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Summary

Tavy Consols Mine was originally known as Hocklake Mine which was apparently well-established by 1724. Also probably known as Great Duke Mine it became known as Tavy Consols in 1845-6. Mining ceased in 1895 but the site was subsequently used sporadically for ore dressing and arsenic processing in the late 19th and earlier 20th century. The 1882 25inch Ordnance Survey map shows buildings and features on the site including a capstan, shaft and a long flue and chimney. Earthworks identifiable on visualisations derived from lidar data captured in 2019 probably relate to these features plus trackways and spoil heaps.

Location

Protected Status: none recorded

Other References/Statuses

• Old DCC SMR Ref: SX46NE/503

Monument Type(s) and Dates

• MINE (XVIII to Late 20th Century - 1701 AD to 2000 AD)

Full description

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

Tavy Consols Mine (Copper & Mundic) (disused) marked on 1880s-1890s 25 inch Ordnance Survey map. The map shows a number of features including buildings, a capstan and shaft and a long flue and chimney. Map object based on this Source.

Ordnance Survey, 1907, 111NE (Cartographic). SDV215706.

Collins, J. H., 1912, Observations on the West of England Mining Region (Monograph). SDV323594.

Unknown, 1920, Special Report on Mineral Resources (Report - Assessment). SDV347139.

Ramsden, J. V., 1952, Notes on the Mines of Devonshire, 100, Fig 1 (Article in Serial). SDV60737.

T2 Tavy Consols. Plans R 44 A - R 300 E.M.R.O. Tin and copper.

Ordnance Survey, 1954, SX46NE (Cartographic). SDV343929.

Richardson, P. H. G., 1992, The Mines of Dartmoor and the Tamar Valley after 1913, 138 (Article in Serial). SDV323598.

Tavy Consols Mine. Worked with Little Duke 1914-1924, the treatment of ore from both mines being carried out at Tavy Consols.

Bodman, M., 1998, Water-Powered Sites in Devon, 30 (Report - non-specific). SDV305931.

Other details: No 8.

Environment Agency, 2000-2019, LiDAR DTM data (1m resolution) EA: Tamar Aerial Survey project area, LIDAR Environment Agency LAST RETURN 19-APR-2019 (Cartographic). SDV363954.

Banks, mounds and ditches are broadly identifiable as earthworks.

Bodman, M., 2003, Watermills and Other Water-Powered Sites in Devon, 228 (Report - Interim). SDV325576.

Encroaching woodland has hidden most of the dumps and ruined furnaces from view and the only substantial structure on site are the remains of the mine's main waterwheel pit (citing Atkinson, Mining Sites in Cornwall and South West Devon, 1988).

Ordnance Survey, 2011, MasterMap (Cartographic). SDV346129.

Several ruined buildings, a spoil heap and disused shaft are indicated on the modern Ordnance Survey map. Map object based on this Source.

Newman, P., 2011, Mining in the Tavy Valley, West Devon. An Assessment of Archaeological Potential, 47-48, 64, Fig 7 (Report - Assessment). SDV347105.

Also known as Hocklake Mine, Great Duke and Wheal Tavy. Tinworks are documented at Hocklake in the early 17th century and Hocklake copper mine was apparently well-established by 1724. One of the lodes was named The Duke and the Great Duke Copper Mine referred to by Lysons as abandoned by 1813 may be this mine. Work recommenced in 1845-6 under the name of Tavy Consols. Mining continued until 1895 when Tavy Consols was finally wound up but further ore dressing activity is recorded in 1914-15 and the arsenic processing facility was also in use in the 1890s by adventurers at Lady Bertha Mine and again in 1914-15. A bridge was constructed across the Tavy to move materials between the two sites and photographs show the bridge with the remains of Tavy Consols in the background with disused waterwheel, buildings and spoil heaps. The Ordnance Survey map of 1882-4, just before closure, shows several buildings, a flue and chimney, probably associated with a burning house and a leat. The undated abandoned mine plan shows the mine to be well-developed on the surface with water-powered crusher house, stamping mill, buddles, water powered flat rod system and arsenic works with flue and chimney. Documentary and cartographic evidence suggest that likely surviving features may include spoil heaps, adits, wheel pits, the remains of buildings and structures and features relating to the flat-rod system, capstan and tramways. Other details: Site Nos. 23, 71.

Waterhouse, R., 2017, The Tavistock Canal. Its History and Archaeology, 180, fig 6.34 (Monograph). SDV361789.

The Great Duke (later known as Tavy Consols)
This was a later 18th and early 19th century-working of a copper mine referred to briefly by Kalmeter in 1724 as Hawklake, after the adjoining farm. Was worked for tin as Hawklake or Hocklake in the 17th century (and probably before). Not known when it became known as the Great Duke (to differentiate it from the Little Duke further to the north). Known since the mid-19th century as Tavy Consols, this was one of the mines in the Tavistock Canal Company portfolio for a time in the early 19th century.

Hegarty, C., Houghton, E., Knight, S. and Sims, R., 2020-2021, Tamar/Lidar; A Single Source Approach to Landscape Survey and Socially Distanced Community Archaeology Area 1 (AI&M project) (Interpretation). SDV363945.

Features relating to Tavy Consols Mine as depicted on the 1882 25inch Ordnance Survey map are identifiable as earthworks on visualisations derived from lidar data captured in 2019. In particular, the flue, trackways and spoil heaps are broadly identifiable through the tree cover of Blackmooham Wood. Unfortunately, due to the density of the tree cover, the earthworks were not accurately transcribable.

Sources / Further Reading

Associated Monuments

Associated Finds: none recorded

Associated Events

• EDV8345 - Tamar/Lidar; A Single Source Approach to Landscape Survey and Socially Distanced Community Archaeology Area 1 (AI&M) (Ref: ACD2380)

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