A collection of walks, discoveries, insights and pictures of exploring Dartmoor National Park
December 10, 2024
Holming Beam Mine / Wheal Mistor
Holming Beam Mine (or Wheal Mistor) lies on former (leased) prison lands between the Blackbrook river and Black Dunghill stream. The mine comprises a complex of tin ‘lode back’ pits and openworks running as two lines (labelled simply as ‘lodes’ in this post) approx. in a west-northwest to east-south-east direction plus another line of prospecting ‘trial’ pits which lie approx. north to south. The workings are quite extensive with the largest part being around 50m long and 8.0m deep. The word ‘Beam’ on Dartmoor is synonymous with tin mining . Indeed, William Crossing defines a ‘beam’ as having: “a mining signification, and where it is found on the moor a deep. open working will usually be seen… (sometimes) the name has attached itself to the hill near the workings”. The names Holming Beam and Holming Beam Bottom are misplaced on modern OS Maps being north of Long Plantation and to the west of the Cowsic River. The true Holming Beam (or Omen Beam) are these workings.
The northern openwork is approx 500m long and is the most impressive and the southern one being approx half that length at 250m.
Very little is known about the mine and there are no records of any output, although it is believed to be medieval in origin. In a Dartmoor Tinworking Research Group (DTRG) article by Dr Tom Greeves (Newsletter 67 – November 2024), it is considered that the workings may be identified with a tin work titled Mystlakehedd (alias Mystlake-beme) in which Richard Stuckey had a one-fifth share in the early 17th century.
There is a record which suggests that Homing Beam Mine was last worked in 1810 (ref: Lyson’s Britannia Magna (Devon)). However, there are records which suggest that in 1834, men employed by Capt Paul (at Birch Tor and Vitifer Mine), were said to have newly cleaned out pits at this mine and by February 1835 the Duchy were informed the bounds of the mine had been set out and that a house had been built and inhabited. The ‘house’ in question is almost certainly have been Holming Beam Farm (which is located a few hundred metres to the south west), where there is evidence that a Joseph Wills (Miner) and Dinah Eva lived between at least May 1835 (by virtue of a baptism record for their daughter Mary) and 1841 (by virtue of the census).
The mine was recorded as Wheal Mist Torr in March 1836 and was under the supervision of Capt Paull. A report at the time stated: “there has been no discovery worth noticing and only two men are employed there, but there is a piece of stream ground, near, that may be of value”. The 1836 report continues: “…one of the men was called Wills who lives in a little hovel, which was once an old account house belonging to the mine”. Wills was of course Joseph Wills, the husband of Dinah Eva.
As recorded by Dr Tom Greeves in the DTRG November 24 newsletter, one of the last known documentary mentions of the mine was in a licence for ‘Omen Beam Mine’ granted to Richard Williams for one year from 25th May 1854 at £5 rent and dues of 1/15.
After this, in 1857 three miners’ wrote to the Duchy applying for a grant of Holming Beam Mine Sett. It is unknown whether there request was granted. Then, in 1870 there was a further communication with the Duchy by what appears to have been an entrepreneur who states a Capt. Skewes was going to inspect the mine for a third party who intended to invest £10,000 in the mine. As there are no other records in existence it is reasonably safe to assume neither the 1870 nor the 1857 ventures came to anything.
Bibliography
Dartmoor Chris – Pers. Conv – letters to from Duchy regarding the mine from 1857 and 1870
William Crossing – Guide to Dartmoor – page 11
Lyson’s Britannia Magna (Devon)
Royal Commission for the Historical Monuments of England – (1993-1998) – Dartmoor Royal Forest Project (Report – Survey). SDV346608.
Probert, S – 2002 – Dartmoor Prison Farm, Devon. An Archaeological Survey and Evaluation, 4, fig (Report – Survey). SDV364452
Dartmoor Tinworking Research Group – Newsletter 67 (November 2024) – Pages 12 & 13 – article by Dr Tom Greeves
Holming Beam Mine (Wheal Mistor) does not appear on any 19th century OS maps and the clear features of two lodes (‘lode back’ pits and ‘openworks’) and a series of prospecting ‘trial’ pits are still not shown on modern OS Maps. However, looking at a LiDAR (Light Detection And Ranging) plot the mine operations are very obviousApproaching the mine from the south, this is one of the first prospecting ‘trial’ pits encountered. Long Plantation is seen in the backgroundThis prospecting ‘trial’ pit is located at SX58319 76301. The line of upthrust from the main lodes of the mine can be seen to the north at the top right of this pictureAnother prospecting ‘trial’ pit at SX58308 76336Various workings near the south lode. It is interesting to note the piles of stones hereThis contextual LiDAR (Light Detection And Ranging) plot shows the location of the mine in relation to Fices Well and the Blackbrook river. Holming Beam Farm was an early / mid 19th century small holding, which was probably abandoned when the prison lands expanded. There is a leat leading from the river, which passes the farm and heads towards the mine. Whether the mine used the water from the leat is unknown – it may have just been a pot water leat or if it was used by the miners it possibly was used to remove over-burden in the workings. The LiDAR plot also shows an old tramway, which is believed to have part of the peat extraction (Naptha) workings. Around 1835-40, a miner (Joseph Wills) lived with his wife (Dinah Eva) and family lived at the farmA large prospecting ‘trial’ pit near the eastern end of the south lode. This one is at SX58285 76389. This pit may well have been an air shaft leading eastwards towards a site of a likely adit (ref: Greeves via DTRG)Another prospecting ‘trial’ pitLine of ‘lode back’ pits making up the south lode. The pits are quite shallow and unlike the north lode do not