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Summary

The remains of the old Birch lead mine exist at what is now called 'Many Waters'. The old stack, remains of the walls of the wheel-house and spoil dumps have been skilfully incorporated into a private garden. The mine was active in the 1850s, and is said to have been last worked in the 1860s.

Location

Protected Status: none recorded

Other References/Statuses

• National Monuments Record: SX88NW28
• National Record of the Historic Environment: 447200
• Old DCC SMR Ref: SX88NW/41
• Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division: SX88NW28

Monument Type(s) and Dates

• CHIMNEY (Constructed, XIX to Late 20th Century - 1850 AD (Between) to 1995 AD (Between))
• MINE BUILDING (Constructed, XIX - 1850 AD (Between) to 1855 AD (Between))
• MINE SHAFT (XIX - 1850 AD (Between) to 1855 AD (Between))
• WINDER HOUSE (XIX - 1850 AD (Between) to 1855 AD (Between))

Full description

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

'Birch Mine (Lead, disused)' depicted on the late 19th century historic map. Mine buildings, mine shaft and stack depicted as well as earwork's and pond.

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

(SX 826870) Birch Mine (Disused).

Royal Air Force, 1947, RAF/CPE/UK/1995, 1336 (Aerial Photograph). SDV224714.

Ramsden, J. V., 1952, Notes on the Mines of Devonshire, 88 fig.1 (Article in Serial). SDV60737.

Mine. A10. Lead and barytes. Cobalt and copper reported.

Harris, H., 1968, Industrial Archaeology of Dartmoor, 188 (Monograph). SDV149229.

SX 826871. The remains of the old Birch lead mine exist at what is now called 'Many Waters'. The old stack, remains of the walls of the wheel-house and spoil dumps have been skilfully incorporated into a private garden. The mine was active in the 1850s, and is said to have been last worked about a hundred years ago.

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

Visible and recorded (1947 aerial photograph).

Agricultural Development Advisory Service, 1995, Recording sheet (Worksheet). SDV301748.

(03/03/1995) Ruined building, engine room for mine, and chimney stack located in garden during visit.

Nance, R. W. + Nance, R. D., 1996, A Survey of Engine Houses on the Mines of South Devon, 109-122 (Article in Serial). SDV241746.

(August 1996) Birch Aller (or Birch Ellers) Mine. Base and separate stack of 30 inch pumping engine house erected in 1853. The engine had an eight foot stroke and a single eight ton boiler. Despite an opening in the rear wall, the plug door is enlarged and evidently served as the cylinder opening. The engine also appears to have been set deep, with the step in the wall corresponding to the top of the cylinder loadings almost at ground level. Foundations for a boiler house large enough for a single boiler adjoin the engine house to the east.

Nance, R. D., 1996, Project Design for a Survey of Engine Houses on the Mines of South Devon (Report - Assessment). SDV222663.

Bodman, M., 1998, Water-Powered Sites in Devon, 36.26/in SMR (Report - non-specific). SDV305931.

Bodman, M., 2015, Mills on the Teign. A gazetteer of water-powered sites on the Teign and Bovey and their tributaries, 42 (Monograph). SDV360401.

The mine remains lie in the grounds of a private house. The chimney stack, surviving from the mine, was restored by the owners and the Dartmoor National Park Authority in 1995; the brick upper section of the stack has gone, but the remainder was consolidated and survives well. The remains of the engine house, which housed the steam engine, were incorporated into a rock garden that still survived in 1980.

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

Remains of the mine buildings and chimney stack depicted on the modern mapping.

Sources / Further Reading

Associated Monuments

Associated Finds: none recorded

Associated Events: none recorded

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