See important guidance on the use of this record.

If you have any comments or new information about this record, please email us.

Summary

Workers cottages built in the early-mid 19th century for quarrymen and their families at Foggintor; they were demolished in 1953, although the bulk of the southern elevation of the south range along with the south gable of the east range were, for some unknown reason, left upstanding. Survey in 2022 recorded damage as well as the current condition of the buildings.

Location

Protected Status

• SHINE: Earthwork and structural remains on Walkhampton Common including 19th century Swelltor and Foggintor Quarries, a section of the early 19th century Plymouth and Dartmoor Tramway, later converted to railway, also streamworks along the Yes Tor Brook

Other References/Statuses

• SHINE Candidate (Yes)

Monument Type(s) and Dates

• WORKERS COTTAGE (XIX - 1823 AD (Between) to 1850 AD (Between))

Full description

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

Buildings depicted on the late 19th century historic mapping.

Ordnance Survey, 1904 - 1906, Second Edition Ordnance Survey 25 inch Map (Cartographic). SDV325644.

Unchanged from the late 19th century historic map depiction.

Stanbrook, M., 1991, Old Dartmoor Schools Remembered, 100-101, photographs (Monograph). SDV359884.

Images of Hill Cottages in the early 1920s (still in use?) and in the early 1950s, by which time they have fallen derelict.

Hedley, I. + Hodgkinson, D. + Richardson, S. + Trueman, M., 1999, Quarrying Industry, Step 3 (Revised) (Report - non-specific). SDV338675.

Foggintor workers' Housing. Isolated ruins 19th century. Garden strips enclosed with boundary wall. Also includes associated small quarry.

Ordnance Survey, 2016, MasterMap (Cartographic). SDV359352.

Remains of the buildings indicated on the modern mapping.

Wakeham, C., 2016, Report on an Audit of Archaeological Features and Structures Relating to Railways and Tramways on Dartmoor Phase 1, DR+T_FQ_008 (Report - Assessment). SDV360397.

Building (ruin) at SX 56585 73695. Ruined row of cottages, of granite rubble construction, built along the side of a huge spoil tip known as "Big Tip" (see DR+T_FQ_028), with an arched feature running both under and southwest of them. The cottages were aligned northwest-southeast to face southwest. Their overall external length was 24.65m and their external width 5.02m. The building was subdivided into four individual cottages of c.3.9m by c.4.6-5.9m internally. Wall thicknesses vary. Most are 0.52-0.56m thick, although the northwest end wall and the extremities of the southwest wall are c.0.9m thick. Internally there are traces of two of the three subdividing walls (the central one is missing) and the remains of a fireplace (possibly back-to-back) along the southeastern cross wall. There are seven large joist holes in the southeast section of the front wall, although these give way to four smaller ones in the central area (roughly where the missing wall should stand). The positions of openings along the back wall are unclear, although it is possible that there were some doors opposing those along the southwest elevation. Photographs of the cottages reproduced by Kath Brewer (n.d., pages 102-103) show what appears to be a doorway in the southeast end wall. The front wall was symmetrically fenestrated with a door at each end and two near the centre (2.37m apart). The doorways were c.1.1m wide and the two which survive to full height are fitted with granite lintels. Near each door was a tall window of c.1m width. The two centremost windows, at least, had an upstairs window directly above. At some point the doors along this elevation were all blocked up with 0.3-0.4m thick courses of granite. The doorways led to narrow, c.1.3m wide terraces, raised up almost a metre from two wider terraces either side of the archway. These wider terraces stretch out another 5m to the southwest and were presumably the occupants' gardens. There is a rectangular passage between the two terraces, measuring 2.37m in width and 6.97m in length (just undercutting the front wall of the cottages). The height/depth of the terraces either side of the passage is c.2.65m (stepped down from their overall height of c.3.2m). The rounded arch at the northeast end of the passage is built into the front wall of the cottages. The apex of the arch is c.3.45m above ground level. There are traces of flashing (coated in black paint) 0.3m above the arch, which reveals the position of an apex to a roof which presumably extended the full length of the passage. The first and second edition Ordnance Survey maps depict the passage as being roofed. The passage appears to have continued under the cottages and into the side of Big Tip, but was blocked up with granite rubble to over 1m in depth in 1906 (Kath Brewer, n.d., page 83). Kath Brewer (n.d., page 70) was informed by a grandson of one of the quarry employees that the "granite wagons were stored in there". The passage also aligns roughly with the terrace above the workshops to the southwest (DR+T_FQ_026). It has been suggested by the same author (n.d., page 70) that the cottages were originally built as "an extensive shed", alluded to by Maristow Estate steward George Giles in a letter of 1841 (P&DWRO 874/21/3). If this were indeed the case, it would account for the inconsistencies in the wall thicknesses of the structure. If the other eight cottages across the tramway to the northeast were likewise a part of an earlier such structure, the extent of the shed would be 24.65m by c.30m.
The cottages are now ruinous, having been largely demolished during the 1950s. What remains of the southwest wall is gradually crumbling apart and there has been a significant collapse in the northwest half in recent years. The archway is intact, although the passage is roofless and its floor strewn with debris. Much of the ruin, together with the terraces at the front, are covered in short grass.

Passmore, A., 2022, Hill Cottages, Foggintor, Near Princetown, Devon Results of historic building recording, 4-6, figs 2-3, plates 1-13 (Report - Survey). SDV365150.

Hill Cottages appear to have been constructed in the early 1850s, as referenced by an entry in the census of 1851 (Brewer 1997, 99). Brewer (ibid, 99) has suggested the south range may have been converted from an earlier building – a stone cutters shed proposed for construction in 1841. Analysis of the building does appear to indicate that the western half of its south elevation has been constructed on the truncated remains of an earlier structure, which is identifiable by the larger blocks of masonry visible externally at ground level that may represent the bases of piers of stonework. A partially open-fronted building would have been suitable for a use associated with stone cutting and dressing.
Demolition of the cottages in 1953 was pretty comprehensive, although the bulk of the south elevation of the south range along with the south gable of the east range were, for some unknown reason, left upstanding.
Survey in 2022 recorded the current condition of the buildings, as well as noting recent damage forming part of a longer-term deterioration of the condition of the retained upstanding remains of Hill Cottages (recorded in published photographs taken during the later 20th century). Causes may include natural degradation following demolition in the 1950s, damage caused by livestock grazing the area, as well as pressures caused by visitors to the site, which may be being used for recreational activity.
See report for full detail.

Sources / Further Reading

Associated Monuments

Associated Finds: none recorded

Associated Events

• EDV8850 - Historic building recording, Hill Cottages, Foggintor, near Princetown (Ref: ACD2654/1/0)

Search results generated by the HBSMR Gateway from exeGesIS SDM Ltd.