Surface Mining Gazetteer - Morwellham Down - Lodes 21-25

Lode 21 - Wheal Georgina Lode?

NGR:

A line of small lodeback pits close to the northern edge of Morwelldown Plantation may be associated with this lode which appears within the Tavistock Canal Tunnel and was worked there between 1808 and 1821, being traced at surface in 1808 (CCCRs). Although few pits are to be seen within this densely wooded part of the plantation, an intermittent narrow line of disturbances can be seen in the fields to the west on the 1946 RAF APs. At a low point, 200m north of Impham Cottage, a shallow gully appears to have drained the workings and may indicate a medieval date (Fiona O'Connor, pers. comm). Lodeback pits at the western end of this working in Hatch Wood are aligned with an adit near the riverbank mentioned by Charles Barclay (1923, in Stewart 2004).

Lode 21a - Name & date unknown

NGR:

A line of lodeback pits runs through Hatch Wood, south of Lode 21 for a short distance and appears to descend to the river on the north side of Chimney Rock. This lode is on the same alignment as 20a and may be the same, although no linking evidence can be seen on the ground.

Lode 22 - Buctor Tin Lode before 1806, otherwise unknown

NGR:

An intermittent line of workings is known east of the Gulworthy to Bere Alston road as far as the western slope of the Lumburn Valley. The western end is known from a line of lodeback tin pits marked on the 1768 Bedford Estate Map (identified as a sand pit on the 1883 OS map).

A 'mine burrow' is marked on the same alignment to the east, beside the Rock to Tavistock road, and a sequence of sometimes parallel disturbances further east are visible on the 1946 RAF APs.

These coincide with a linear copse on the steep north-facing slope of Morwell Down, which is known to contain large lodeback pits. A lode found in the canal tunnel in this vicinity was identified with a surface working called Buctor Tin Lode on its discovery in 1806.

The lode has not been traced west of the B3257, but may have joined with Lode 23 on the south side of Wheal Luscombe.

Lode 23 - Name & date unknown, probably part of Wheal Luscombe

NGR:

The southern of five closely spaced east-west lodes forming the early 19th century Wheal Luscombe group, this consists of a line of large lodeback pits, occasionally running into each other to form openworks, across the southern part of Luscombedown Plantation. These have not been traced to the east, but may be part of Buctor Tin Lode (Lode 22).

Lode 24 - Luscombe South Lode, Wheal Crebor South Lode, Etc...

Also: Wheal Crowndale Main Lode, East Wheal Crebor Main Lode;
And also worked in Cornwall as Gunnislake Old Mine

NGR:

Worked as Luscombe South Lode 1808-1815, Wheal Crebor South Lode 1803-1902, Wheal Crowndale Main Lode 1799-1830, East Wheal Crebor Lode 1810s-1850s. Also Gunnislake Old Mine, C16-late C19

After Devon Great Consols, this was one of the longest and most productive of the Tamar Valley lodes. Starting at Gunnislake on the Cornish bank of the Tamar, it was referred to on the Devon bank as Luscombe South Lode by Dines in 1956. This lode was probably worked for tin under an unknown name at least as far back as the 16th century, and from the early 18th century for copper: the enormous quantities of lodeback pitting and openworks identified along most of its length attesting to this. The best preserved sections lie within Luscombedown Plantation, running down to the Tamar in Hatch Wood. The last 150m of the lode before the river is obscured by 19th century waste dumps, but the workings recommence on the opposite side of the river, where they were worked as far back as the 16th century, creating the vast openwork of Gunnislake Old Mine, which ran through the centre of the village and is still visible today as a topographical feature.

East of Luscombedown Plantation, a wide linear disturbance (since backfilled) is marked on the 1768 Bedford Estate Map as far as the B3257 road. Lodes 24 & 25 appear to run very close at this point, but are seen to have parted company again where they re-appear east of Hurlditch Horn Farm as Wheal Crebor. The intervening gap of 400m or so between the B3257 and the Rock to Tavistock road contains no surface indications, but a filled gunnis is said to have been found there when the engine shaft of West Wheal Crebor was sunk in the 1880s (Barclay 1923 in Stewart 2004).

In addition to 19th century shaft dumps, several linear surface disturbances are visible on the 1946 RAF APs heading down the shallow valley towards Buctor. The major 19th century dump of Wheal Crebor covers any indications in the Lumburn Valley, but several large disturbances can be seen on the hill between Crebor and Crowndale. As many as seventeen shafts were recorded at Wheal Crowndale in the 19th century, which like William & Mary Mine (Lode 9) denotes an early working with large stopes near to the surface. A partially filled openwork survives between the canal and the Tavistock to Shillamill road and a large linear disturbance on the line of East Wheal Crebor's adit tail suggests a similar earthwork on the opposite side of the river.

Lode 25 - Luscombe North Lode, Crebor North Lode, Crowndale North Lode

NGR:

Parallel and very close to Lode 24, its size suggests that this was almost as rich. In Luscombedown Plantation, a large openwork, largely filled by C18-C19 spoil, is part-sectioned by a later elvan quarry marked on the 1883 OS map. This is an important exposure, as the hand-worked face of the openwork can be clearly seen down to 6m below surface, where it follows a deposit of gossan on the lode, which underlies about 40 degrees north. Two C18 or early C19 shafts have been sunk a short distance to the north to strike the lode at depth. The line of the lode continues as a surface disturbance in the fields to the east. Its close proximity to Lode 24 here makes it impossible to identify its exact course, but it re-appears east of Hurlditch Horn Farm as a linear disturbance on the 1946 RAF APs.

19th century disturbances in connection with Wheal Crebor have removed traces further down the slope, although there is a possibility that the approach cutting to the Canal Tunnel is located within an earlier openwork. The line of Wheal Crebor's Deep Adit air shafts shows the course of the lode on the 1867 and 1883 maps, while a sequence of large disturbances can be seen on the hill between Crebor and Crowndale on the 1946 RAF APs. It is uncertain whether the lode was worked on the opposite bank of the Tavy.