A collection of walks, discoveries, insights and pictures of exploring Dartmoor National Park
April 13, 2026
Frenchbeer Ash House
Ash Houses on farms (mainly in the north eastern quarter of Dartmoor) were once common sight. The ‘classic’ Dartmoor Ash House is a small circular building with a conical roof, with an earthen or lime-washed floor. The design of the Ash House usually included a small hatch on the farm-side in which the ashes were dumped, with on the opposite side a doorway through which the ashes would be removed. That said, there are examples of rectangular shaped Ash Houses such as the one at Frenchbeer Farm, where there is only one doorway.
Ash Houses were constructed to store unattended ash and embers taken from open fires, a task performed before going to bed, to reduce the risk of embers causing a risk to the thatched building during the night. With open fires, wide chimneys and thatched roofs fire hazards were ever present. Ash Houses were always located well away from the main farmhouse. Accumulated ash would eventually be spread on the land with it being mixed with waste from the kitchen. It is thought that the ash house tradition could possibly date back to the medieval period, albeit there are examples in Devon which may have originated in the 13th century.
Bibliography
Royal Commission for the Historical Monuments of England – (1987-1993), Duchy Farms Project Survey Visit; S. A. J. Probert (Report – Survey). SDV350839.
Stephen H. Woods – (1988) – Dartmoor Stone, page 153
This 19th century annotated map indicates the location of the rectangular Ash House which lies in the west corner of the yard at Little Frenchbeer Farm, on the south side of the Chagford to Thornworthy roadAerial view of the Ash House within the complex of Frenchbeer FarmFrenchbeer Farm (Little and Great) – a duchy farmJust off the main tarmac lane at the west end of the farm buildings, this Ash House can be found. The Ash House lies in the west corner of the yard at Little Frenchbeer Farm with the Mariner’s Way passes next to it.The original Dartmoor Ash Houses were round (with a conical roof) with a hatch facing the house and with a door facing into a field. The later Ash Houses, like this one at Frenchbeer had no hatch, were rectangular and had either a flat or sloping roof.The Frenchbeer Ash House from circa late 1980’s. Photograph taken by Stephen H. Woods and published in ‘Dartmoor Stone’ by Devon Books (page 153). The difference in vegetation over the last 35 years or so is quite stark.In 1910 a Valuation Office survey mentioned ‘a stone ash house with concrete roof’ The corbelled roof of the Ash House is capped with a layer of cementThe interior of the Frenchbeer Ash House shows the roof is corbelled (like the round versions of these houses). The Ash House measures internally 2.8m by 1.6m with a maximum height above floor level of 1.5mThe interior of the Frenchbeer Ash House – there is only one doorway here unlike other Dartmoor Ash Houses which had a hatch through which the ash was dumped and a doorway from which the ash was retrieved
