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Summary

Rixhill Mine was worked with East Crowndale for much of its operating life but was also associated with Anderton Mine nearby. It was probably abandoned by 1880; it is marked as disused on the 1880s-1890s 25 inch Ordnance Survey map. The remains of pits of possible mine shafts and spoil heaps were transcribed as earthworks from aerial photographs as part of the NMP survey of the Tamar Valley AONB. Earthworks are also visible on visualisations derived from lidar data captured in 2016.

Location

Protected Status: none recorded

Other References/Statuses

• Old DCC SMR Ref: SX47SE/36/1

Monument Type(s) and Dates

• MINE SHAFT (Post Medieval - 1540 AD to 1750 AD)
• SPOIL HEAP (Post Medieval - 1540 AD to 1750 AD)
• MINE (XIX - 1801 AD to 1900 AD)

Full description

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

Rixhill Mine (Tin, disused) marked on 1880s-1890s 25 inch Ordnance Survey map. An old shaft and a chimney are shown together with several buildings or structures. Map object based on this Source.

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

Rixhill Mine shown on 1906 25 inch map with a Shaft. An Old Shaft is shown to the west and Old Shafts to the east at SX48347236. Map object based on this Source.

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

The former mine is covered with trees.

Ramsden, J. V., 1952, Notes on the Mines of Devonshire, 99 (Article in Serial). SDV60737.

R8 Rixhill, see Anderton.

Ordnance Survey, 1971, Untitled Source (Cartographic). SDV47151.

Not shown on modern map.

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.

Earthworks of sub-oval and irregularly shaped pits and banks are visible.

Cornwall Archaeological Unit, 2001-2002, Tamar Valley National Mapping Programme Transcriptions and Database Records, RAF/540/226/F10/5254-5259 (Interpretation). SDV346287.

Transcriptions of two mine shafts and at least four and possibly six spoil heaps visible on aerial photographs RAF/540/226/F10/5254-5259 correspond with two database records, of mine shafts and spoil heaps, Rixhill Mine, Whitchurch.

Ordnance Survey, 2011, MasterMap (Cartographic). SDV346129.

Newman, P., 2011, Mining in the Tavy Valley, West Devon. An Assessment of Archaeological Potential, 46, Fig 4 (Report - Assessment). SDV347105.

A tinwork is mentioned at Rixhill in 1789 although it is not known what level of activity, if any, was taking place. For much of its working life Rixhill Mine was worked as part of East Crowndale Mine, although it was also worked alongside Anderton Mine for a time. Materials from Crowndale Mine were put up for sale in 1854 and included equipment from Rixhill but the latter was still operating in 1856. It was probably abandoned by 1880 as it was reported in 1886 that all the machinery had been sold some years previously. Aerial photographs indicate that little if any surface evidence survives. Other details: Site No. 22.

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-2000 ACCESSED 08-APR-2021 (Aerial Photograph). SDV363088.

The trees that covered the former mine have been completely cleared. Earthworks are possibly visible.

Hegarty, C., Houghton, E., 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.

Earthworks associated with Rixhill Mine are visible as sub-oval pits of possible shafts, between 2-8 metres long, and as irregularly shaped banks of spoil heaps, between 20-80 metres long, on visualisations derived from lidar data captured in 2016. Additional areas of more subtle earthworks that have been defined by extent of area polygons are also visible to the north-west and south. The extent of the visible earthworks occupies an area of circa 1.45 hectares.
The pits and banks correspond with earthworks and features labelled as ‘Rixhill Mine (Tin, disused)’ on the late 19th century First Edition Ordnance Survey map.
The area is covered with trees on 1940’s RAF aerial photographs which have been completely cleared by 2000. The removal of trees in this location during the second half of the 20th century may account for the spread nature of the earthworks across much of this area.
Two of the earthworks possibly correspond with the child record of mine shafts MDV79879. This child record has not been amended and the attribute data for the transcriptions of these two shafts have been appended to this parent record.
Earthworks of shafts and spoil heaps associated with this mine were also recorded from aerial photographs during the Tamar Valley NMP project. The features here 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. A curvilinear bank at SX48297234 is possibly associated with the record of a field boundary (MDV114443) recorded during the Tamar Valley NMP project. This record has not been amended.

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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