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Summary

Crazing / stamping mill at Outcombe including blowing house, wheelpit and many mortar stones. Tin working in this area was documented in 1577

Location

Protected Status

• Scheduled Monument 1020242: Tin mill, tinwork and post-medieval farmstead at Outcombe, 260m east of eastern boundary of Roughtor Plantation

Other References/Statuses

• National Monuments Record: SX56NE16
• National Record of the Historic Environment: 438544
• Old DCC SMR Ref: SX56NE/33
• Old DCC SMR Ref: SX56NE/33/7
• Old DCC SMR Ref: SX56NE/637
• Old SAM County Ref: 1002
• Old SAM Ref: 34437

Monument Type(s) and Dates

• STAMPING MILL (Post Medieval to Early 20th Century - 1540 AD to 1901 AD (Between))
• CRAZING MILL (XIX to Early 20th Century - 1900 AD to 1932 AD (Between))

Full description

Ordnance Survey, 1784-1786, Ordnance Survey, Drawing 19, Part III, 1784-1786 (Cartographic). SDV346880.

Worth, R. H., 1933, Thirty-ninth report on Scientific Memoranda, 308-311, Figures.6-12, Plates 26-28 (Article in Serial). SDV338049.

Blowing houses in the valley of the Sheepstor Brook, The Meavy, The Erme, and The Avon.

Worth, R. H., 1940, The Dartmoor Blowing House, 227, 242-3 (Article in Serial). SDV154693.

Remains of a blowing house; structurally intact except for the roof. "There is a well-marked wheel pit with a tail-race".

Worth, R. H., 1946, Fifty-first Report of Scientific Memoranda: Archaeology, 282 (Article in Serial). SDV350164.

Dartmoor blowing houses (supplement).

Worth, R. H., 1967, Worth's Dartmoor, 308, Figure 97, Plate 67B (Monograph). SDV337618.

Blowing House (38) at Deancombe Brook, Outcombe. Only the roof of the structure is missing. The building is planned to fit the natural features so is not quite rectangular. There is a well marked wheel pit with a tail race and a raised bank to conduct water to the wheel. The clavel over the mouth of the furnace is still in place. No mould stone has been found but at least 20 mortar stones within and without the building. The upper stone of a crazing mill lies within the building. A quantity of sand from crushing and tin slimes occur in th area.

Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division, 1977, SX56NE16 (Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division Card). SDV229716.

(01/06/1977) This blowing-house is situated about 30.0m south of the Narrator Brook, and in essence still as described by Worth. The overall dimensions are approximately 9.0m x 6.0m and the height of the walls 1.5m-2.2m. Ten mortar stones are still visible. Surveyed at 1:10 000 on PFD.
NB. The DOE description applies to the blowing-house but the scheduled area is wrongly attributed to site SX 56 NE 120, a deserted Medieval village to the south.

Greeves, T., 1979, Notes for Devon Studies Week (Un-published). SDV217373.

Greeves, T., 1981, Additional Note to Burrator Survey (Worksheet). SDV252516.

Greeves, T. A. P., 1981, List of Known Devon Tin Mills c1450 - c1750, No 64 (Report - non-specific). SDV319826.

Greeves, T. A. P., 1981, Medieval Industry, 90, 92, 94 (Article in Serial). SDV275197.

Listed as a pre-1700 tin mill.

Greeves, T., 1985, Outcombe Tin Mine (Correspondence). SDV217372.

Letter and map in parish file.

Greeves, T. A. P., 1987, List of donations to the Plymouth Museum (Un-published). SDV243606.

27/5/1975 and 4/6/1975 - Slag from tail race of wheelpit at Outcombe Tin Mill. Gave no reading for tin on portable xrf (spectrometer). Also piece of killas.
29/5/1975 - Clay pipe stem from Outcombe tin mill.
4/6/1975 - Outcombe tin mill - stone slagged.
27/5/1975 - Late medieval/early 16th century sherd of large bowl possibly found within Outcombe tin mill.

Greeves, T. A. P., 1990, An Assessment of Dartmoor Tinworking, 42 (Report - Assessment). SDV343684.

Site visited in February 1981 Crazing mill/stamping mill in excellent condition. At SX57956861 are the ruins of a field wall in which several mortarstones are incorporated. Although likely to have come from the mill, they may indicate another site. A sherd of a large unglazed vessel, probably a bowl, has recently been found within Outcombe Mill. Probably of late-Medieval or 16th century date. There is clear evidence of a reconstruction of the wheelpit as a mortarstone is built in to the back of the pit.

Gerrard, S., 1990-2002, Monument Protection Programme. Archaeological Item Dataset., MPP156872, MPP156863 (Report - Survey). SDV277946.

Site visited on 16th June 2000. Crazing Mill at Outcombe Mill is described in detail by Castle et al. The crazing mill stone is no longer visible, but was photographed by Worth. On this basis it would appear that this mill also housed crazing machinery. Also tin stamping mill at Outcombe .

Castle, P. + Gill, M. + Giles, N., 1992, Outcombe Tin Mill, 11 (Article in Serial). SDV217363.

