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HER Number: | MDV3168 |
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Name: | Peatworks at Rattlebrook Head, Dartmoor Forest |
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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
Grid Reference: | SX 559 870 |
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Map Sheet: | SX58NE |
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Admin Area | Dartmoor National Park |
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Civil Parish | Dartmoor Forest |
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District | West Devon |
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Ecclesiastical Parish | LYDFORD |
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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
Radford, D., 1889, The natural storage of water on Dartmoor, 208 (Article in Serial). SDV253240.
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.
Butler, J., 1991, Dartmoor Atlas of Antiquities: Volume Two - The North, 222, Map 43, Site '16' (Monograph). SDV219155.
Rattle Brook peatworks and tramway exploiting the thick peat deposits on Amicombe Hill. A licence for peat cutting here was granted by the Duchy of Cornwall in 1878 and the beds were intermittently worked by a number of companies until the 1950s. It failed in the end because of the high cost of transport and expense of drying the peat. Little is to be seen of the buildings as they were deemed to be a danger to livestock and were blown up by the Army in 1961. Vegetation has yet to enshroud thr ruins and stagnant pools now fill the hollows between the piles of masonry and rusting ironwork decaying amidst the surrounding bog.
Royal Commission for the Historical Monuments of England, 1993-1998, Dartmoor Royal Forest Project (Report - Survey). SDV346608.
Visited on 17th August 1994. Five ruined buildings and two brick sheds associated with peat extraction and processing lie at Rattlebrook Head, at SX 5596 8708.
Building 1 is the best preserved, measuring 13 metres by 11 metres externally. It has exterior walls of dressed granite blocks, standing up to ten courses high, with maximum dimensions of 1.8 metres high and 1 metre 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 0.6 metres 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 13 metres by 8 metres. The walls are of dressed granite blocks, up to two courses high, and measure up to 1.5 metres high (externally) and 0.8 metres 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 1.3 metres.
Building 3, immediately to the south of building 2, has external dimensions of 12 metres by 8 metres. Its walls survive as one course of granite blocks, up to 1.3 metres high and 0.4 metres 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, 5 metres by 3 metres.
Between buildings 2 and 4 are the remains of two brick sheds.
Building 4 measures 10 metres by 7 metres externally. Its walls are of dressed granite blocks, standing up to eight courses high, and measuring 0.8 metres in height and 0.5 metres 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 11 metres by 5 metres, may be the remains of a pre-fabricated drying shed.
To the east of building 1 a baulk road runs out for some 400 metres to the peat cutting areas on the western slopes of Kitty Tor and Amicombe Hill. It is constructed of wooden baulk timbers, set 0.8 metres apart and infilled with granite blocks, on a causeway 1.5 metres wide.
A railway connected the peat works to the main railway line at Bridestowe. The line of the track is now used as a military road.
Bluesky International Ltd/Getmapping PLC, 2015-2017, 2015-2017 Aerial Photographs (Aerial Photograph). SDV361462.
Buildings visible on aerial photograph.
Sources / Further Reading
SDV219155 | Monograph: Butler, J.. 1991. Dartmoor Atlas of Antiquities: Volume Two - The North. Dartmoor Atlas of Antiquities: Volume Two - The North. Two. Paperback Volume. 222, Map 43, Site '16'. |
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SDV221887 | Aerial Photograph: Royal Air Force. 1947. RAF/CPE/UK/2082. Royal Air Force Aerial Photograph. 4374. |
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SDV237178 | Article in Serial: Copeland, G. W.. 1952. Twenty-First Annual Report of the Plymouth and District Branch. Transactions of the Devonshire Association. 84. Unknown. 329. |
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SDV249702 | Monograph: Hemery, E.. 1983. High Dartmoor. High Dartmoor. Hardback Volume. plate 450. |
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SDV253240 | Article in Serial: Radford, D.. 1889. The natural storage of water on Dartmoor. Transactions of the Devonshire Association. 21. 208. |
SDV319854 | Cartographic: Royal Commission on the Historical Monuments of England. 1985. Aerial Photograph Project (Dartmoor) - Dartmoor Pre-NMP. Royal Commission on the Historical Monuments of England Aerial Photograph P. Cartographic. |
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SDV325644 | Cartographic: Ordnance Survey. 1904 - 1906. Second Edition Ordnance Survey 25 inch Map. Second Edition Ordnance Survey 25 inch Map. Map (Digital). 88NE. |
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SDV346608 | Report - Survey: Royal Commission for the Historical Monuments of England. 1993-1998. Dartmoor Royal Forest Project. Royal Commission for the Historical Monuments of England Field/Recording In. Unknown. |
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SDV352727 | Cartographic: Ordnance Survey. 1953-1969. 1953-1969 National Grid OS A edition imperial. Digital Mapping. Digital. |
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SDV361462 | Aerial Photograph: Bluesky International Ltd/Getmapping PLC. 2015-2017. 2015-2017 Aerial Photographs. Bluesky International Ltd/Getmapping PLC. Photograph (Digital). |
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SDV7016 | Monograph: Minchinton, W. E.. 1976. Industrial Archaeology in Devon. Industrial Archaeology in Devon. Paperback Volume. 26. |
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Associated Monuments
MDV128736 | Related to: Bleak House on Rattle Brook, Dartmoor Forest (Monument) |
MDV39665 | Related to: Tramway at Rattlebrook Peat Works, Dartmoor Forest (Monument) |
Associated Finds: none recorded
Associated Events
- EDV8409 - Dartmoor Royal Forest Project
- EDV8813 - Archaeological and historical investigation of Peat Cutting on North-Western Dartmoor
Date Last Edited: | Jul 4 2024 3:52PM |
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