King's Oven, Postbridge, Dartmoor National Park
One of Dartmoor's many curious place names, the Dartmoor expert William Crossing states that' we shall hardly be wrong in supposing that [the name King's Oven] was derived not from being a furnace connected with tinworks belonging to Henry III., but to a much earlier king, for there cannot be a doubt of the antiquity of this smelting-place'.
Mentioned in 'the Perambulation of 1240 as Furnum Regis, and in the Forest Survey of 1609 as King's Oven', the 'ancient blowing-house' is marked just east of Water Hill (pictured) on the Ordnance Survey Explorer OL28 'Dartmoor' map and close to the popular moorland pub The Warren House Inn.
There's not much to see on the ground today. Paths climb from the eastern side of The Warren House Inn to both Water Hill and King's Oven. It's a short, sharp walk up the side of the moorland. The landscape below King's Oven is scarred by tin mining. Across the road are Birch Tor and Vitifer Tin Mine (Disused) and Golden Dagger Tin Mine (Disused).
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