnance Survey, 1938, 105SE. Revision of 1905 with additions in 1938. Provisional Edition (Cartographic). SDV336767.

Devon & Courtenay Mine (Copper, disused) marked on Ordnance Survey 6 inch map of 1905/1938.

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

An irregularly shaped earthwork mound is visible.

Ramsden, J. V., 1952, Notes on the Mines of Devonshire, 93 (Article in Serial). SDV60737.

D10 Devon and Courtnay. Plan R 164 B. M. R. O. Copper.
C24 Courtnay. Plan. Bedford Estate Office, Tavistock.

Harris, H., 1968, Industrial Archaeology of Dartmoor, 225 (Monograph). SDV149229.

Devon and Courtenay have left in a field a large mound of old workings, and the remains of some walls and of a chimney stack. What may have been a shaft is now a rubbish tip. Further west where levelling has been done are the remains of other shafts and workings. Copper and lead were obtained here between 1850 and 1880.

Richardson, P. H. G., 1992, The Mines of Dartmoor and the Tamar Valley after 1913, 138 (Article in Serial). SDV323598.

Environment Agency, 2000-2019, LiDAR DTM data (1m resolution) EA: Tamar Aerial Survey project area, LIDAR Environment Agency LAST RETURN 15-FEB-2016 (Cartographic). SDV363954.

An irregularly shaped mound and two possible sub-oval pits are visible as earthworks.

Cornwall Archaeological Unit, 2001-2002, Tamar Valley National Mapping Programme Transcriptions and Database Records, RAF/CPE/UK/2501/4111-2 (Interpretation). SDV346287.

Transcriptions of an earthwork pit and spoil heaps mounds visible on aerial photographs RAF/CPE/UK/2501/4111-2 correspond closely with a database record of a shaft and associated spoil heaps to the south-west of Higher Tor.

Newman, P., 2011, Mining in the Tavy Valley, West Devon. An Assessment of Archaeological Potential, 26, Fig 10 (Report - Assessment). SDV347105.

The earliest recorded activity at this mine is in the 1840s. The mine, which worked an extension of the South Crebor lode together with a lesser lode to the north was employing 50 people by 1861-2. It is referred to as Wheal Courtenay in 1877. The last ore sales are recorded in 1877-8. Surviving features include adits and spoil heaps in Birch Wood, a wheelpit and features associated with a flat-rod system. There may also be the remains of the engine house and the line of the leat serving the waterwheel may also still be visible. Other details: No. 11.

Hegarty, C., Knight, S. and Sims, R., 2016, Backlog Recording of the Tamar Valley National Mapping Programme Survey (Personal Comment). SDV359374.

The aerial photograph reference given in the Tamar Valley NMP transcription attributes is incomplete; the date of the photograph is not included.

Google, 2019, Google Earth Pro, EARTH.GOOGLE.COM XX-XXX-2010 ACCESSED 09-APR-2021 (Aerial Photograph). SDV363088.

An earthwork mound is visible. Its western edge has probably been truncated by an agricultural trackway and yard.

Hegarty, C., Knight, S. and Sims, R., 2020-2021, Tamar/Lidar; A Single Source Approach to Landscape Survey and Socially Distanced Community Archaeology Area 1 (AI&M project) (Interpretation). SDV363945.

An irregularly shaped mound, circa 74 metres long by 40 metres wide, is visible as an earthwork on aerial imagery taken from the 1940’s onwards and on visualisations derived from lidar data captured in 2016. Two possible small sub-oval pits, circa 2.5 metres long, are additionally visible within the mound on lidar imagery.
The mound corresponds with an earthwork depicted on the late 19th and early 20th century First and Second Edition Ordnance Survey maps which is labelled as ‘Devon & Courtenay Mine (Copper, disused)’.
The earthworks are therefore interpreted as a spoil heap with possible shafts associated with this mine. Aerial imagery taken in 2010 show that the western edge of the spoil heap has probably been truncated following the construction of an agricultural trackway and yard.
Earthworks of spoil heaps and a shaft associated with this mine were also recorded from aerial photographs during the Tamar Valley NMP project. The earthworks have been re-transcribed during this survey from lidar data which has provided additional clarity and detail as well as improved spatial accuracy, but which was unavailable to the previous survey.

Sources / Further Reading

Associated Monuments

Associated Finds: none recorded

Associated Events

• EDV6911 - Tamar Valley National Mapping Programme
• EDV8345 - Tamar/Lidar; A Single Source Approach to Landscape Survey and Socially Distanced Community Archaeology Area 1 (AI&M) (Ref: ACD2380)

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