A collection of walks, discoveries, insights and pictures of exploring Dartmoor National Park
March 14, 2025
Brockhill Tinners’ Workings and Mill
In the Devon Historic Environment Record, there is an entry by Dr Tom Greeves (from 1998) recording: “…a tin-stamping mill set near lower end of w-e tinworking gully on w side of brockhill stream. The mill lies on a ‘terrace’ defined by a n-s bank on it lower edge. A leat embankment wheelpit and several buddle pits are visible. Possibly 17c/18c in date”. Intrigued by this entry, and wishing to make a exploratory visit, the author made contact with Tom who wrote back stating the site was a bit of a ‘challenge’ insofar that a subsequent visit in 2007 he “…had difficulty identifying (the) mill”
Tom, was able to provide a historic reference of a mill in this area which was recorded by W. S. Lewis in his book The West of England Tin Mining (1923) p.33. In this publication, it gives a list of Devon blowing houses which includes ‘Brock Hill Stream – Blowing House’. Tom does doubt whether the structure he found in 1998 was the one recorded by Lewis, indeed he records a Stamping Mill whereas Lewis records a Blowing House, though this may just be semantics.
In his 2007 visit to the site, Tom recorded : “Poss. mill structure at SX 67799 66133 at ht of 1252 ft – structure c.2m square internally, with stony bank c.1m high on N side [prob. what I previously identified as a leat embankment]. Poss. wheelpit on NW side of structure. Poss. buddle pits to NE, on lower side of structure. Poss. terraced structure a few metres to N of poss. mill”.
Armed with all this information, the author made a visit to the area to record what features might still be there. This post is a record of what the author found, which quite possibly may have been the site of a mill.
Bibliography
W. S. Lewis (1923) – The West of England Tin Mining (page 33)
Dr Tom Greeves – Pers. Conv. (by email)
DTRG – The Tinworking Landscape of Dartmoor in a European Context: Prehistory to 20th Century – papers presented at a conference in May 2016 to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Dartmoor Tinworking Research Group (page 67).
Annotated LiDAR (Light Detection And Ranging) map of the area where the possible Tinners’ Mill is located. Note the Tinworking Gully (openwork) running West / East where it meets streamwork on Brockhill Mire. At the top (west) end of the Tinworking Gully is a (dry) leat and Water Channels which appear to have been used to source water to the Mill.View from Grippers Hill looking across to Tinworking Gully on west side of Brockhill Stream where there is a possible Tinners’ MillLooking north up Brockhill StreamTin streamworking at Brockhill Stream. There is a small construction here at SX67899 65950, which doesn’t look to be of any historical significance and may be of relatively modern origin. Bottom of the Tinworking Gully on west side of Brockhill StreamLooking west up the Tinworking GullyThe leat at the top of the Tinworking originates from near Western Walla Brook, near Huntingdon Tin Mine in the west. It then follows contours of the hills, enroute to Lud Gate in the east. It would appear that this water may have been ‘tapped into’ to supply a possible Tinners’ Mill located near the bottom of the Tinworking.The Western Wallabrook to Hayford Hall leat as it snakes past the Tinworking Gully. The timeline of the construction of the leat and the water channels leading off it down into the gully towards the possible mill are intriguing. If the leat pre-dates the mill and water channels, then it would seem, the tinners’ tapped into an existing supply. If the leat post dates the water channels and mill, then the tinners’ would have had to use their own reservoir(s) hereabouts. Tom Greeves did record a heavily peat covered reservoir in 1998Top of the Tinworkings (looking west) taken from the leatJust above the leat there is an area of ground disturbance, which looks like exploratory (trial) pits. Eastern White Barrow can be seen on the far horizonIn an attempt to find the location of the Tinners’ Mill, the author decided to follow a water channel from its junction with the dry leat down hill. The picture shows one of two such channels, which are quite obvious when you look at the LiDAR plotPoint where the two water channels meetThe water channels lead to the area where the possible Tinners’ Mill is located. The author recorded this location at SX67805 66124. This location is just a few metres from the Tom Greeves recorded location and in all likelihood is the same due to the vagaries and accuracies of GPS measuring over time and between different recording devices. The site certainly meets the previous description “….structure c.2m square internally, with stony bank c.1m high on N side”. So was this the Lewis ‘Blowing House’ or was it a Stamping Mill (or possibly neither). The area certainly is disturbed enough to be considered as a man made structure.A few metres to the north of the possible mill is some walling, which possibly formed part of a leat embankment. The walling is unlikely to have been part of a wheelpit (given its distance from the mill). The walling is located at SX67800 66135The walling which may have formed part of a leat embankment A second area of walling at SX67804 66130, a few metres from the first area. These two pieces of walling may well have formed a leat embankment or even a water channel (although that is unlikely as the water wouldn’t have had enough height for a wheel)View from the Tinners’ Mill, looking north towards two sections of walling which might well have formed a leat embankment.The Tinners’ Mill looking east towards the Tinworking Gully – if anyone reading this post visits the area, their interpretation of the site would be most welcome. In conclusion, Tom has said that : “He included it in his list of mills in the *Conference proceedings (page 67) but remains cautious about his initial interpretation. Having said that, the scale of workings here would have required a mill somewhere (perhaps using the Avon Dam mill)”. *The Tinworking Landscape of Dartmoor in a European Context: Prehistory to 20th Century – papers presented at a conference in May 2016 to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Dartmoor Tinworking Research Group (DTRG).