Outcombe tin mill situated 10 metres from Deancombe Brook surveyed in 1992. Internal dimensions 5 metres by 4 metres with wheelpit and tail race on east side. Leat to east of mill on embankment to overshoot the wheel. 21 mortar stones were identified in and round the site.

Cranstone, D. + Hedley, I., 1995, Monuments Protection Programme: The Tin Industry Step 3 Site Assessments, Devon 5 (Report - non-specific). SDV357946.

Documented.

Gerrard, S., 1996, The Early South-Western Tin Industry: An Archaeological View, 81 (Article in Serial). SDV337901.

Outcombe one of three known examples of crazing mills surviving on Dartmoor.

Bodman, M., 1998, Water-Powered Sites in Devon, 24. 51 (Report - non-specific). SDV305931.

Site of 'Outcombe' tinners mill.

Whitbourn, A., 2001, An Archaeological Investigation into features comprising, and associated with, Ditsworthy Warren, 82, Appendix 4 (Report - Assessment). SDV360381.

Deancombe Blowing House.

Ordnance Survey, 2018, MasterMap 2018 (Cartographic). SDV360652.

'Blowing House (Remains of)' shown on modern mapping.

Historic England, 2018, National Heritage List for England, 1020242, DDV21839 (National Heritage List for England). SDV360653.

The monument includes a tin stamping and crazing mill, an openwork together with prospecting pits and shaft, an area of alluvial streamworking and a post-medieval farmstead situated on a north facing slope at Outcombe overlooking the Narrator Brook. The tin mill survives as an irregular shaped structure composed of large granite blocks standing up to 1.9 metres high. The interior measures up to 5 metres long by 4 metres wide and is strewn with large granite rocks, many of which are discarded mortar stones bearing one or more circular depressions formed by the hammering of the stamp head. A further group of at least ten mortar stones lies some 70 metres north west of the mill where they have been arranged to form a low wall. The power to operate the stamping machinery was supplied by a wheel which sat in a stone faced pit on the eastern side of the building. This wheelpit appears to have been served by at least two separate leats. The entrance to the mill survives as a narrow passage leading into the structure from the west. The mill building was also used at some stage for grinding ore between rotating horizontal mill stones. This type of mill is known as a crazing mill and although no crazing stones are currently visible, it is known that at least one existed at the site in the first part of the 20th century. The crushed ore from these mills would have been dressed in nearby buddles. Two relatively steep sided hollows to the north of the mill may represent the site of this dressing activity. Much of the ore crushed at this mill would have been mined from the nearby openwork. This survives as a substantial elongated hollow measuring up to about 30 metres wide and 15 metres deep. This openwork was documented in 1577 as Oldebeame, otherwise Outhombeame or Liteltorsworke. Within the base of the openwork is a shaft through which deep tin ore would have been extracted. Within the vicinity of the openwork are some of the prospecting pits employed to find the lode. In the valley bottom below the mill are a group of earthworks which represent the remains of alluvial tin streamworking which is probably earlier than the tin mill. The post-medieval farmstead within the monument survives as a series of rectangular buildings and structures linked to each other by field walling. The farmstead is situated on raised ground to the east of the openwork and at least seven distinct structures survive, all of which are composed of drystone walls.

National Monument Record, 2018, Pastscape, 438544, SX56NE16 (Website). SDV360651.

SX 57996858 Remains of a tin stamping and crazing mill, an openwork, a number of prospecting pits, a shaft and an area of alluvial streamworking at Outcombe. The tin mill survives as a granite-built structure standing up to 1.9 metres high and measuring roughly 5 by 4 metres internally. A number of discarded mortar stones lie in the vicinity. The wheel, which produced the power to operate the stamping machinery, was located in a pit on the east side of the building. This pit appears to have been served by at least two separate leats.
The mill building was also used at some stage for grinding ore between rotating horizontal mill stones. This type of mill is called a crazing mill and at least one is known to have existed here in the first part of the 20th century. Two hollows north of the mill may represent the site where this crushed ore was later dressed.
The nearby openwork survives as a substantial hollow measuring about 30 metres wide and 15 metres deep. Within its base is a shaft through which deep tin ore would have been extracted. This openwork was documented in 1577. A number of prospecting pits lie in the vicinity and the earthwork remains of alluvial tin streamworking are visible in the valley bottom (English Heritage Scheduling amendment, 07/03/2002).

Various, 2018-2020, PALs Condition Recording forms, WLK-DT22 (Worksheet). SDV362781.

Visited 07/2019. The whole site is in a wooded area so all buildings are surrounded by trees. The ground is generally grass covered with outcrops of bracken. The mill’s stones are moss and grass covered with bracken encroaching on the south side. Photo taken

Various, 2018-2020, PALs Condition Recording photographs, WLK-DT22 (Photograph). SDV363073.

Visited 07/2019 Photo taken giving a general view of the mill building looking south west

Sources / Further Reading

Associated Monuments

Associated Finds

• FDV4819 - BOWL (XV to XVI - 1401 AD to 1550 AD)
• FDV4820 - CLAY PIPE (SMOKING) (Post Medieval - 1540 AD to 1750 AD)
• FDV6871 - SLAG (Post Medieval - 1540 AD to 1750 AD)
• FDV6872 - SLAG (Post Medieval - 1540 AD to 1750 AD)

Associated Events: none recorded

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