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Summary

The smoke-houses were built in 1913 and originally consisted of four chamber 3.95 metres to the south of the granary. The fifth smoke-house was built at about the time of the change to mains electricity.

Location

Protected Status

• Listed Building (II) 1264284: HARRIS BACON FACTORY BUILDING AT TOWN MILLS

Other References/Statuses

• Old DCC SMR Ref: SX86SW/300
• Royal Albert Memorial Museum Accession Number: 283/2008

Monument Type(s) and Dates

• FOOD PROCESSING PLANT (XX - 1913 AD to 1993 AD)
• SMOKE HOUSE (XX - 1913 AD to 1993 AD)

Full description

Ordnance Survey, 1913 - 1914, Third Edition Ordnance Survey Six Inch Map (Cartographic). SDV347459.

'Bacon Factory' is marked on the Ordnance Survey map of 1913-1914.

Ordnance Survey, 1930 - 1939, Fourth Edition Ordnance Survey 25 inch Map (Cartographic). SDV336668.

'Bacon Factory' is marked on the Ordnance Survey map of 1930-1939.

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

Bellchambers, J., 1992, Totnes Town Mills/Safeway Supermarket Site (Correspondence). SDV350882.

Following public enquiry Safeway’s supermarket chain has been granted planning permission to build a 25,000 square foot store and substantial car park on the site of Harris’s Bacon Factory.

Demolition of the old bacon factory buildings is essentially complete.

Historic Environment Record, 1993, Site of the Harris Bacon Factory (Personal Comment). SDV350872.

Buildings were demolished in advance of a supermarket development in 1993.

Westcott, K. A., 1994, Archaeological Survey of Harris Bacon Factory Buildings, Town Mills, Totnes, Section 2, 4.2 and 4.3 (Report - Survey). SDV169988.

Archaeological recording undertaken by Exeter Museum Archaeological Field Unit in 1993, on the site of the former Harris Bacon Factory, in advance of the demolition of a range of 20th century brick-built smoking-kilns, and during the conversion to offices and apartments of a large stone building known as the granary.

The granary and corn mill were bought by the West of England Bacon Factory in 1919. Pigs were slaughtered on the site and processed into pork and bacon. The expansion of the factory was largely completed by 1933. The 1933 Ordnance Survey map shows the built up area stretching from the mill building to near the railway, the line of the mill race forming its north boundary. The building covered about 1700 square metres. By 1974 the factory complex had extended northwards. The main building then covered an area of over 4500 square metres.

The smoke-houses butted onto the south wall of the granary. They extended south for about 19.6 metres and had a width of 4.6 metres. The west wall of the smoke-houses was offset 1.4 metres from the west wall of the granary. They were built of brick and had corrugated asbestos roofs.

The smoke-houses were built in 1913. They originally consisted of four chamber 3.95 metres to the south of the granary. A leat ran against the north wall and fed a turbine situated to the east. The turbine powered the whole factory in the early days. It went out of use in around 1950 and the factory turned over to main electricity. The bronze turbine wheel was buried when the leat was filled in.

The fifth smoke-house was built at about the time of the change to mains electricity.

In the early to mid-1960s in an effort to be more economical the smoke house walls were raised by 1.6 metres. In the early 1970s the “Smokura” process was installed. Later the ground floor of smoke-house 1 was converted to an office. After, smoke house 2 was taken out of use and a doorway communicating with smoke-house 3 were formed.

Pigs were killed on the site and turned into bacon up to 1930 or 1940.

Sources / Further Reading

Associated Monuments

Associated Finds: none recorded

Associated Events: none recorded

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