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Summary

Bovey heathfield. Some of earliest surviving documentary references to specific tin working locations in devon relate to bovey heathfield, especially in 15c. Area seems to have witnessed extensive medieval exploitation of alluvial tin deposits. A triangle of land lying on s side of drumbridges roundabout, and w of the road to newton abbot, is 1 area where extensive tinners' heaps survive, planted with conifers. Probably site of 'gaverocke' tinwork recorded in early 17c (greeves).

Location

Protected Status: none recorded

Other References/Statuses

• Old DCC SMR Ref: SX87NW/208

Monument Type(s) and Dates

• EXTRACTIVE PIT (Early Medieval to Post Medieval - 1066 AD to 1750 AD)
• SPOIL HEAP (Early Medieval to Post Medieval - 1066 AD to 1750 AD)
• STREAMWORK (Early Medieval to Post Medieval - 1066 AD to 1750 AD)
• TIN WORK (Early Medieval to Post Medieval - 1066 AD to 1750 AD)

Full description

Greeves, T. A. P., GREEVES MIGRATED RECORD source; linked to multiple records (Worksheet). SDV69961.

Bovey heathfield. Some of earliest surviving documentary references to specific tin working locations in devon relate to bovey heathfield, especially in 15c. Area seems to have witnessed extensive medieval exploitation of alluvial tin deposits. A triangle of land lying on s side of drumbridges roundabout, and w of the road to newton abbot, is 1 area where extensive tinners' heaps survive, planted with conifers. Probably site of 'gaverocke' tinwork recorded in early 17c (greeves).

Untitled Source (Migrated Record). SDV307008.

Des=greeves, t. /an assessment of dartmoor tinworking/(1990) 20/in smr.

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

Several irregular shaped features are shown in this location.

Fairy Surveys Ltd, 1964, FSL/6412 V, FSL/6412 V 063-064 07-FEB-1964 (Aerial Photograph). SDV357115.

Extensive earthworks of linear and irregularly shaped pits, incised channels and mounds are visible.

Environment Agency, 1998-2017, LiDAR DTM data (1m resolution) EA: South Devon Coast to Dartmoor, LIDAR SX8274; SX8374; SX8275; SX8375 Environment Agency DTM 01-JAN-1998 to 31-MAY-2017 (Cartographic). SDV361470.

Extensive earthworks of linear and irregularly shaped pits, incised channels and mounds are visible.

Newman, P., 2015, A382 from Drum Bridge to Whitehill Cross and Jetty Marsh Link (Report - Survey). SDV359593.

An earthwork survey was commissioned in September 2015 by SLR Consulting Ltd, to provide a detailed plan of the earthworks as a basis for interpretation, and to assist further decision making within the planning process. The following report sets out the results of the survey and offers suggestions for further research and mitigation. The earthworks comprise a combination of linear cut features, water channels, pits, hollows and spoil dumps. The ground surface has been notably lowered over much of the area affected by the diggings, up to 2.5 metres in places. The remains are of a type not yet widely recorded in Devon, but bearing some similarities with placer deposit workings elsewhere.
The combined earthworks of the study area straddle a low tongue of land, which projects from west to east, formed by the confluence of Liverton Brook on the south and its unnamed northern tributary (Fig. 2). The latter has been partly absorbed into the artificial Stover Lake, constructed in the dip at the eastern foot of the slope in the late 18th century. Although barely perceivable amid the dense conifers and surrounding developments, the terrain slopes gently, both north and south, with a difference in height of up to 7 metres. The area adjacent to the Trago Mills road represents the higher ground, sloping away to the north, northeast and east. This gradient continues to a lesser extent to the east of the A382, within Blacksticks. The subtle gradient is reflected, to the south of the Trago Mills road into Gavrick Copse, but then falls away more notably in the southern sector, representing the southern side of the tongue. The character of the earthworks may be divided into three types.
1. Areas where tinworking has resulted in linear cuttings. Fragments of the unaltered land surface
survive as narrow amorphous pieces of ground, apparently unaffected by tinworking but isolated by
lower-lying areas removed as part of the extraction process. These unaltered strips are few, totaling less than 0.37ha. The deepest of the cuttings is a little over 2 metres.
2. Worked out areas. The entire land surface has been altered, and ground level perceivably lowered and pitted in places. Waste heaps, arranged in a mostly random fashion and of various dimensions and forms, now cover these areas and channels score the surviving ground. It has not been possible to estimate the depth of ground removed over these areas, but it is likely to have been similar to that of the cuttings, probably less than 4 metres, which is believed to have been the maximum depth of the tin-bearing alluvial deposit (Scrivenor 2015).
3. Large amorphous hollows of up to 2 metres deep. These are all located in a cluster on the south-west
corner of Gavrick Copse (Zone G), with only modest spoil heaps associated.
Associated with these types are the remains of:
• waste heaps – varying in size from less than 0.3 metres high to over 2 metres high. Most are covered by humus, mossand forest debris, but where exposed they are made up of stone and clay. Although some are linear, others appear to be of random form.
• channels – linear or slightly sinuous in form, either cutting through the virgin ground, as described above, or through the surface of the worked ground. In the latter case they may represent the lower, surviving remnants of the former type.
• pits – amorphous in form and not surviving to great depth, however, they may represent the lower parts of working pits, where surrounding terrain has been worked away.
• leats – narrow channels for the diversion of water supplies. Within Pitt’s Plantation these only survive in the isolated, unaltered areas described above and have been identified at only three locations (PP2, PP7-9). In all cases they have been truncated into short lengths by the progress of later working. Within Gavrick Copse, these features are more numerous.
• field boundaries – disused hedge banks. The boundaries take the form of Devon Banks, i.e. linear earth banks with battered sides, which once supported dense hedges.

