Prehistory to 20 th Century

Transcription

1 A CELEBRATION OF THE TINWORKING LANDSCAPE OF DARTMOOR IN ITS EUROPEAN CONTEXT: Prehistory to 20 th Century 25 th Anniversary of the Dartmoor Tinworking Research Group th Anniversary of UNESCO World Heritage designation of Cornwall & West Devon Mining Landscape Tavistock, Devon UK, 6-11 May 2016 Pumping and stamps waterwheel at Hexworthy tin mine about 1905 The tinworking landscape of Dartmoor is perhaps the finest in the world for its extent, completeness, chronological range and accessibility. Most of it falls within Dartmoor National Park and much is on open moorland to which there is unrestricted public access. Although always closely connected historically to the Cornish tin industry, Dartmoor s tinworking landscape is quite distinct, as it lacked the deep tin deposits of its neighbour and also had an abundance of water resources. In the 18 th, 19 th and 20 th centuries Dartmoor tinworking was on a relatively small scale. Consequently, archaeological remains of these and earlier periods (especially AD ) are still of outstanding extent and quality. Historically, the industry generated significant wealth for the county of Devon, being ranked as more important than seafaring in about AD Much tin was exported to Europe and beyond. Hundreds of hectares of streamworks and openworks survive, served by numerous reservoirs and miles of leats. Ore was crushed and smelted in water powered mills, of which at least 100 survive archaeologically.

2 Some 200 accommodation lodges have been identified on open moorland. In the 19 th century shafts reached a depth of 500ft (152m), often drained by pumping waterwheels up to 60ft (18m) in diameter, with horse-powered whims used for hauling. The largest mine employed up to 200 men, women and children. The moorland industry survived until 1930 and its last decades included innovative use of water-powered turbines generating electricity. Fortunately, from the 1860s onwards, much was documented photographically. Superb archives also exist. This conference, which marks the 25 th anniversary of the Dartmoor Tinworking Research Group, and the 10 th anniversary of the UNESCO World Heritage designation of the Cornwall & West Devon Mining Landscape, will celebrate the diversity of this industrial landscape, and will compare its features and technologies with those of contemporary tinworking areas of continental Europe Czech Republic, Germany, France and Spain. It will undoubtedly be a stimulus for future research. Tavistock has been chosen as the conference venue as it was historically one of Devon s four stannary towns, administering a tinworking district, and was closely connected with mining for hundreds of years. Since 2006 it has been the eastern gateway to the Cornwall and West Devon Mining Landscape World Heritage Site. It is sited on the River Tavy and is a town renowned for its attractive architecture, fascinating history and good shops, and is ideally placed for the excursions which will include visits to Morwellham (a major mining port on the River Tamar) and Lydford (site of the stannary prison). The indoor components of the conference will be held in the historic Town Hall (built by the Duke of Bedford in 1864). Upper Merrivale tin blowing and stamping mill under excavation

3 Friday 6 May Programme Reception and Dinner in Tavistock Town Hall. Saturday 7 May Key lecture (Dr Tom Greeves) The World of the Dartmoor Tinner: an historical context 12 th - 20 th Century AD. Lectures in Town Hall ; Dartmoor 1. Geological aspects of Dartmoor tin deposits in their European context (Dr Richard Scrivener FGS) 2. Dartmoor Tinworking: Prehistory to AD 1000 (Whitehorse Hill, peat and river sediment data, wrecks, etc.) (Henrietta Quinnell) 3. Surveying tinworking landscapes (streamworks, lodeworking, shafts, leats and reservoirs) (Dr Phil Newman) 4. Mills and lodges the field archaeology of stamping, smelting and accommodation 15 th 20 th century AD (Dr Tom Greeves) 5. Crownhill Down Tinworking from Prehistory to the 19 th Century (Simon Hughes, AC Archaeology) Cornwall 6. Cornwall (Dr Peter Herring) the tinworking landscape 7. Lanyon tin mills (Stuart Emmett) a community project Evening at Morwellham (World Heritage 19 th century mining port; u/g mine etc.) food and tour Sunday 8 May Lectures in Tavistock Town Hall Continental Europe 8. Germany (Thomas Helm, Dr Rainer Sennewald) Technology of tinworking, milling and smelting in a landscape context 9. Czech Republic (Dr Petr Rojik and Michael Rund, Sokolov Museum) Tin streamworks and associated leats of the 16 th century in the western Erzgebirge, etc 10. France (Dr Béatrice Cauuet) The tin mining landscape of France from Prehistory to History. An overview of tin extraction technology from primary and secondary deposits through time 11. Iberia (Emmanuelle Meunier and Beatriz Comendador) North-West Iberian tin mining from the Bronze Age to modern times: an overview Evening at own discretion in Tavistock

