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HER Number:MDV6265
Name:Blowing House or tinner's hut and cache at Deep Swincombe, Dartmoor Forest

Summary

Remains of a possible Blowing House or a post medieval tinner's store or cache situated within an area of streamworks on the Deep Swincombe. The structure is rectangular on plan measuring 5.5 metres by 3.1 metres internally with a possible entrance in the northwest corner. The walls survive to a height of one metre with mounds of streaming waste built against the outside walls. There is an unusual chamber in the south wall. There is no direct evidence that this is a blowing house or stamping mill, but a mouldstone has been found near the leat. The waste built up around the building may have been done so to conceal it, and so may have also been used as a store.

Location

Grid Reference:SX 642 719
Map Sheet:SX67SW
Admin AreaDartmoor National Park
Civil ParishDartmoor Forest
DistrictWest Devon
Ecclesiastical ParishLYDFORD

Protected Status

  • SHINE: Central western section of the Bronze Age Venford Reave at Swincombe, with a number of attached hut circle settlements and enclosures, as well as an extensive Bronze Age field system, a cairn and a post-Medieval blowing house on Down Ridge
  • Scheduled Monument 1002600: Blowing house at Deep Swincombe

Other References/Statuses

  • National Monuments Record: SX67SW47
  • National Record of the Historic Environment: 443370
  • Old DCC SMR Ref: SX67SW/30
  • Old SAM County Ref: 792
  • Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division: SX67SW47

Monument Type(s) and Dates

  • (Former Type) BLOWING HOUSE (Built, Post Medieval to Early 20th Century - 1540 AD (Between) to 1901 AD (Between))
  • STOREHOUSE (Built, Post Medieval to Early 20th Century - 1540 AD (Between) to 1901 AD (Between))
  • TINNERS HUT (Built, Post Medieval to Early 20th Century - 1540 AD (Between) to 1901 AD (Between))

Full description

Burnard, R., 1888 - 1889, On the Track of the 'Old Men', Dartmoor, 111-112 (Article in Serial). SDV154694.

Burnard, R., 1891, The Antiquity of Mining on Dartmoor, 947 (Article in Serial). SDV261492.

Baring Gould, S., 1900, A Book of Dartmoor, 114-117 (Monograph). SDV277387.

Plan of Blowing House at Deep Swincombe and a picture of a tin-mould at Deep Swincombe. Building consists of a single chamber 18 feet by 11 feet rudely constructed of masses of granite resting on one another. The entrance was narrow and low. On one side was the furnace with an upright slab on one side. A fragment of the receptacle for the molten tin was found with a receiver and channel cut in it. Early pottery was also found. At the far end of the building was a cache in the thickness of the wall as a place to store the metal and tools. The whole structure is banked up with rubble and turf. Outside to the south lies a mould-stone with a mould of 26 inches at one end and 15 inches at the other and 5 inches deep. This is the earliest tin-furnace yet discovered on Dartmoor. The curious mould-stone is quite different in shape from any others found on the moor. No mortar-stones were discovered which is also a token of antiquity.

Ordnance Survey, 1904 - 1906, Second Edition Ordnance Survey 25 inch Map, 107SE (Cartographic). SDV325644.

'Blowing House (remains of)' marked on 1906 historic map.

Burnard, R., 1907, The Ancient Population of the Forest of Dartmoor, 199 (Article in Serial). SDV235854.

Burnard, R., 1911, Address of the President, 51 (Article in Serial). SDV231227.

Crossing, W., 1912 (1965), Crossing's Guide to Dartmoor, 464 (Monograph). SDV320981.

Worth, R. H., 1940, Notes on some Dartmoor Blowing Houses, 205-206 (Article in Serial). SDV218987.

