Historic Businesses in Dartmoor National Park
Finch Foundry (National Trust), Sticklepath, Dartmoor National Park
Family attraction Finch Foundry is a National Trust property on the north border of Dartmoor National Park. Located between the National Trust's Castle Drogo and English Heritage's Okehampton Castle, it's easy to overlook Finch Foundry which is a great shame as it's a fascinating place in a very...
China Clay Workings (South Dartmoor), Shaugh Prior, Dartmoor National Park
If you want to discover more about the Westcountry's china clay mining industry then head for Wheal Martyn Museum and Country Park in Cornwall. It's the only visitor attraction in the world focused on the china clay mining industry. Situated near St Austell and the Eden Project, it's a great place....
Holwell Tor Quarries, Haytor Vale, Dartmoor National Park
When exploring Holwell Tor, you'll see quarries cut into its rocky outcrops. The granite extracted from these quarries was transported on the Haytor Granite Tramway down to Stover Canal where it was taken by water to Teignmouth at the eastern end of the Teign Estuary. We've positioned Holwel...
Holwell Tor Quarries Hut, Haytor Vale, Dartmoor National Park
You often see a line of schoolkids following the Haytor Granite Tramway to Holwell Tor. Whilst their teachers are introducing them to the history and beauty of the area, they are also taking their pupils to see the quirky Holwell Tor Quarries Hut. Quarry workers sheltered in the hut when using...
Birch Tor and Vitifer Tin Mine (Disused), Postbridge, Dartmoor National Park
The moorland east of The Warren House Inn is heavily scarred by centuries of tin mining. It's topped by Birch Tor. Birch Tor and Vitifer Tin Mine is the name given to a group of mines worked in this area. When you visit, you'll walk in, by or above scooped up of the moorland by the tinners....
Golden Dagger Tin Mine (Disused), Postbridge, Dartmoor National Park
The area south of the B3212 near The Warren House Inn was heavily mined in past centuries. The local landscape is shaped, in part, by the Birch Tor and Vitifer Mine, the Headland Tin Mine, Bushdown Mine and the Golden Dagger Tin Mine. The wonderfully named Golden Dagger Tin Mine is the furthest sout...
Meldon Quarry, Okehampton, Dartmoor National Park
Spend time on Dartmoor and you'll come across a high number of disused quarries. Meldon Quarry near Okehampton was mothballed during the Great Recession triggered by the collapse of financial markets in 2007/8. The quarry provides ballast for railway trackbeds. It's private property so sta...
Meldon Aplite Quarries, Okehampton, Dartmoor National Park
A local information board reads: 'These small quarries expose one of south-west England's most famous rocks - the Meldon Aplite. This rock forms a wide, steep-sided vein which crosses the Red-a-ven Brook and has been worked in two quarries, a small northern quarry and a large southern quarry ......
Meldon Pool, Okehampton, Dartmoor National Park
Note that you are not allowed to wild swim here. A local information board reads: 'Meldon Pool is an old, and now flooded, limestone quarry. The site was worked from the mid 19th century to produce agricultural lime; several 18th century quarries can also be seen on the east side of the river....
Rattlebrook Peatworks (Disused), Lydford, Dartmoor National Park
In his 'Guide to Dartmoor', William Crossing wrote: 'These works were established in 1878, and the railway from Bridestowe Station for the conveyance of the peat was cut in the following year. Operations did not continue very long, nor have the endeavours to re-start them that have more than once...
Erme Pits, Sheepstor, Dartmoor National Park
Follow the path marked Abbot's Way on the Ordnance Survey Explorer OL28 'Dartmoor' map from either the east or west and you'll cross the heart of Dartmoor's south plateau. Where the Abbot's Way crosses Erme Head Ford by Erme Head are a number of very deep pits known as Erme Pits. These are the...
Left Lake and Left Lake China Clay Works, Harford, Dartmoor National Park
On Dartmoor, a lake is a stream or brook. Left Lake is a very short stream that tumbles from Leftlake Mires down the side of Harford Moor into the River Erme near Piles Valley Weir. The upper section of Left Lake is the site of extensive china clay workings. There's a large, disused pit full of wate...
Ramsley Mine and Ramsley Mine Chimney, South Zeal, Dartmoor National Park
Ramsley Mine and Ramsley Mine Chimney rise above South Zeal near the northern border of Dartmoor National Park. They're located on Ramsley Hill and Ramsley Common. Copper was mined here from the 1850s to 1909. A local information board reads 'when the turnpike bypassing [South Zeal] was...
Whiteworks, Princetown, Dartmoor National Park
A road runs from Princetown to the edge of Foxtor Mires. Whiteworks is at the end of that road. Whiteworks is a disused tin mine. When you visit, you'll see extensive ruins and old mine shafts fenced off from the public. These are next to some modern buildings. Kids can often be seen chargin...
Red Lake China Clay Works, South Brent, Dartmoor National Park
Drive the A30 through Cornwall and you'll see the impressive sky tips of the Cornish Alps or White Alps created by the local china clay works. Walk the moor above Plymouth and you'll look down on the huge china clay works at, among others, Shaugh Lake, Lee Moor and Whitehill Yeo. Smaller, more...