(See report for details on all the earthworks associated with the tin extraction).

Hegarty, C., Knight, S. and Sims, R., 2018-2019, The South Devon Coast to Dartmoor Aerial Investigation and Mapping Survey. Area 1, Haldon Ridge to Dart Valley (AI&M) (Interpretation). SDV361305.

Extensive earthworks of a medieval or post-medieval tin works which occupy an area of circa 32.4 hectares of woodland of Gavrick Copse, Pitt’s Plantation and Blacksticks Plantation are visible as linear and irregularly shaped pits, incised channels and mounds on aerial photographs taken in 1964 and digital images derived from lidar data captured between 1998 and 2017. Transcription of these earthworks was carried out primarily using Simple Local Relief and Positive Openess lidar visualisations and were aided by P. Newman’s ground earthwork survey which was carried out in 2015. Given their complexity, only those earthworks which were more clearly defined were recorded, with an ‘extent of area’ polygon used to define the approximate limit of the tin workings. The few isolated pockets of undisturbed ground shown on P.Newman’ s survey were also transcribed to help indicate the extent of ground disturbance here, as were the more recent woodland trackways which dissect the earthworks, both transcribed as extent of areas. Several of the earthworks are shown as irregularly shaped features on the First Edition Ordnance Survey map of the late 19th century, but had evidently been completely subsumed by woodland by this time. Evidence of smaller-scale tin workings have also been recorded to the south (MDV9162 & MDV21250). Further investigations, such as targeted trenching is recommended to help establish more fully the nature of these earthworks.

Unattributed, 2021, Restoring Stover Park. Archaeological Surveys. Lidar Assessment, Area 2 (Report - non-specific). SDV366261.

Extensive mounds and hollowwere interpreted as probably forming an eastern extension of tin workings recorded to the west and north-west at Bovey Heathfie.
Derived partly from previous AI&M survey transcriptions.

Passmore, A. + Rainbird, P., 2021, Restoring Stover Park. Report on Archaeological Surveys., 5; Fig 3; Plate 2; Appendix 1 (Report - Survey). SDV366260.

The proposals for Area 2 are to extend the visitor car parks and local green travel links, to extend the visitor centre, and to construct a new workshop building.
The assessment of Lidar data identified extensive mounds and hollows, probably an eastern extension of tin workings recorded to the west and northwest at Bovey Heathfield.
The walkover survey confirmed the presence of earthworks identified during the assessment of Lidar data. All features were identified, although a group of three northeast earthworks were very subtle, and may not be of archaeological origin.
No further landscape investigations are required. Intrusive investigations should be considered to understand the significance of the earthworks should development proposals in this area involve potential harm through removal or truncation.

Steinmetzer, M., 2024, Ilford Park, Stover, Devon: Archaeological Strip, Map and Sample Excavation (Report - Excavation). SDV366106.

An archaeological strip, map and sample excavation was carried out by Oakford Archaeology in July 2024 on land at Ilford Park, Devon (SX 8290 7482). The work comprised the machine excavation of two areas. These were positioned to target archaeological features previously identified during an evaluation undertaken in April 2024 and to provide an additional spatial sample of the site. Evidence for extensive truncation across the entire site, as well as the remains of large open excavations were identified throughout the site during the evaluation.

One of the features in Area 1 was a northsouth aligned linear feature measuring at least 10m in length and 9m wide. This possible open-cast mining was 0.7m deep and filled with a single 0.1m thick fill identical to the surrounding topsoil.

In Area 2, the natural subsoil was cut by a linear feature (2002) aligned approximately northeast-southwest. It measured approximately 0.56m wide and 0.06m deep, with gently breaking sides a concave base. No finds were recovered from its single fill. The feature was in turn sealed underneath a 0.3m thick humic dark blackish brown sand and grit with silty clay topsoil (2001). No finds were recovered from the excavations. It is likely that this represents either a former field boundary or a drainage ditch associated with the extensive post-medieval tin, sand, clay and gravel extraction taking place on the site.