Remains of building, Swincombe, Down Ridge. The walls of the building still stand. At one end of the building there is a covered chamber, probably a 'cache' possibly a late addition or alteration. Outside the building, to the south lies an earthfast boulder, in which a shallow trough has been worked. The identification of this trough as a tin mould is open to great doubt. It lies outside the house, on the opposite side of the door. The building lacks the first essential of a blowing house, and that is water-power. There is no trace of either a leat or a wheel-pit. There is no evidence of a smelting place. Baring Gould mentions and describes a 'furnace base', but this I have never seen nor is it mentioned by Burnard.
A tinner's hut or store it may well have been, but certainly not a blowing house. Pottery found in house could be Celtic or Saxon, or also 15th century. The building is constructed in a heap of tinners waste. The inside lined with rubble walling, the least width of the bank forming the walls, including the walling, is 1.3m, at places considerably more.

Worth, R. H., 1940, The Dartmoor Blowing House, 216 (Article in Serial). SDV154693.

Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division, 1950/1977, SX67SW47 (Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division Card). SDV235847.

(27/04/1950) Worth's description (1940) and dimensions accurate. No trace of either a leat or wheel-pit could be found. Probably not a blowing house.
(10/08/1977) The internal dimensions of this building are 6.7 metres by 2.5 metres and the walls average 1.2 metres in height. The thickness of the walls is impossible to determine because an earth mound has been built up to and over the building. There is no trace of a leat and as stated by Worth, it is probably a hut or store of indeterminate date. The earthfast boulder with a trough mentioned by Worth is still embedded in the ground nearby.

Ancient Monuments, 1970/1978, Schedule notes (Schedule Document). SDV235837.

(15/04/1970) Drystone wall structure. Was standing up to 1.2 metres. Remains of partition wall inside structure. Entrance to north-east. Leat against south-west side of structure. Rectangular mould outside southern corner. Scheduled as a blowing house.

Greeves, T. A. P., 1981, List of Doubtful Devon Tin Mills c1450-c1750, No 51 (Un-published). SDV336693.

Unusual building with chamber in one wall and a trough which has been claimed as a mouldstone. Status of site suspect. A large body sherd from the site may well be from a chafing dish. Excavated in late XIX.

Greeves, T. A. P., 1981, Medieval Industry, 88, 93 (Article in Serial). SDV275197.

SX642719. The structure originally thought to be of early medieval date, is more likely to be late 15th or 16th century. A large body sherd from the site may be from a chafing dish.

Robinson, R., 1983, List of Field Monument Warden Visits 1983 (Un-published). SDV345762.

Visited 19/01/1983.

Greeves, T. + Robinson, R., 1984, Building at Deep Swincombe (Report - Survey). SDV235843.

Visited on 6th November 1984. Site surveyed at 1:1000. Plans in possession of T. Greeves.

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

Not visible on raf or NMR photos.

Greeves, T. A. P., 1990, An Assessment of Dartmoor Tinworking, 35 (Report - Assessment). SDV343684.

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

(13/06/1995) SX 64257190. The remains of what was probably a blowing house lie on the left bank of Deep Swincombe near the S boundary of Sherberton Farm. The wedge-shaped building lies in a trough between tinner's spoil heaps and measures 5.5m N to S by 3.1m internally. the walls consist of coursed boulder revetments up to 1.4m high. There are traces of a central sub division and a possible entrance in the NW corner. A large rectangular hollow 1.4m N to S by 0.7m in the SW corner may mark the site of an internal wheelpit with the water exiting via the break in the NW corner of the building. There is no obvious leat to confirm the function of this building but a mouldstone lies immediately to the S. This mouldstone is a large granite block with a rectangular trough 0.7m by 0.35m and 0.1m deep in its upper surface.

Cranstone, D. + Hedley, I., 1995, Monuments Protection Programme: The Tin Industry Step 3 Site Assessments, Devon 38 (Report - non-specific). SDV357946.

Possible tinner's store or cache situated within an area of streamworks.

Ordnance Survey, 2024, Mastermap 2024 (Cartographic). SDV365834.

'Blowing House' shown as a rectangular bulding on modern mapping.

Historic England, 2024, National Heritage List for England, 1002600 (National Heritage List for England). SDV365835.

