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Summary

Remains of a miner's house and office situated on the east side of the Redwater within Soussons Plantation beside the mine track at Golden Dagger Tin Mine. The construction date or the building is not known but it was in existence by 1883, when it appears on the Ordnance Survey first edition 25-inch map. An archaeological field survey in 2002 recorded two probable construction phases. The earlier comprised a central rectangular building of three rooms. To this a two roomed extension was added at a slightly offset angle on the south side, and a porch added across the join on the east side. A range of outbuildings was placed leading off the northern side, one of which is known to have served as a garage. The building was abandoned in 1942 though the walls survive in robust condition, benefiting from quite recent consolidation carried out by Dartmoor National Park Authority.

Location

Protected Status: none recorded

Other References/Statuses

• National Monuments Record: SX68SE399
• National Record of the Historic Environment: 1362168
• Old DCC SMR Ref: SX68SE/297

Monument Type(s) and Dates

• GARAGE (Built, XIX to World War II - 1883 AD (Between) to 1942 AD (Between))
• OFFICE (Built, XIX to World War II - 1883 AD (Between) to 1942 AD (Between))
• WORKERS COTTAGE (Built, XIX to World War II - 1883 AD (Between) to 1942 AD (Between))

Full description

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

Depicted on OS 25-inch first edition map (1883).

Ordnance Survey, 1963-1996, 1963-1996 National Grid OS Metric (Cartographic). SDV350058.

Building shown on OS 6 inch historic (1963) map.

Greeves, T. A. P., 1986, Tin Mines and Miners of Dartmoor, A photographic record (Monograph). SDV351363.

Photographs of the building when still in use in the 1930s included.

Butler, J., 1991, Dartmoor Atlas of Antiquities: Volume Two - The North, 21-2, Map 24 (Monograph). SDV219155.

Site '7' the roofless shell of Dinah's house alongside the track housed several generations of miners during the active life of Golden Dagger mine with the last occupant leaving in 1942. The room facing the door was the office with a sitting room on the left and kitchen and two bedrooms on the right over a large store room. Below the house is the site of the stamping mills which were probably served by a leat which runs between track and plantation.

Cranstone, D. + Hedley, I., 1995, Monuments Protection Programme: The Tin Industry Step 3 Site Assessments, Devon 56c (Report - non-specific). SDV357946.

Documented.

Griffith, F. M., 20/01/1988, DAP/JR, 5a, 6 (Aerial Photograph). SDV245001.

Passmore, A., 2000, Golden Dagger tin mine, 7 (Article in Serial). SDV305928.

A track leads from Dinah's House to the engine house of Golden Dagger tin mine SX67NE/304.

Newman, P., 2002, Headland Warren and the Birch Tor and Vitifer Mines (Report - Survey). SDV363213.

(25/07/2002) A ruined and roofless building at Golden Dagger Mine known as Dinah's House, sited on the east side of the Redwater within Soussons Plantation beside the mine track. The origin of the name of the building is not known neither is its original construction date, but it was in existence by 1883, when it appears on the 1st edition 25-inch OS map. The building has two probable construction phases which commenced with a central rectangular building of three rooms. To this an extension, consisting of two rooms was added at a slightly offset angle on the south side, and a porch added across the join on the east side. A range of outbuildings was placed leading off the northern side one of which is known to have served as a garage. The house was lived in by mining families and served as an office. It has been abandoned since 1942 though the walls survive in robust condition, benefiting from quite recent consolidation carried out by Dartmoor National Park Authority.

Devon Archaeological Society, Unknown, List of Soussons Archaeological Sites (Worksheet). SDV293249.

"Dinah's House" recorded by DAS.

Sources / Further Reading

Associated Monuments

Associated Finds: none recorded

Associated Events

• EDV7390 - Archaeological condition survey in Soussons Woods
• EDV7402 - Archaeological condition survey in Soussons Woods
• EDV7431 - Woodland Survey (1989-90) at Bellever, Soussons and other woodland parcels
• EDV7139 - Headland Warren and the Birch Tor and Vitifer Mines Survey (Ref: A1/20/2001, A1/34/2002)

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