appear to be a full openworkingLarger pits near the eastern end of the mineThis metal detritus (jug) was an unusual find at the eastern end of the mineWas this jug left by a farmer, a miner or more probably the military ? (Note: The Merrivale Range southern boundary lies just a few hundred metres to the north of the mine)Contextual view of where the jug was found. It would be interesting to be able to estimate the age of this detritusThe extraction pits get larger nearer the north lodeWorkings between the north and south lodesThe north lode (east end) is the deepest part of the openworks. The gullies of the openworks in the north lode are up to 8m deepIn 1857, three miners showed interest in working the sett and wrote to the Duchy as indicated by the above transcribed letter. Three miners (co-incidentally with the same names), appear on the 1851 census (6 years before the transcribed letter above): John Bailey (aged 15) lived at Elbow Lane, Tavistock and was registered as a copper miner in Tavistock; William Elford (aged 22) was from Horrabridge and was registered as a copper miner; Richard Folland (aged 26) lived at Hampool, Plympton St Mary and was registered as a miner (clay). Assuming these three were those who wrote the letter to Mr Barrington they would have been 21, 28 and 32 respectively in 1857.Just 5 days after the first letter, the three miners (messrs John Bailey, William Elford and Richard Folland) appear to have a ‘sponsor’ (or person dealing with communications on their behalf) – a J.R. Gardener. The transcribed letter above was written by Chas Barrington to J.R. Gardener and states he has seen the parties (presumably meaning the three miners) and is submitting “a tracing of the limits of the ground” as a response to their request. It would be great if the limits of the sett were known, but up to this point the author is unaware of what they were. Close up of a vein in the north lodeMetal detritus in the north lodeThis metal is likely to be over 200 years oldMore bits of metalworkContextual view of the metalwork in the north lodeDeepest part of the north lodeOn 22nd May 1857, Chas Barrington wrote to one of the miners, John Bailey informing him that he had responded to the original letter to Mr Gardiner (Gardener?). He stated that Mr Bailey should be patient as “it may be some little time before you received a reply”. Around three weeks later, John Bailey writes to (Chas) Barrington requesting a “hasten on a reply” as the “Summer is passing away”. It sounds like a cry for help from the miners, as where they had been working hadn’t paid them for three months. One suspects, Messrs Bailey, Elford and Folland were probably unsuccessful in their quest, especially as it was around the time the prison lands were being extended (leased from the Duchy)At the eastern end of the north lode is a well established treeThe tree here is very reminiscent of several trees at other old mines on Dartmoor. For example, at Birch Tor and Vitifer mine and at Wheal Katherine. The tree must be 4-5m tall and without the protection of the gully / openworking simply may not have survived in such a location Looking east from above where the tree is in the openworkLooking west along the north lode, towards Great Mis Tor on the far horizonLooking back (east) along the north lodeHeading west along the lode, where the openworks give way to ‘lode back’ pitsNear the west end of the north lode. Fabulous view of Great Mis Tor beyond. A sherd of a circa 15th century sherd was found here in 2017 ‘at a depth of about 2ft in undisturbed mine waste’ (ref: Greeves via DTRG)Devils Matchsticks in the north lodeDevils Matchsticks (Cladonia floerkeana) is a distinctive species of acid substrates, found on heaths and moors. End of the north lode. Upthrust of the south lode / pits can be seen as a green line in the straw coloured Molinia grass towards the upper left side of this pictureThis letter dated 13th January 1870, shows another interest in reviving the mine workings, with a significant amount of capital being suggested. A captain Skewes is mentioned, who may well be the mine captain who is recorded as being at Lady Bertha mine on the river Tavy in the late 1880s / early 1890s. In July 1870, JW Doble asked for a grant of ‘Mistor Old Mine & Blackbrook Streams’ if Capt Skewis (Skewes) didn’t want it. Doble was also known to be connected with Queen Mine at Harrowbarrow. These applicants were thwarted by the land being granted to the Prison and is one suspects, why there is no infrastructure remains can be found at the mineMine captain Skewes at Lady Bertha dressing floors in early 1890’sHeading south west (towards Fices Well and Clapper) passing the south lode upthrust. The significant north lode upthrust is shown at the upper left part of the pictureMoving south west from the mine, this shallow and wide channel can be crossed. It was originally described as a leat channel by Royal Commission for the Historical Monuments of England (ref: Dartmoor Royal Forest Project, H. Riley (Report – Survey). SDV346608). Furthermore, it was described as once supplying water for the Holming Beam tin working area. That said, the channel shown in the photograph (looking east towards Long Plantation) doesn’t appear to be a dry leat. In a 2002 survey the description was revised for this feature and it is considered to be a branch of the naphtha (Omen Beam) tramway. The tramway can be found a short distance south of the south lode of the mine and in an area of turf ties (which supports its revised description)The tramway runs for some 180m from SX58150 76324 to SX58297 76340. The Royal Commission for the Historical Monuments of England stated in the 1990’s that this shallow channel is 1m wide and 0.3m deep. The point where the author crossed the feature was a lot wider than 1m. The picture shows Great Mis Tor in the background with the main Naptha (Omen Beam) Tramway. Higher up the hill is the line of the Prison Leat which had its source taken off the Walkham near the former Wheal Prosper and where the Lych Path crosses the river