4 Monday 9 May Field excursions + evening informal discussions in Lydford Bal Mine, Outcombe and Combeshead tin mills, Ailsborough Mine (medieval to mid-19 th century) Approx. 4 miles/6.5 km. Packed lunches provided (shorter excursions also available) Lydford Castle (stannary prison) Evening meal, Castle Inn, Lydford Tuesday 10 May Field excursions + evening informal discussions Upper Merrivale Tin Mill AD (Beckamoor Combe streamworks, reservoirs, excavated mill). Approx. 3 miles / 5 km Shorter excursions as alternative (a. Beckamoor Combe streamworks b. Lower Merrivale blowing mill) Lunch at Warren House Inn Vitifer & Golden Dagger Mines (medieval to 20 th century) Approx. 3 miles / 5 km Wednesday 11 May Shorter excursions possible (e.g. just to Vitifer) Evening at own discretion in Tavistock Field excursions + final evening event (Two Bridges Hotel) Hexworthy Mine and Gobbett blowing mill (medieval to 20 th century) Approx. 5 miles / 8 km Shorter excursions: Gobbett and Week Ford mills and Saddle Bridge Turbine House Crockerntor (site of Stannary Great Courts ) - late afternoon visit Dinner and farewells at Two Bridges Hotel Please see the website:

5 Notes for Dartmoor Tinworking Conference 6-11 May The Full Discounted Ticket ( 175) will cover everything from Friday 6 May to Wednesday 11 May inclusive i.e. conference booklet; conference medallion; all 12 lectures in Town Hall (Tavistock); Friday evening meal (in Town Hall); morning coffee and afternoon tea on Saturday and Sunday (lunch is not included); Saturday evening at Morwellham (including supper); Monday packed lunch; Monday evening supper at Castle Inn, Lydford; Tuesday lunch at Warren House Inn; Wednesday packed lunch; Wednesday evening supper at Two Bridges Hotel; minibus transport from Tavistock to field trip and evening venues, with returns to Tavistock. Accommodation is not included. Menu choices will be ed or sent separately once a booking has been made. 2. The Friday-Sunday Ticket ( 110) will cover everything from Friday 6 May to Sunday 8 May i.e. conference medallion; conference booklet; all 12 lectures in Town Hall (Tavistock); Friday evening meal (in Town Hall); morning coffee and afternoon tea on Saturday and Sunday (lunch is not included); Saturday evening at Morwellham (including supper and transport from Tavistock). Menu choices will be sent separately by or otherwise once a booking has been made. 3. The Monday Field Trip Ticket ( 15) will cover packed lunch and minibus transport from Tavistock to starting point and return. A conference booklet will also be included. 4. The Monday Evening Ticket ( 20) will cover evening meal at Castle Inn, Lydford plus minibus transport to and from Tavistock. A menu choice will be sent separately by or otherwise once a booking has been made. 5. The Tuesday Field Trip Ticket ( 20) will cover lunch at the Warren House Inn and minibus transport to venues, from Tavistock and returning to Tavistock. A conference booklet will also be included. 6. The Wednesday Field Trip Ticket ( 15) will cover packed lunch and minibus transport to and from Tavistock. A conference booklet will also be included. 7. The Wednesday Evening Ticket ( 20) will cover evening meal at Two Bridges Hotel plus minibus transport to and from Tavistock. A menu choice will be sent separately by or otherwise once a booking has been made. 8. The Proceedings of the Conference will be published separately, later in All members of the Dartmoor Tinworking Research Group at the time of publication will receive a complimentary copy. 9. Accommodation information can be supplied if requested. The Bedford Hotel, Tavistock is offering a 10% discount. 10. IMPORTANT: Field trips 9-11 May. These will be over rough exposed moorland. Distances will be up to a maximum of about 6 miles/10 km per day. Participants will need to be fit and used to several hours of walking on rough ground in all weathers. Shorter (2 x half-day) excursions (at same cost) will be offered to those who do not wish to take part in the full day excursions on Monday and Wednesday. Warm waterproof clothing is essential, with strong footwear (walking boots or equivalent). While every effort will be made to ensure the wellbeing of participants, delegates take part entirely at their own risk. In the event of very inclement weather, alternative arrangements will be made, at the discretion of the conference organisers. Please see:

