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Summary

Leat beginning at a sluice in the river Tale to the east of Rowden End Covert, running south to rejoin the river just beyond the former Talaton Mill.

Location

Protected Status

• SHINE: Cropmarks of possible prehistoric or Roman settlement, ditches of water meadow system, section of former leat to Talaton Mill and Escot Park, an C18 historic parkland
• SHINE: Cropmarks of possible prehistoric or Roman settlement, ditches of water meadow system, section of former leat to Talaton Mill and Escot Park, an C18 historic parkland
• SHINE: Cropmarks of possible prehistoric or Roman settlement, ditches of water meadow system, section of former leat to Talaton Mill and Escot Park, an C18 historic parkland

Other References/Statuses

• Old DCC SMR Ref: SY09NE/44/1
• SHINE Candidate (Yes)

Monument Type(s) and Dates

• LEAT (Unknown date)

Full description

Weddell, P. J., 1991, Archaeological Assessment of the Published Route (preliminary) of the A30 Honiton-Exeter Improvement, 18 (Report - Assessment). SDV337589.

Talaton mill leat. Runs from a weir at SY08459851. There may well have been other mills along its length.

Reed, S. J., 1995, A30 Trunk Road Honiton to Exeter Improvement Field Survey and Recording (Report - Survey). SDV355147.

The leat which fed Talaton mill received water from 2 sources, a stream that runs e along the north boundary of Big Wood, and a channel taken off the river Tale at SY08459851 (1.2 kilometres to the north of the mill). These watercourses merge at SY08529753, just north of a small orchard. The leat is cut by the proposed road corridor at SY08559748 in the vicinity of a brick bridge at the north-west corner of the orchard.
All the hedgebanks crossing the proposed corridor in this vicinity had been removed at the time of the field visit in February 1995, and consequently there had been some disturbance to the sides of the leats. The leats were cut directly into alluvial clays and gravels. None of the watercourses were lined, except for the irregularly-shaped pool and chute (see below).
From the north-west comer of the orchard the flow of water is controlled and diverted, south and east, via a sluice gate situated circa 3 metres east-south-east of the bridge. The main leat runs south along the west side of the orchard. At this point it is 2.2 metres wide but choked with vegetation and silt. It originally extended as far as the mill but this channel now lies under a driveway and car park. Some 40 metres north-west of the mill buildings, a surviving channel turns east through a permanently-open sluice gate, dropping 2.5 metres into an irregular brick-lined pool (the level of which is controlled by another sluice at its east end) before rejoining the river Tale.
From the bridge, water is also diverted eastwards via the sluice. It drops 1.75 metres down a brick-lined chute with sides constructed of ashlar limestone blocks. This leat continues s along the east side of the orchard, then turns east to follow the public footpath as far as the river. This teat is 1.7 metres wide, and is free-flowing. At the north-east corner of the orchard are the remains of another brick- built sluice gate of uncertain function.
A slightly more northerly watercourse, shown rejoining the river on the Ordnance Survey 25 inch map of 1888 and the 1:25,000 map of 1980, has been inflated in recent times and is visible only as a shallow depression.

Brown, D. + Williamson, T., Unknown, Escot Park, Devon: Feasibility Study for the Restoration of the Water Meadows, Mill Leat and Watermill Supply, 5 (Report - non-specific). SDV351549.

The meadows on the western side of the river were fed by a long leat, Leat 1. The Ordnance Survey 6 inch First Edition shows that it began at a sluice in the river Tale, a feature which has now largely disappeared, to the east of Rowden End Covert, as shown in Figure 1a. The northern section of its course (from Rowden End Covert to the outflow from Boathouse Copse) follows a fairly serpentine route along the contours of the valley, picking up additional water from a number of minor springs and streams flowing off adjoining hills. Towards the south (Figure 1b), however, its course becomes more angular and artificial, with sharp bends and some long straight sections, as for example along the western side of Area 2. It was joined by leat 3 in the south-western corner of Area 1, and by leat 2 in the north-eastern corner of Area 2. It rejoins the river just beyond the mill at Fairmile (formerly Talaton Mill) and there is little doubt that this leat originated as a mill stream although its line was apparently altered when the water meadows were installed.
The third leat, Leat 3, is a much shorter feature and, unlike those just described, entirely confined to the flood plain of the river. It began at the ruined weir in the centre of the Area 1 meadows, and proceeded for just 150 metres until it joined Leat 1, at the south-western corned of those meadows. Its course can still be traced on the ground: it was filled in during the 1960s.
See report for full details.

Sources / Further Reading

Associated Monuments: none recorded

Associated Finds: none recorded

Associated Events: none recorded

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