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Summary

Remains of a tinners' hut and possible cache in the streamworks in Watern Combe on the east side of Walla Brook. The ruined building lies in the channel between two parallel banks of streamworking debris and measures 3.6 metres east to west by 1.4 metres internally. The north and south walls are formed by revetments which retain the tinners waste and are linked by two free-standing, coursed boulder walls on the east and west. The latter measure 0.6 metres wide, they stand to a maximum 1.6 metres high and have been rebuilt. An irregular niche, perhaps the remains of a fireplace or cupboard, lies centrally in the southern wall.

Location

Protected Status

• SHINE: Earthwork remains of medieval or later streamworks in Watern Combe with remains of tinners' buildings along the Wallabrook

Other References/Statuses

• National Monuments Record: SX68NW28
• National Record of the Historic Environment: 443736
• Old DCC SMR Ref: SX68NW/61
• Old DCC SMR Ref: SX68NW/61/1

Monument Type(s) and Dates

• TINNERS HUT (Constructed, XV to Post Medieval - 1401 AD to 1750 AD)
• TINNERS CACHE (Constructed, Post Medieval - 1540 AD (Between) to 1750 AD (Between))

Full description

Le Messurier, B., 1975, Ruined Hut at SX 6265 8665 (Worksheet). SDV268784.

(31/05/1975) Ruined hut at SX 6265 8665. Ruin situated at east side of Watern Combe in gulley. West end has been altered. East end has a good wall, but is heather-covered. Fireplace or cupboard may have collapsed. Floor of reeds and tumbled stone. No door visible. Tin streaming remains not far away. No door visible. Internal dimensions 3.6m x 1.4m. Walls 0.6m thick, wall height 1.59m (maximum height inside structure); 1.67m maximum height (outside).
Worksheet mentions a cache up the hill to the east.

Le Messurier, B., 1979, Post-Prehistoric Structures of Central North Dartmoor. A Field Survey, 66 (Article in Serial). SDV269283.

SX 62658665. In a hillside gulley on the east side of Watern Combe, a hut with a rounded end. Internal measurements 1.4m by 3.6m. The wall at the west end has been altered and the possible fireplace may have collapsed. Tin streaming not far away. Probably pre-1700.

Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division, 1979, SX68NW28 (Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division Card). SDV363730.

(02/10/1979) SX 62598660. Set between tin-streaming spoil heaps is a tinners' hut and cache in fair condition. The building is constructed of drystone walling with a southern entrance, but is otherwise as described by Le Messurier (1979).
The cache is set into the slope 16.0m to the southeast of the hut. It measures 0.5m by 1.0m internally and 0.2m high constructed of drystone walling roofed with slabs.
(Extent of tin-streaming shown on 1:10 000 map). Hut and cache surveyed at 1:10 000 on MSD. See ground photograph.

Butler, J., 1991, Dartmoor Atlas of Antiquities: Volume Two - The North, 213, Map 41, Site 'TH3' (Monograph). SDV219155.

'TH3' remains of a tinners' hut of 3.2 metres by 1.5 metres where the gables have been rebuilt on older foundations.

Royal Commission for the Historical Monuments of England, 1993-1998, Dartmoor Royal Forest Project (Report - Survey). SDV346608.

(02/09/1993) SX 62609159 and SX 62619157. A ruined tinners hut and alleged cache are located within streamworking remains on the right bank of the Walla Brook 400 metres south-west of Watern Tor. The ruined building lies in the channel between two parallel banks of streamworking debris and measures 3.6 metres east to west by 1.4 metres internally. The north and south walls are formed by revetments which retain the tinners waste and are linked by two free-standing, coursed boulder walls on the east and west. The latter measure 0.6 metres wide, they stand to a maximum 1.6 metres high and have been rebuilt. An irregular niche, perhaps the remains of a fireplace or cupboard, lies centrally in the southern wall.
The 'cache' associated with this hut forms part of the revetment supporting a bank of tinners waste but may be the result of a stone falling from the revetment.

Probert, S. A. J. + Newman, P., 2003-2004, Measured survey North Dartmoor Military Range Okehampton Range: Monument Baseline Condition Survey (Report - Survey). SDV350801.

(22/10/2003) Feature remains as described in 1993.

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

Rectangular building shown on survey.

Ordnance Survey, 2020, MasterMap 2020 (Cartographic). SDV363413.

'Tinners' Hut and Cache (Remains of)' shown on modern mapping.

Sources / Further Reading

Associated Monuments

Associated Finds: none recorded

Associated Events

• EDV7620 - Okehampton Artillary Range
• EDV8409 - Dartmoor Royal Forest Project
• EDV8679 - Okehampton Range: Management Survey
• EDV8291 - Okehampton Range: Monument Baseline Condition Survey
• EDV8695 - Survey of Okehampton North Dartmoor Military Range

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