The results of the excavations have been consistent with features and deposits relating to postmedieval tin and/or sand, clay and gravel extraction activities previously documented and recorded in the Bovey Heathfield area. Here shallow deposits of low-grade tin ore were being exploited from the 14th-17th centuries and was one of the major locations for tin working in Devon. The tin ore was found at a depth of less than 4m and the largest of the open gullies that have been surveyed to the east of the A38 measured over 65m long by 12m wide and up to 2.2m deep. Evidence from the previous evaluation and Area 1 suggests both large-scale workings and slightly deeper open workings. The findings correlate with the evidence recorded by Newman to the east of the A38 which showed on the basis of surface evidence, there was little in the way of a systematic approach to exploiting the tin ore resource, with the lack of a decent water supply necessitating small scale operations at localised points. The presence of a thin humic topsoil and the complete absence of earlier soil sequences within the open mining excavations, suggests that these were taking place on the site a short time before the establishment of Pitt’s Plantation in the late 18th or early 19th century.

Steinmetzer, M. + Sargeant, S.J., 2024, Ilford Park, Stover, Devon: Evaluation (Report - Evaluation). SDV366105.

An archaeological evaluation was carried out by Oakford Archaeology in March 2024 on land at Ilford Park, Devon (SX 8290 7482). The work comprised the machine-excavation of six trenches totalling 271m in length, with each trench 1.6m wide. These were positioned to target anomalies shown through an earthwork survey undertaken in 2015 and to provide a spatial sample of the site.

Evidence for extensive truncation across the entire site, as well as the remains of large open excavations were identified throughout the site. Due to an excessively high water table it was not possible to investigate these further. However, upcast deposit related either to the extraction of tin or sand was identified in Trenches 1, 5 and 6, including the remains of a possible thin buried topsoil in Trench 1. No further features or dating material were found.

A long linear was recorded in Trench 2 and may represent a former drainage ditch associated with the tin extraction, or a former sub-division of an earlier field pre-dating the establishment of Pitt’s Plantation in the late 18th or early 19th century.

Sources / Further Reading

SDV307008	Migrated Record:
SDV336179	Cartographic: Ordnance Survey. 1880-1899. First Edition Ordnance Survey 25 inch map. First Edition Ordnance Survey 25 inch Map. Map (Digital).
SDV357115	Aerial Photograph: Fairy Surveys Ltd. 1964. FSL/6412 V. Fairy Surveys Ltd aerial photograph. Photograph (Paper). FSL/6412 V 063-064 07-FEB-1964.
SDV359593	Report - Survey: Newman, P.. 2015. A382 from Drum Bridge to Whitehill Cross and Jetty Marsh Link. SLR Consulting Ltd. Digital.
SDV361305	Interpretation: Hegarty, C., Knight, S. and Sims, R.. 2018-2019. The South Devon Coast to Dartmoor Aerial Investigation and Mapping Survey. Area 1, Haldon Ridge to Dart Valley (AI&M). Historic England Research Report. Digital.
	Linked documents:1
SDV361470	Cartographic: Environment Agency. 1998-2017. LiDAR DTM data (1m resolution) EA: South Devon Coast to Dartmoor. Environment Agency LiDAR data. Digital. LIDAR SX8274; SX8374; SX8275; SX8375 Environment Agency DTM 01-JAN-1998 to 31-MAY-2017. [Mapped feature: #96883 ]
SDV366105	Report - Evaluation: Steinmetzer, M. + Sargeant, S.J.. 2024. Ilford Park, Stover, Devon: Evaluation. Oakford Archaeology. 24-16. Digital.
SDV366106	Report - Excavation: Steinmetzer, M.. 2024. Ilford Park, Stover, Devon: Archaeological Strip, Map and Sample Excavation. Oakford Archaeology. 24-29. Digital.
SDV366260	Report - Survey: Passmore, A. + Rainbird, P.. 2021. Restoring Stover Park. Report on Archaeological Surveys.. AC Archaeology. ACD2341/1/0. Digital. 5; Fig 3; Plate 2; Appendix 1.
SDV366261	Report - non-specific: Unattributed. 2021. Restoring Stover Park. Archaeological Surveys. Lidar Assessment. AC Archaeology. ACD2341. Digital. Area 2.
SDV69961	Worksheet: Greeves, T. A. P.. GREEVES MIGRATED RECORD source; linked to multiple records.

Associated Monuments

Associated Finds: none recorded

Associated Events

• EDV6963 - Earthwork Survey, A382 from Drum Bridge to Whitehill Cross and Jetty Marsh Link
• EDV7515 - The South Devon Coast to Dartmoor Aerial Investigation and Mapping (formerly NMP) Survey: Haldon Ridge to Dart Valley (Ref: ACD1748)
• EDV9117 - Evaluation: Ilford Park, Stover, Devon (Ref: 24-16)
• EDV9118 - Archaeological strip, map and sample excavation: Ilford Park, Stover, Devon (Ref: 24-29)
• EDV9169 - Restoring Stover Park (Ref: ACD2341/1/0)

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