A collection of walks, discoveries, insights and pictures of exploring Dartmoor National Park
February 28, 2022
Early 20th Century protection of a Prehistoric Enclosure and Huts at Addicombe.
At 1 mile 25 chains (NOTE: there are 80 chains in one mile) from the Redlake Tramway locomotive shed below Western Beacon, the tramway enters a shallow cutting, where the modern Two Moors Way meets the tramway. At this point there is a 3ft (0.9m) high, 71ft (21.6m) long raised dry-stone platform. One theory as to why this raised dry-stone platform was constructed is that it was to serve houses in the Erme Valley, a ½ mile to the west. However, a possibly more feasible explanation is that this construction (which realistically was not necessary) was down to the surveyor (Richard Hansford Worth) who could have insisted on this to protect the Addicombe Enclosure and Huts immediately to the west. The author believes this attention to detail becomes more evident when one considers the pipeline passes the other side of the Enclosure. The survey was conducted in 1909 and the tramway and pipeline were constructed in 1910/11. The tramway officially opened on 11th September 1911.