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Summary

Ringleshutes Tin Mine is sited at the head of Venford Brook on Holne Moor, in an area previously worked by openworking and streamworking methods. The mine probably dates from the mid-19th century although very little documentation for the site survives. The site was being worked in 1852 (Greeves 1986) and was certainly disused by 1889 when William Crossing wrote of it as a ruin (Crossing 1889). Work seems to have followed three separate lodes where shafts and adits are evident.

Location

Protected Status

• Scheduled Monument 1020098: Ringleshutes tinwork

Other References/Statuses

• National Monuments Record: SX66NE132
• National Record of the Historic Environment: 1102201
• Old DCC SMR Ref: SX66NE/78
• Old SAM Ref: 24091

Monument Type(s) and Dates

• BEAMWORK (XIV to XVI - 1400 AD (Between) to 1540 AD (Between))
• ADIT (XIX - 1833 AD (Between) to 1866 AD (Between))
• HORSE WHIM (XIX - 1833 AD (Between) to 1866 AD (Between))
• MINE SHAFT (XIX - 1833 AD (Between) to 1866 AD (Between))
• TIN MINE (XIX - 1833 AD (Between) to 1866 AD (Between))
• TRAMWAY (XIX - 1833 AD (Between) to 1866 AD (Between))

Full description

Ordnance Survey, 1904 - 1906, Second Edition Ordnance Survey 25 inch Map, (1906) 113NE (Cartographic). SDV325644.

'Ringleshutes Tin Mine (disused)' indicated on the early 20th century 6 inch Ordnance Survey historic map (1906) and on later 1969 version.

Ramsden, J. V., 1952, Notes on the Mines of Devonshire, 99, fig.1 (Article in Serial). SDV60737.

National Monuments Record, 1977, SX6769, 1 (Aerial Photograph). SDV147515.

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

Ringleshutes Tin Mine is visible on aerial photographs. Recorded in project.

Greeves, T. A. P., 1990, An Assessment of Dartmoor Tinworking, 23 (Report - Assessment). SDV343684.

Openworks covering approximately 2 square kilometres, high on southern Dartmoor. Almost totally dependent on rainwater for filling leats and reservoirs. Offers great potential for understanding working techniques of late Medieval period, as has had relatively little disturbance in the 19th century.

Cranstone, D. + Hedley, I., 1995, The Tin Industry, Step 3 Site Assessments: Devon, 47 59 (Report - Assessment). SDV346887.

The site has been little studied and is a potential resource for the study of late Medieval mining techniques.

Probert, S. A. J. + Newman, P., 1997, Holne Moor, Dartmoor, Devonshire. A Landscape Survey by the Royal Commission on the Historical Monuments of England (Report - Survey). SDV173671.

(10/02/1997) SX 6755 6990 Ringleshutes Tin Mine is sited at the head of Venford Brook on Holne Moor, in an area previously worked by openworking and streamworking methods. The mine probably dates from the mid-19th century although very little documentation for the site survives. The site was being worked in 1852 (Greeves 1986, 4) and was certainly disused by 1889 when William Crossing wrote of it as a ruin (Crossing 1889). Work seems to have followed three separate lodes where shafts and adits are evident.
The westernmost shafthead is the largest, standing on previously undisturbed ground at SX 6714 69948. It consists of a conical pit of approximately 9m diameter with a crescentic ring of spoil on the downslope side. A corresponding drainage adit is sited at SX 67216999 cut into the southern outer scarp of an earlier streamwork. The adit is completely blocked by boggy vegetation and water issues from within.
A second shafthead is sited in the top eastern end of a large openwork at SX 6734 6991 and consists simply of a conical pit of 7m diameter. A probable adit connecting with this shaft also cuts into the southern scarp of the streamwork at SX 6743 7004. It too is completely blocked. Within the openwork to the east of the shaft, centred SX 6742 6989, is a flat topped linear spoil heap which is likely to be the product of dumping spoil using skips running on a tramway. The source appears to be the shaft or possibly a further, smaller shaft 18m to the east.
The third shafthead and probable main focus of 19th century underground working at the site is at SX 6754 6986, near the lower end of the openwork. The shafthead has a diameter of 9m and is approximately 5m deep. Adjacent to the shaft are the remains of a Cornish Engine House, used for pumping at the mine (see separate entry Monument HOB UID 1102257). A corresponding adit at SX 6771 7006 was undoubtedly the drainage level and an air shaft, now water filled, is sited equidistant between the engine shaft and the adit.
A tramway, used for transporting mined ore from the engine shaft to what is probably the site of small dressing floor at SX 6785 7032 (see separate entry Monument HOB UID 1102271), extends over a gentle gradient for 400m between SX 6756 6987 and SX 6779 7023. Where the tramway traverses the disturbed ground of the former streamworks between the engine house and the modern track, it consists of a raised flat-topped embankment. However, north of the track as it cuts across open moorland the tramway runs between two narrow, linear earth banks of up to 2m high. The gradient of the tramway necessitated some motive power to haul skips up the hill and this was provided by a horse whim sited at SX 6757 6991, adjacent to the tramway. The whim plat survives as a flat topped, circular cutting.

Bodman, M., 1998, Water-Powered Sites in Devon, 103 (Report - non-specific). SDV305931.

Bruce, B., 2000, Ringleshutes Mine walk, 3-4 (Article in Serial). SDV147519.

Multi-phase tinworks in 'Ringleshutes' area extends approximately 1.5 kilometres east-west and 1.0 kilometre north-south on the eastern slopes of Holne Ridge. Streamworks are cut by deep openworks and a network of water channels and reservoirs. There are numerous trial pits, lodeback pits and the deep shafts of the latest phase. The openwork phase is likely to date from the 15th - 18th century. A licence was granted in 1852 to work Ringleshutes in conjunction with Hensroost under the title 'the Holm Moor and Hen's Roost United Mines'.

Newman, P., 2019, An Archaeological Earthwork Survey of Tinworks along the River Mardle, Dartmoor National Park Devon (Report - Survey). SDV363608.

Newman, P., 2019, Survey data of tinworks along the River Mardle (GIS) (Cartographic). SDV363710.

Historic England, 2020, National Heritage List for England (National Heritage List for England). SDV363414.

(2000) The monument includes a tinwork situated on the slopes of Holne Ridge overlooking the valley of the River Dart. The tinwork includes a range of different earthwork and structural remains denoting the variety of prospecting and extraction methods employed through the ages. See Designation record for full details.

Sources / Further Reading

Associated Monuments

Associated Finds: none recorded

Associated Events

• EDV7100 - Holne Moor Survey
• EDV8290 - Survey of tinworks along the River Mardle

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