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Summary

Gobbet's plain blowing mill/crazing mill/stamping mill. A much ruined blowing house, with a leat clearly traceable. Two mould stones found. Burnard notes similarity between them and the week ford mould. One of the mould stones much eroded by use. Several mortarstones. The only blowing house on dartmoor at which both upper and lower stones of a crazing mill have been found. The grinding face is 915mm in diam. Sample mould first found here. Considerable heaps of broken slag in gravel form present. Length 9.0m x 5.0m wide (os, citing worth,1940).

Location

Protected Status

• Scheduled Monument 1002658: Blowing house and mill at Gobbet
• SHINE: Walling of Bronze Age hut circle and earthworks and open cut remains of 19th century Gobbett Tin Mine, including tunnel adjacent to the River Swincombe

Other References/Statuses

• National Buildings Record: 108525
• National Monuments Record: SX67SW42
• National Record of the Historic Environment: 443355
• Old DCC SMR Ref: SX67SW/37
• Old SAM County Ref: 1004

Monument Type(s) and Dates

• BLOWING HOUSE (Built, Early Medieval to XVII - 1066 AD (Between) to 1700 AD (Between))
• OVERSHOT WHEEL (Built, Early Medieval to XVII - 1066 AD (Between) to 1700 AD (Between))
• STAMPING MILL (Built, Early Medieval to XVII - 1066 AD (Between) to 1700 AD (Between))
• TAIL RACE (Built, Early Medieval to XVII - 1066 AD (Between) to 1700 AD (Between))
• TIN MILL (Built, Early Medieval to XVII - 1066 AD (Between) to 1700 AD (Between))
• WATERMILL (Built, Early Medieval to XVII - 1066 AD (Between) to 1700 AD (Between))

Full description

Untitled Source (Migrated Record). SDV235643.

Anon/mining journal/(22/8/1891)947.

Untitled Source (Migrated Record). SDV235644.

Anon/trans newcomen soc/9(1928-9)97-98/summer meeting at dartmouth.

Untitled Source (Migrated Record). SDV235647.

Des=plan(1:100)in parish file.

Untitled Source (Migrated Record). SDV235648.

Des=os 6" (1906)107se.

Untitled Source (Migrated Record). SDV235649.

Dartmoor magazine/23(1991)20.

Untitled Source (Migrated Record). SDV235650.

Greeves, t. /an assessment of dartmoor tin working/(1990)38/in smr.

Untitled Source (Migrated Record). SDV235653.

Des=gerrard, s. /the early south western tin industry: an archaeological view/in newman, p.(ed)/the archaeology of mining & metallurgy in south west britain/(1996)67-83/(mining history: bulletins pdmhs, vol 13 no 2).

OS, CITING WORTH,1940, Untitled Source (Migrated Record). SDV235622.

Gobbet's plain blowing mill/crazing mill/stamping mill. A much ruined blowing house, with a leat clearly traceable. Two mould stones found. Burnard notes similarity between them and the week ford mould. One of the mould stones much eroded by use. Several mortarstones. The only blowing house on dartmoor at which both upper and lower stones of a crazing mill have been found. The grinding face is 915mm in diam. Sample mould first found here. Considerable heaps of broken slag in gravel form present. Length 9.0m x 5.0m wide (os, citing worth,1940).

Ancient Monuments, Untitled Source (Report - Survey). SDV235624.

Vis=-/1/1977 (ancient monuments) leat remodelled in 19th century, probably worked in 17th century.

UNDOCUMENTED, Untitled Source (Migrated Record). SDV235627.

Blowing mill, crazing mill or stamping mill (undocumented).

1/3/1984, Untitled Source (Migrated Record). SDV235632.

Site surveyed at 1:100 by t. Greeves + r. Robinson (1/3/1984). Plans in possession of t. Greeves.

Untitled Source (Migrated Record). SDV235637.

Amery, p. F. S. /tda/4(1870)136-7/stones found at swincombe (dartmoor) probably connected with ancient mining there.

Burnard, R., 1888 - 1889, On the Track of the 'Old Men', Dartmoor, 107-9, fig (Article in Serial). SDV154694.

Worth, R. H., 1940, Notes on some Dartmoor Blowing Houses, 201, 204 (Article in Serial). SDV218987.

Ruins of a Blowing House, about 30 ft x 16 ft. The leat can be clearly traced and there are heaps of slag. The upper and lower stones of a crazing mill have been found here. There are two mould stones and several mortar stones.

Worth, R. H., 1940, The Dartmoor Blowing House, 215-6, 241-242 (Article in Serial). SDV154693.

Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division, 1950/1980, SX67SW42 (Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division Card). SDV235639.

(17/04/1950) Cites Worth's 1940 description. No visit information recorded.
(02/02/1980) The blowing house at SX 64507279 has been cut back into a bluff on the west to a depth of 1.7 metres. The little walling that survives is confined to part of the north and east sides and measures 1.5 metres wide and 0.2 metres high. The interior measures approximately 9.5 metres long by 6.5 metres wide incorporates several mortar stones a mould stone and two crazing mill stones.
A well defined leat taps the River Swincombe some 400 metres to the west but has been truncated 100 metres from the blowing house by the construction of a modern road.
Surveyed at 1:10 000 on MSD and at 1:2500 for record purposes.

