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Summary

Site of 19th century East Portlemouth Consols Iron Mine.

Location

Protected Status

• Scheduled Monument 1021253: Coaxial field systems and associated later remains between Deckler's Cliff and Gammon Head

Other References/Statuses

• National Monuments Record: 1351734
• Old DCC SMR Ref: SX73NE/33
• Old SAM Ref: 33774

Monument Type(s) and Dates

• MINE (XIX - 1801 AD to 1900 AD (Between))

Full description

Waterhouse, R., 2000, East Portlemouth Heritage Appraisal: An Archaeological History of the Parish, 32-33 (Report - non-specific). SDV340515.

Iron mine opened in 1857 by a group of Cornish 'adventurers' but was abandoned by 1860.

Waterhouse, R., 2000, Untitled Source (Personal Comment). SDV346462.

East Portlemouth Consols, an iron mine which saw a brief life in the late 1850s. Various workings and structures survive. Other details: marked map in parish file..

Newman, P., 2003, Deckler's Cliff Field System, East Portlemouth (Report - Survey). SDV346460.

Small 19th century mine which operated from 1859-1861 and was intended to exploit silver-lead but only a small amount of plumbago was recovered.

Department for Culture, Media and Sport, 2004, Coaxial Field Systems and Associated Later Remains between Deckler's Cliff and Gammon Head (Schedule Document). SDV340277.

Iron Mine immediately east of Seacombe Sand and for a distance of 200 metres to the northeast. Mine has a series of adits, shafts, lode back pits and an openwork following two parallel lodes on a southwest to northeast axis. All shafts and adits have collapsed. The lowest level on the southern lode was entered by an adit immediately above the cove west of Deckler's Island. Some 70 metres west of this beside the cliff path is a dump 20 metres wide and up to 1.5 metres high. Above the adit a pithead platform lies alongside a collapsed shaft, behind which two more adits led to the mine's second and third levels. The northern lode runs 30 metres to the north and lies within the coaxial field system, inland from the coastal slope. Its western end is marked by a pair of lode back pits, the first of which has apair of narrow dumps on its west side. Two small exploratory adits to their west are accompanied by slight dumps. Immediately adjoining these is an openwork 15 metres wide by 30 metres long and 4.0 metres deep following the lode to the northeast. A pair of dumps each 8.0 metres wide and up to 3.0 metres high curve round to meet each other down the steeply sloping hillside to the west while a trackway led down the hillside to the north. Some 30 metres west along the lode are two collapsed shafts 4.0 metres and 6.0 metres in diameter by up to 2.0 metres deep. The adjoining dump is 17 metres wide and up to 3.0 metres high with a flat summit. South of these shafts are two small trial pits and a possible adit. Northeast of the shafts a broad level pithead area terraced into the hillside is 17 metres long by 11 metres wide. Where the coastal path crosses the stream to the northwest of the mine a pair of small miners' cottages survive. The mine was served by a system of tramways leading to a port facility below Deckler's Island. Two small buildings were sited at the west end of the storage area. An inclined plane connected the tramways to the cliff above. Evidence survives for the majority of these features.
19th century iron mines are a prominent type of field monument produced by iron mining. They consist of a range of features grouped around the adits and shafts of a mine. The evidence for adit and shaft mining, with pit head platforms, a tramway system and a complex port facility make the sites at Deckler's Cliff and Pig's Nose unusual in an area where mining was not common. The above and below ground remains will contain archaeological and environmental information relating to their excavation, construction and use within the landscape.

Pink, F., 2014-2015, South Devon Coast Rapid Coastal Zone Assessment Survey Desk-Based Assessment (Interpretation). SDV357736.

Sources / Further Reading

SDV340277	Schedule Document: Department for Culture, Media and Sport. 2004. Coaxial Field Systems and Associated Later Remains between Deckler's Cliff and Gammon Head. The Schedule of Monuments. A4 Stapled.
SDV340515	Report - non-specific: Waterhouse, R.. 2000. East Portlemouth Heritage Appraisal: An Archaeological History of the Parish. A4 Stapled + Digital. 32-33.
SDV346460	Report - Survey: Newman, P.. 2003. Deckler's Cliff Field System, East Portlemouth. English Heritage Survey Report. AI/16/2003. A4 Stapled + Digital.
SDV346462	Personal Comment: Waterhouse, R.. 2000. Not Applicable.
SDV357736	Interpretation: Pink, F.. 2014-2015. South Devon Coast Rapid Coastal Zone Assessment Survey Desk-Based Assessment. AC Archaeology Report. Digital.
	Linked documents:1

Associated Monuments

Associated Finds: none recorded

Associated Events

• EDV6587 - Archaeological Assessment of Land between Bolt Heat and Bolt Tail

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