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Summary

Dressing Floor at Stamping Mill number 6 forming part of the 19th century Eylesbarrow Tin Mine

Location

Protected Status

• Scheduled Monument 1021055: Eylesbarrow Tin Mine and associated remains

Other References/Statuses

• Old DCC SMR Ref: SX56NE/196/5
• Old SAM Ref: 34467(P)

Monument Type(s) and Dates

• DRESSING FLOOR (XVIII to XIX - 1750 AD to 1900 AD (Between))

Full description

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

Many features shown on 19th century map.

Gerrard, S., 1990-2002, Monument Protection Programme. Archaeological Item Dataset., MPP 157205 (Report - Survey). SDV277946.

Site visited on 9th May 2002. Dressing floor 1390 metres south-west of Eylesbarrow, forming part of Eylesbarrow Tin Mine. A very well preserved, extensive and complete dressing floor. There is a range of rectangular and triangular shaped buddles, many of which are stone lined and up to 0.7 metres deep. The channels connecting the buddles are visible in places and some of these are also stone lined. The dressing floor has been constructed over the top of earlier streamwork earthworks and is clearly defined along its western edge by a drystone revetment standing up to 1.5 metres high. This revetment has collapsed in a couple of places and needs consolidating as a priority. Bracken, moss and grass.

Newman, P., 1999, Eylesbarrow (Ailsborough) Tin Mine, 25-31, Figures 2, 12-13 (Report - Survey). SDV352201.

Each Stamping Mill has an associated dressing floor. The stamping area at each mill is immediately adjacent to the wheel. The crushed particles would have passed into a stone lined settling pit sited on the dressing floor. These are 2.8 – 3.3 metres long by approximately 1 metre wide and are lined with flat granite slabs. On some dressing floors additional pits or ‘buddles’ sit alongside the settling pit which may have been lined with timber instead of granite. Below the main dressing floors are a range of secondary buddles and tailings pits for further refining. The plan of Stamping Mill number 6 shows two dressing floors to the north-east and south-west of the wheelpit. The northern dressing floor has four small rectangular settling pits. The southern dressing floor also appears to have four small settling pits with two buddles to the east and two buddles to the south. A third dressing floor has been identified further south with three possible settling pits, two possible 'reck' houses and two buddles to the east. The northern of these two buddles is triangular and the southern is rectangular.

Newman, P., 1999, Eylesbarrow (Ailsborough) Tin Mine, Figure 12 (Article in Serial). SDV231130.

English Heritage, 2005, Survey Information (miscellaneous date) (Report - Survey). SDV345855.

Several features shown on survey.

GeoInformation Group Ltd, 2010, 1:625 2010 Colour (12.5cm resolution) (Aerial Photograph). SDV346026.

Earthwork features visible on aerial photograph.

National Monument Record, 2014, Pastscape, 1318967 (Website). SDV355682.

A waterpowered stamping mill and associated dressing floor to Eylesbarrow tin mine. The mill was one of six which served the mine and were in use between 1814-52. A archaeological field survey by English Heritage in 1999 found it to be a double stamping mill with batteries of stamps on both sides of the wheel. The wheelpit is placed centrally within the dressing floor and has internal dimensions of 8.5 metres by approximately 1 metre wide. A stone clad leat embankment, 12 metres by 4.5 metres, is situated 18 metres to the west and sits at right angles to the dried up leat channel which diverted water from further up the Drizzlecombe Valley. On either side of the wheelpit are the remains of the stamps areas, and two well preserved sunken sluice boxes of 3 metres long and up to 1.5 metres wide, with stone linings and visible sluice openings. Several rectangular buddles also survive comprising roughly rectangular earthwork hollows. A second dressing area is situated to the south of the main area and contains two earthwork buddles. To the south of the dressing floor are two rectangular structures probably representing the remains of 'reck' or rack houses.

Sources / Further Reading

Associated Monuments

Associated Finds: none recorded

Associated Events

• EDV4966 - Survey of Drizzlecombe, Eylesbarrow, Ditsworthy and Hartor. The Eylesbarrow archaeological landscape
• EDV6239 - Eylesbarrow (Ailsborough) Tin Mine
• EDV7443 - Condition survey of archaeological sites in Ringmoor Training Area
• EDV7569 - Condition survey of Ringmoor Down training area
• EDV8155 - Plym Valley Survey: EH Project (Feb 2001 - Dec 2002)
• EDV8227 - Ringmoor Training Area: Monument Baseline Condition Survey

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