This record has been generated from an "old county number" (OCN) scheduling record. These are monuments that were not reviewed under the Monuments Protection Programme and are some of our oldest designation records. As such they do not yet have the full descriptions of their modernised counterparts available.

Sources / Further Reading

SDV154693Article in Serial: Worth, R. H.. 1940. The Dartmoor Blowing House. Transactions of the Devonshire Association. 72. Paperback Volume. 216.
SDV154694Article in Serial: Burnard, R.. 1888 - 1889. On the Track of the 'Old Men', Dartmoor. Transactions of the Plymouth Institute. 10. 111-112.
SDV218987Article in Serial: Worth, R. H.. 1940. Notes on some Dartmoor Blowing Houses. Transactions of the Devonshire Association. 72. Paperback Volume. 205-206.
SDV231227Article in Serial: Burnard, R.. 1911. Address of the President. Transactions of the Devonshire Association. 43. A5 Hardback. 51.
SDV235837Schedule Document: Ancient Monuments. 1970/1978. Schedule notes. The Schedule of Monuments. Unknown.
SDV235843Report - Survey: Greeves, T. + Robinson, R.. 1984. Building at Deep Swincombe.
SDV235847Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division Card: Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division. 1950/1977. SX67SW47. Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division Card. Card Index.
SDV235854Article in Serial: Burnard, R.. 1907. The Ancient Population of the Forest of Dartmoor. Transactions of the Devonshire Association. 39. Unknown. 199.
SDV261492Article in Serial: Burnard, R.. 1891. The Antiquity of Mining on Dartmoor. Transactions of the Plymouth Institution and Devon and Cornwall Natural History Society. 10. Unknown. 947.
SDV275197Article in Serial: Greeves, T. A. P.. 1981. Medieval Industry. Council for British Archaeology Research Report. 40. Unknown. 88, 93.
SDV277387Monograph: Baring Gould, S.. 1900. A Book of Dartmoor. A Book of Dartmoor. Unknown. 114-117.
SDV319854Cartographic: 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.
SDV320981Monograph: Crossing, W.. 1912 (1965). Crossing's Guide to Dartmoor. Crossing's Guide to Dartmoor. Hardback Volume. 464.
SDV325644Cartographic: Ordnance Survey. 1904 - 1906. Second Edition Ordnance Survey 25 inch Map. Second Edition Ordnance Survey 25 inch Map. Map (Digital). 107SE.
SDV336693Un-published: Greeves, T. A. P.. 1981. List of Doubtful Devon Tin Mills c1450-c1750. Unknown. No 51.
SDV343684Report - Assessment: Greeves, T. A. P.. 1990. An Assessment of Dartmoor Tinworking. Digital. 35.
SDV345762Un-published: Robinson, R.. 1983. List of Field Monument Warden Visits 1983. Lists of Field Monument Warden Visits. Printout.
SDV346608Report - 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. S. Probert.
SDV357946Report - non-specific: Cranstone, D. + Hedley, I.. 1995. Monuments Protection Programme: The Tin Industry Step 3 Site Assessments. Monument Protection Programme. Foolscap. Devon 38.
SDV365834Cartographic: Ordnance Survey. 2024. Mastermap 2024. Ordnance Survey Digital Mapping. Digital. [Mapped feature: #97071 ]
SDV365835National Heritage List for England: Historic England. 2024. National Heritage List for England. Website. 1002600.

Associated Monuments

MDV26075Part of: Streamworks in Deep Swincombe (Monument)
MDV6363Related to: Hut circle and associated field walls 150m east of Deep Swincombe (Monument)

Associated Finds

  • FDV7978 - MOULDSTONE (Post Medieval to Early 20th Century - 1540 AD to 1901 AD)

Associated Events

  • EDV8146 - Royal Commission Survey at Down Ridge and Swincombe
  • EDV3459 - Excavation at blowing house, Swincombe, Down Ridge
  • EDV8409 - Dartmoor Royal Forest Project

Date Last Edited:Sep 22 2024 3:03PM