Membership
from just £12!
Whilst photographing all the Dartmoor Tinners' Huts some years ago I found two unrecorded ruins: one in Taw Marsh, at SX 61860 90104 and one by the North Teign, at SX 64087 84796. I wondered if including them in my Tinners' Hut project would be appropriate so I contacted Dr. Tom Greeves. He replied saying he thought they might be tin mills. So I didn't include them in my project. Then recently after a visit to and a lengthy discussion with Tom about the North Teign ruin, it occurred to me that both share similar features. Therefore I set about recording them, in as much detail as possible with my limited means.
Here are the results of my survey:
They also share some less easily described features but the two ruins are not exactly the same.
In my two drawings I have attempted to show how they may have looked. I removed the collapsed stone and built up the walls but left off the roofs. My two plans show their layout.
My conclusion is that the two structures do have similarities. This suggests a common function but what? I hope my observations will prompt more questions on this.
North Teign SX 64087 84796:
Length: |
4m |
Door: |
South: 1m wide |
width: |
3.4m |
Wall thickness: |
0.6m - 0.7m (North wall thicker) |
Height max: |
2m (East wall) |
South bank/wall: |
5.2m length |
min: |
0.3m (West wall) |
Bank width: |
1.4m tapers to 1.3m, (min. height 0.9m) |
Floor area: |
13.6 sq. m |
Channel, south: |
3.3m wide (narrowing to 2m) |
Taw Marsh SX 61860 90104:
Length: |
5.8m |
Door: |
South: 1.1m wide; North: 0.9m wide (poorly defined) |
Width: |
3.4m |
Wall thickness: |
0.8m |
Height max.: |
1.3m (East wall) |
South bank/wall: |
total curved length: 7.5m |
min.: |
0.3m (West wall 0.3m - 0.5m) |
Bank width: |
1.2m to 1m |
Floor area: |
19.72 sq. m |
Channel, south: |
8m tapering to 1m |