6 FIELD TRIPS & EXCURSIONS Saturday 7 May 2016 The evening visit to Morwellham on the beautiful River Tamar will be to this ancient tidal port, which has World Heritage designation. Much tin would have been exported from here, and the last tin coinage (assay and taxation) in Devon took place here in But the heyday of the port was during the copper boom of the mid-19 th century. The visit will include an underground rail trip to George & Charlotte Mine, as well as a tour of the distinctive village and port itself. Monday 9 May 2016 Starting at the site of a small tin mine (Bal Mine/Whitemoor Mead) and dressing floor of about 1800, surveyed by the Dartmoor Tinworking Research Group, the route will then be up the Deancombe valley past ruined farmhouses of medieval origin, to the site of Outcombe tin mill. This is one of the bestpreserved of Dartmoor tin stamping mills of probable 16 th /17th century date, with a remarkable quantity of mortarstones surviving. Close by is the medieval and later openwork of Oldbeame alias Outhome Beame alias Liteltorsworke. Next we shall see Combeshead tin mill, working as Harthill in the 16 th century, but reworked in the early 19 th century. Then to the massive medieval and later streamworks of North and South Deepwork which lead us, via an unusual mortarstone, to Ailsborough Mine. In the 1820s this had a workforce of about 80 persons, and has an unparalleled and well-preserved layout of a water-powered tin mine operating in the first half of the 19 th century. The site of a pumping waterwheel 50ft (15.25m) in diameter and its unique flatrod system, shafts (with whim platforms) will be seen, as will the reservoir supplying a pumping wheel and sequence of six tin stamping mills, plus a smelting house which operated (the last on moorland Dartmoor). In the evening there will be a visit to Lydford Castle which was built as a royal prison in 1195 and remodelled in the 13 th century. This was the seat of administration of Dartmoor throughout the medieval period and beyond. It also contained the stannary prison. Eyewitness accounts will bring this evocative place to life. The most famous prisoner was Richard Strode, a Westminster MP who provoked the tinners in Supper will be in the historic Castle Inn. Tuesday 10 May 2016 The morning excursion will first go to Beckamoor Combe which is a fine streamwork of medieval and later date, complete with reservoirs and leats, which has been surveyed by the Dartmoor Tinworking Research Group. Then to Upper Merrivale Tin Blowing & Stamping Mills excavated by the Dartmoor Tinworking Research Group , via Roos Tor Pits tinwork of probable 16 th /17 th century date. The Upper Merrivale mill complex was operating between about 1500 and 1710, and included stamping mills and a blast furnace for smelting tin. A fine array of stone artefacts is visible on site. A shorter excursion will also be offered in the morning which will explore Beckamoor Combe and Lower Merrivale Tin Blowing Mill, which has furnace remains surviving. After lunch at the Warren House Inn, Dartmoor s most famous and isolated pub, much used by tin miners, there will be an excursion to Vitifer and Golden Dagger Mines, representing one of the finest tinworking landscapes in the world. Colossal openworks of the medieval period are visible here, but also much evidence of mining in the 19 th and early 20 th century. In the mid-19 th century a workforce of about 200 men, women and children were employed, with shafts up to 500ft (152m) deep. Contemporary photographs will be used to bring the ruins to life accommodation, waterwheels, dressing floors etc. Golden Dagger Mine witnessed the very last commercial tin mining on moorland Dartmoor, closing in November 1930.

7 Wednesday 11 May 2016 The full day excursion will follow a late 19 th century mine track to Hexworthy Mine which has medieval origins, but which was last worked in the late 19 th and early 20 th century. Thanks to oral recollection and photographs, the last period of working can be recreated. Among sites to be visited will be that of a 45ft (13.7m) waterwheel, powder house, accommodation, and the impressive workings at Hooten Wheals. The remarkable medieval openwork at Hensroost will also be seen, with a fine suite of reservoirs, and where a horse whim operated in the 19 th century. A tinners building of probable 16th/17 th century date will be seen by Skir Ford, before descending into Deep Swincombe where extensive streamworks and another fine tinners building (complete with chamber) will be seen. Lower down the Swincombe valley the site of Gobbett tin blowing mill will be visited this has a fine array of stone artefacts including, uniquely, horizontal crazing millstones, and also remains of a blast furnace. Nearby is the site of 19 th century Gobbett Mine, with wheelpit and round buddles, and also a fine medieval and later tin openwork. Those opting for a shorter excursion will visit Gobbett in the morning. In the afternoon, they will visit Saddle Bridge Turbine House of the early 20 th century, and Week Ford tin mills, which are of 16 th /17 th century date and exceptionally well-preserved. The upper mill was a stamping mill, but the lower one was a blowing mill with blast furnace. Fine mortarstones survive, and also a mouldstone. In the late afternoon, there will be an optional visit to Crockerntor, the site of the Great Courts of Devon Tinners, where statutes were enacted for managing the industry. We know of about a dozen assemblies held here between 1474 and In 1600 Sir Walter Ralegh, as Lord Warden of the Stannaries, presided over the open air gathering. The evening meal will be at the Two Bridges Hotel beside the West Dart River.