Worth, R. H., 1953, Dartmoor (Monograph). SDV231148.

Parsons, H., 1956, Dartmoor Blowing Houses: Some Recent Investigations (Article in Serial). SDV147453.

Three mounds of varying size were found here. The crazing mill stones and moulds prove that this house was a triple purpose one (grinding, knocking and smelting). Little of the structure remains, for in victorian times, stones went for the buildings of gobbet's mine about 180m away. The site of the building is indicated by a hollow just 7m from the track.8m n of the northern edge of the hollow is a great granite slab apparently vitrified by heat. May be part of furnace (parsons).

Parsons, H., 1956, Dartmoor Blowing Houses: Some Recent Investigations, 193 (Article in Serial). SDV147453.

The site is now represented by a hollow eight yards from the track.

Royal Air Force, 1964, RAF 58/6399, 032-33 (Aerial Photograph). SDV225229.

Depression and leat clearly visible on 1964 aerial photograph.

Fox, A., 1969, Swincombe Survey, 22 (Report - Survey). SDV250998.

Site as described by Parsons.

Greeves, T. A. P., 1981, List of Known Devon Tin Mills c1450 - c1750, No.30 (Report - non-specific). SDV319826.

Field evidence.

Greeves, T. A. P., 1981, Medieval Industry, 90, 94 (Article in Serial). SDV275197.

Hemery, E., 1983, High Dartmoor, 367 (Monograph). SDV249702.

National Monuments Record, 1983-1985, SF2134, 0133 (Aerial Photograph). SDV231262.

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

Visible on aerial photographs and recorded on map overlay.

Harris, H., 1986, Industrial Archaeology of Dartmoor (Revised Edition), 206 (Monograph). SDV295019.

Royal Commission for the Historical Monuments of England, 1987-1993, Duchy Farms Project Survey Visit, P. Pattison (Report - Survey). SDV350839.

(24/08/1988) Gobbett Tin mine centred at SX 64677282 (Monument HOB UID 1483848) including a tin mill (Blowing House) (B) at SX 64517279. It is a rectangular building cut back on its southwest and south sides into a north-south bluff to a depth of about 2.2 metres and measuring 9 metres by 4.5 metres (west end) - 6.9 metres (east end) internally. No trace of true walling remains (contra OS 1980 info) and the building is defined by a scarp on its west side and prominent banks elsewhere. The banks appear to be of earth and stone, but perhaps hide walling. They are between 1.1 metres-2.2 metres wide and 0.8 metres high internally and 0.6 metres high externally. On the west, the banks merge into the natural slopes of the bluff, while on the east they turn as if to form the east end wall. This however appears interrupted, and only a sub-circular mound remains between two narrow gaps. The original entrance arrangements are obscured. A concentration of large, natural boulders borders the building on the northwest.
The interior slopes gently from west-east and contains scattered stone rubble including upper and lower crazing mill stones, mortar stones from stamping apparatus, a mouldstone for casting, and furnace remains. The mill therefore carried out all processing from ore-crushing to casting ingots (Harris, 1986).
The leat serving the mill can be traced to SX64447279 where it has been blocked by a diversion serving the 19th century works. To the west the line is presumably that built for the mill and is taken off the River Swincombe at SX 64017245, a distance of over 600 metres. The leat stops on the crest of the bluff above the mill, the 20 metre gap between the two originally spanned by a wooden launder delivering water for a presumably overshot wheel. There is now no certain trace of the wheelpit. The leat survives as a channel 1.5 metres wide and between 0.6 metres -0.9 metres deep with a prominent bank on the downslope, up to 3 metres wide and 2 metres high. A drainage line, presumably the line of the tailrace, commences at SX 64537279, and flows back to the river. Another channel leaves the leat to the west of the mill and flows north to the river; it may have diverted water for use in washing and treatment.
A large-scale plan of the tin mine at 1:100 has been provided by T Greeves and R Robinson.

Griffith, F. M., 1990, DAP/QF, 9-15 (Aerial Photograph). SDV140063.

Cranstone, D. + Hedley, I., 1995, Monuments Protection Programme: The Tin Industry Step 3 Site Assessments, Devon 39a (Report - non-specific). SDV357946.

A combined stamping, crazing and blowing mill with a leat, two mouldstones and three mortar stonestones.

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

Bruce, B., 1999, Field excursion to Gobbett Tin Mine and Deep Swincombe 10/10/1998, 4-5 (Article in Serial). SDV235654.

Hollows indicate the presence of buddles + settling pits and large amounts of tin slimes and slag have been found in the vicinity. The mill could date to the 14th century and not later than c.1650.

Sources / Further Reading

Associated Monuments

Associated Finds

• FDV7973 - MORTAR STONE (Early Medieval to XVII - 1066 AD to 1700 AD)
• FDV7974 - MOULDSTONE (Early Medieval to XVII - 1066 AD to 1700 AD)

Associated Events

• EDV8632 - Sherberton Farm, Duchy Farms Survey
• EDV8409 - Dartmoor Royal Forest Project
• EDV8423 - Duchy Farms Project

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