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Summary

The remains of 19th and 20th century peat processing buildings at Rattlebrook Head. There are four buildings, the best preserved measuring 13 metres by 11 metres externally.

Location

Protected Status

• SHINE: Structural remains of 19th and 20th century peat working buildings at Rattlebrook Head and tramway leading onto the moor

Other References/Statuses

• National Monuments Record: SX58NE43
• National Record of the Historic Environment: 1063654
• Old DCC SMR Ref: SX58NE/1
• SHINE Candidate (Yes)

Monument Type(s) and Dates

• BUILDING (XIX to Mid 20th Century - 1870 AD (Between) to 1950 AD? (Between))
• PEAT WORKINGS (XIX to Mid 20th Century - 1870 AD (Between) to 1950 AD? (Between))

Full description

Untitled Source (Migrated Record). SDV253240.

Radford, d. /tda/21(1889)208/the natural storage of water on dartmoor.

Ordnance Survey, 1904 - 1906, Second Edition Ordnance Survey 25 inch Map, 88NE (Cartographic). SDV325644.

'Rattlebrook Peat Works' shown on 1906 map.

Royal Air Force, 1947, RAF/CPE/UK/2082, 4374 (Aerial Photograph). SDV221887.

Copeland, G. W., 1952, Twenty-First Annual Report of the Plymouth and District Branch, 329 (Article in Serial). SDV237178.

Company was formed in 1878 for the extraction of peat and railway line laid in 1879. The enterprise was never very successful but some peat is still dug for agricultural use. Old ruined works at the end of the line.

Ordnance Survey, 1953-1969, 1953-1969 National Grid OS A edition imperial (Cartographic). SDV352727.

'Rattlebrook Peat Works (disused)' shown on 1965 map.

Minchinton, W. E., 1976, Industrial Archaeology in Devon, 26 (Monograph). SDV7016.

West of England Compressed Peat Company works, Rattlebrook Head. In 1901, a plant was set up to carbonise peat to make it into a commercial fuel. Similar to coal, this fuel had a combustion rate too rapid to make it economical to use. Only a few ruins remain of the works, but the extensive peat beds can be seen at Kitty Tor. The plant was extensive and expensive, and a branch railway several miles long was built by the company to connect their works with the main line of the south-west railway at Bridestowe Station. Very little of the prepared peat was sold, and the works became idle after a few years and fell into decay.

Hemery, E., 1983, High Dartmoor, plate 450 (Monograph). SDV249702.

A photograph taken in 1954 show building 2, a drying shed, standing to roof level, with a chimney stack in front of it.

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

The remains of the peat cutting are visible over much of the surrounding hill: on Hunt Tor, Higher and Lower Dunna Goat, Kitty Tor and Amicombe Hill.

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

(17/08/1994) Four ruined buildings associated with peat extraction and processing lie at Rattlebrook Head, at SX 5596 8708. Building 1 is the best preserved, measuring 13m by 11m externally. It has exterior walls of dressed granite blocks, standing up to ten courses high, with maximum dimensions of 1.8m high and 1m wide. The interior walls, of bricks stamped "Martin Leemoor", survive up to seven courses high. The infill is of mortar and granite rubble. A gap 0.6m wide in the centre of the western wall may be a window opening; a gap of similar dimensions in the centre of the eastern wall may be for access to the baulk road to the peat cutting areas on Kitty Tor. The remains of six possible brick-built vaults survive on the floor of this building; there are some iron ties in the walls.
Building 2 is badly damaged. Its external dimensions are 13m by 8m. The walls are of dressed granite blocks, up to two courses high, and measure up to 1.5m high (externally) and 0.8m wide. Associated debris suggests that the upper part was built of pre-fabricated concrete with iron girders. In the centre of this building are the remains of a metal lined brick stoke-hole, which has an internal diameter of 1.3m. Building 3, immediately to the south of building 2, has external dimensions of 12m by 8m. Its walls survive as one course of granite blocks, up to 1.3m high and 0.4m wide. In the southwestern corner a concrete block with two iron bolts is set into the concrete floor, forming the base for some kind of machinery. Immediately to the west of this building is a small concrete apron, 5m by 3m. Between buildings 2 and 4 are the remains of two brick sheds.
Building 4 measures 10m by 7m externally. Its walls are of dressed granite blocks, standing up to eight courses high, and measuring 0.8m in height and 0.5m in width. To the south is a circular concrete apron; a rectangular concrete structure to the west may cover a storage tank. Building 5, a concrete base measuring 11m by 5m, may be the remains of a pre-fabricated drying shed.
To the east of building 1 a baulk road runs out for some 400m to the peat cutting areas on the western slopes of Kitty Tor and Amicombe Hill. It is constructed of wooden baulk timbers, set 0.8m apart and infilled with granite blocks, on a causeway 1.5m wide.
A railway (SX 58 NW 29) connected the peat works to the main railway line at Bridestowe. The line of the track is now used as a military road.

Sources / Further Reading

Associated Monuments

Associated Finds: none recorded

Associated Events

• EDV8409 - Dartmoor Royal Forest Project

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