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Summary

Stamping Mill number 7 at the 19th century Wheal Katherine Tin Mine which formed part of Eylesbarrow Tin Mine

Location

Protected Status

• Scheduled Monument 1021056: Wheal Katherine, 235m west of Plym Ford, forming an outlying part of Eylesbarrow Tin Mine
• SHINE: Earthwork remains of tin streaming and trial pits at Wheal Katherine Mine

Other References/Statuses

• Old DCC SMR Ref: SX66NW/66
• Old SAM Ref: 34468
• SHINE Candidate (Yes)

Monument Type(s) and Dates

• STAMPING MILL (XVIII to XIX - 1750 AD to 1900 AD)

Full description

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

Structure around wheelpit shown on 19th century map.

Cook, R. M. L., 1974, Eylesbarrow (1814- 1852): A Study of a Dartmoor Tin Mine, 184-8 (Article in Serial). SDV231127.

Royal Commission on the Historical Monuments of England, 1985, Aerial Photograph Project (Dartmoor) - Dartmoor Pre-NMP (Cartographic). SDV319854.

Not visible on aerial photograph.

Gerrard, S., 1990-2002, Monument Protection Programme. Archaeological Item Dataset., MPP 157297 (Report - Survey). SDV277946.

Site visited on 15th May 2002. Stamping mill 340 metres west-south-west of Plym Ford, forming part of Wheal Katherine Tin Mine. The wheelpit is 0.6 metres wide and the wall is up to 1.87 metres high on the southern corner. Wheelpit is largely filled with loose rubble. Evidence of considerable recent consolidation. To north of the wheelpit is a bearing stone. This worked rectangular stone measures 1.46 metres long, 0.58 metres wide and 0.65 metres thick and has four circular holes cut into its eastern end. These are 3 centimetres in diameter and 8 centimetre deep.

Greeves, T. A. P., 1997, Tin Stamping Mills of Dartmoor after AD 1750, 6-8 (Article in Serial). SDV346020.

Bodman, M., 1998, Water-Powered Sites in Devon, 23, 31 (Report - non-specific). SDV305931.

Wheal Kate on the River Plym.

Newman, P., 1999, Eylesbarrow (Ailsborough) Tin Mine, 105-148 (Article in Serial). SDV231130.

Stamping mill at Wheal Katherine may have been constructed in 1804 but was probably refurbished before its closure in 1856. The leat built in 1815-18 cuts the lower art of the dressing floor which may have put it out of use. The wheelpit is central allowing stamping on both sides and there are additional buddles and dressing areas. A unique feature at Stamping Mill number 7 is the narrow walled area on the south side of the wheelpit and the nearby recess in the dressing floor retaining wall. Walls are well constructed of drystone with vertical faces with stonework surviving.

Newman, P., 1999, Eylesbarrow (Ailsborough) Tin Mine, 25,Figures 4 and 14 (Report - Survey). SDV352201.

Stamping Mill number 7 at Wheal Katherine Tin mine. It was probably constructed before 1815 and was contemporary with Stamping Mill number 6 at Eylesbarrow Tin Mine to the west. The wheelpit at right angles to the revetment is set centrally.

GeoInformation Group Ltd, 2010, 1:625 2010 Colour aerial photography for Dartmoor (12.5cm resolution) (Aerial Photograph). SDV346026.

Feature shown on aerial photograph.

English Heritage, 2014, National Heritage List for England (National Heritage List for England). SDV355683.

Wheal Katherine includes structures and earthworks situated on the lower south facing slopes of Eylesbarrow overlooking the River Plym. The final form of mining is represented by five particularly large pits called shafts and an adit. These would have been dug to reach the tin ore below the depth accessible by openworks and lode back pits. These features probably belong to the 19th century extraction phase. Ore extracted from these shafts and adits would have been processed in the stamping mill and associated dressing floors. The stamping machinery would have sat next to the large stone faced wheelpit and the dressing floor survives as a series of linear and rectangular hollows in the area south of the stamps. Two reck houses in which the tin was further refined survive towards the southern edge of the dressing floor. The final product from this processing area would have been black tin which would have then been transported elsewhere for smelting.

National Monument Record, 2014, Pastscape, 1063881 (Website). SDV355682.

Remains of a tin processing works at Wheal Katherine which formed part of Eylesbarrow tin mine set and was operational until 1856. An archaeological field survey in 1994 located structures including a stamping mill, dressing floors and buddles.

Sources / Further Reading

Associated Monuments

Associated Finds: none recorded

Associated Events

• EDV6239 - Eylesbarrow (Ailsborough) Tin Mine
• EDV8409 - Dartmoor Royal Forest Project

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