A collection of walks, discoveries, insights and pictures of exploring Dartmoor National Park
August 12, 2024
Burcombe
The small holding of Burcombe lies on the boundary of open moorland (Ringmoor Down, Leedon Hill and Yellowmead Down) and the valley farms either side Sheepstor Brook and appears to be have been strategically located on an old moorland route known as the Jobbers Road. Today, there is very little evidence of there once having been a small holding and is now largely been swamped by a car park. At the time of the Sheepstor Parish Tithe, there were three entries, namely; plot 389 (Burcombe Lodge), plot 390 (Pasture) and plot 388 (Garden) relating to the small holding
The Jobbers Road (or Cawse) moorland route was between Sheepstor and Buckfastleigh and was used by pack-horse trains laden with wool fleeces, yarn and cloth. Sheepstor was the hub of the wool industry on south west Dartmoor. The wool was from farms in the middle Meavy Country being taken to Buckfastleigh where once there were seven woollen mills. Observers know the route was called Jobbers Road as it is so named on several 19th century maps, including ; plan of Huntingdon Warren (dated 1809) and Plan of Dartmoor Consolidated Mines (Eylesbarrow) from around 1836. The author speculates that Burcombe served the traders using Jobbers Road (for example as an inn) before, in later years being passed into the ownership of Sir Ralph Lopes (Maristow Estate) before the time of the Tithe. By the late 19th century, the small holding had disappeared from maps.
Eylesbarrow Tin Mine (main activity 1804-1852) lies to the east and Ditsworthy Warren House to the south east but the author doubts there is any relationship between these Dartmoor industries and this small holding.
Bibliography
Hemery, E., 1983 – High Dartmoor (pages 169-170)
Hemery, E., 1986 Walking Dartmoor’s Ancient Tracks – Track 3 – Jobbers Road or Cawse (pages 60-78)
Fletcher, M. + Newman, P. + Probert, S., 1999, Drizzlecombe, Eylesbarrow, Ditsworthy and Hartor areas in the Plym Valley, West Devon (Report – Survey). SDV346268
The sketch map is based on the Sheepstor Parish Tithe Map of the Burcombe area covered in this post. The name Burcombe appears to date back to at least the 13th century where it appears in the charter of Isabella de Fortibus in 1291. The record is for ‘Birracombeforde’ (Beara Combe Ford, the ford of the wooded combe). Extract from the Sheepstor Tithe from 1842 taken from Historic Environment Record (Hemery suggests May 1844). There are three entries Plot 389 (Burcombe Lodge), plot 390 (Pasture) and plot 388 (Garden). Area dimensions were in acres, roods and perches (with there being 4 roods to an acre and 40 perches to a rood). The Landowner and Occupier stated as Sir Ralph Lopes, which perhaps indicates the property was empty. It has been suggested to the author the lodge may have been a hunting lodge, that said it would have been quite small at 50 metres sq.Probable location of Burcombe Lodge (as estimated from the Tithe Map). It was recorded as being 2 perches (around 50 sq metres). Now the eastern end of the car parkThe probable location of Burcombe Lodge in relation to the concrete railway sleeper bridge over Sheepstor Brook and Jobbers Road (or Caswe) – now Eylesbarrow Mine TrackThe author measured the distance along the bank (where there are now granite blocks) as around 7m. With the total area of the lodge being 50 sq metres, it is not inconceivable that the width and length were both around that length. The granite blocks look like a more ‘modern’ addition and do not look like the foundations of a building.Burcombe FordBurcombe FordBurcombe Ford (with Duke, whose owner is Dartmoor Chris)The modern Burcombe Bridge looks quite substantial, being used by vehicles for access (mainly for Ditsworthy Cottage a short distance up the track). The bridge sleepers were recycled from the Princetown Railway and put in place in 1975. In ‘High Dartmoor’ (page 169), Eric Hemery states that prior to the concrete rail sleepers, there was a wooden bridge originally built here by Percy Ware (last warrener of Ditsworthy Warren House) because the ford was often inconveniently deep to cross. The beams for the bridge came from Buckland Abbey and on the downstream side of the bridge were carved rosettes (probable abbatial insignia)Sandwiched between the track leading to Burcombe Ford and Sheepstor Brook is where the author believes plot 388 – Garden was located. The centre of the Garden is at SX57881 67324The Garden was recorded on the Tithe as being 5 perches (around 126 sq metres). The author approximates this area now overgrown with reeds and bracken as 21m by 6m, which is commensurate with that recorded on the Tithe. There is a boulder lined bank between the Garden and the trackThe west end of the Garden has a small bank defining the boundary. The north and south boundaries of the Garden are defined by Sheepstor BrookThe authors location of Burcombe Lodge isn’t 100% definitive by virtue that there are no remaining traces and the Sheepstor Tithe Map is a bit more ‘simplistic’ (and therefore not as accurate) from those developed from late 19th century onwards. With a little further exploration, the author speculates the area shown in the picture is a alternative location for Burcombe Lodge. If anyone reading this post has any further information or evidence, the author would be grateful is hearing from themPasture – plot 390 is a small sub-circular enclosure, which a lot of hikers will cross en-route from the car park and Ditsworthy Warren. The centre of the pasture is approx SX57885 67260The plot / enclosure is bounded by a corn ditch type bank with occasional traces of stone revetting. The enclosure has been breeched in several placesThe Pasture looking south towards Gutter Tor. Corn ditch type bank on the east sideEast side of the pasture, bounded by a corn ditch looking north west towards Sheepstor.The pastures was originally enclosed with an area of 2 roods and 34 perches (approx. 0.3ha). The south half of the plot contains traces of ridge and furrow around 1.5m wide and 0.3m high (ref: Fletcher, Newman, Probert)
