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Location: Hexworthy, Dartmoor, Devonshire Distance: 3˝ to 4 Kilometres Ascent & Descent: 65 Metres Difficulty: Easy walking on metalled roads, public footpaths and bridleways. Duration: 2 to 4 hours at a leisurely pace taking in the sites. How to get there: From the A38 exit at the Peartree junction and head on the Princetown / Tavistock road crossing Holne and New bridges, passing through the Hamlet of Poundsgate before descending the steep and winding hill to Dartmeet. A quick visit here at Badgers Holt (http://www.badgersholtdartmoor.co.uk) is worth while. Continue over the bridge and make your way uphill passing Pixies Holt on your left and Pixieland (http://www.pixieland.co.uk) on your right. After 350 metres turn left (A) signposted Hexworthy and follow this road down to Huccaby Bridge, cross and continue winding your way uphill passing the Forest Inn (http://www.theforestinn.co.uk) on your right to the top of the hill and take the road marked No Through Road, continue along here for half a kilometre and park on the right hand side before the cattle grid SX 65188 72648. From Princetown take the B3212 for Moretonhampstead/Ashburton until you come to a junction close to a cattle grid. Turn right here (B) passing the Two Bridges Hotel (http://www.twobridges.co.uk) and continue on the Ashburton road B 3357, and NOT the Moretonhampstead road. Follow this road for about 6 kilometres crossing the Lower Cherrybrook and Dunna Bridges until you come to a right hand turn signposted Hexworthy. Take this turning and follow the direction as given above from this junction. (A) From Tavistock take the B3357 signposted Princetown / Ashburton / Moretonhampstead for 9˝ kilometres passing the Dartmoor Inn (http://www.dartmoorinn.com) on your left and continue on to the Rundlestone junction where the right hand turn is signposted Princetown. Continue straight on for another 3 kilometres to the junction just before Two Bridges where directions can be picked up at (B) Leave your vehicle at SX 65188 72648 just before the cattle grid on your right. Cross over the cattle grid and follow the road downhill passing the deep gullies on your left. These gullies are the remains of Tin Mining activity from the 1800 to 1900s. There were a number of deep mine shafts within these gullies being worked for cassiterite (SnO2) which is a tin silicate. The tin would be collected and crushed by ‘stamps’ driven mainly by water-power before being separated from the waste material by water and then smelted in a furnace at about 1,250° C. before finally becoming metal. |
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Ruined Mine Building |
On reaching a gate on your left (SX 64745 72838), turn onto this track passing the remains of the old mine buildings of Gobbett Tin Mine (Dartmoor United Mine 1836; Dartmoor United Tin Mines 1836-1840; Swincombe Vale Mine 1869). Here it’s worth looking at the hillside in front of you slightly to your left where you can see two leats running parallel along the hill. These leats fed the water to the mines water-wheel and other machinery that needed water to keep the mine working. Within another 100 metres along the track you will notice a rectangular filled pit running perpendicular to the road. This was the site of the 40 x 2˝ ft. water-wheel that powered this mine. If you turn 180° you may notice the leats come to a halt at a point here and is carried by an embankment towards the wheel-pit. The water was conveyed across this track by wooden launders to feed the wheel, and turn it providing power to the machinery. |
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Wheelpit Remains |
Course of Leat on Hillside |
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 Mould Stone |
Continuing along the road for another 100 metres you’ll come across a hollow on your right as the road starts to rise. This hollow was the site of a Tinners Mill where the ore (tin) was crushed and smelted into metal many centuries ago. There are no definite records of this mill, but, it could possibly date from as far back as the 1400s. This mill is well worth a visit due to the mortar, mould and crazing mill stones that can be seen here. The mortar stones are the ones with bowl shaped hollows in them, and were used as a base for the pounding stamps crushing the ore before it was separated from the waste. Mould stones are the two large trough-like rectangular stones that can easily be identified within the area. One is upright, and the other is on its side beside the upright one. The crazing mill stone is the very large circular one on the west bank of the hollow. This stone is 3 ft. 10 in diameter and about a foot thick. This was used with the other smaller circular stone located at the north-east side to grind the ore before the process of separating the waste material could begin. Retrace your steps back to the metalled road and continue heading in a westerly direction until you come to a wooden bridge on your right. This is known as Fairy Bridge and replaced a previous one about 10 years ago. On the west side of the bridge you can see the old stepping-stones that were the only way to cross the river here centuries ago, and a ford that would have been used by the farmers to move cattle to different grazing areas. On the south-west side of this bridge someone has set a small fairy in cement by the upright post. |
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Mortar Stone |
Crazing Mill Stone (Bottom) |
Crazing Mill Stone (Top) |
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 Fairy Bridge |
Cross over this bridge and follow the track keeping high on the left due to it being a wet area from water running of the fields. After 100 metres or so you’ll come to a junction of tracks. If you would like to see a TA stone then continue up the track for about 50 metres to a gate-post type rock on your right. Here you’ll notice an A on one said and a very faint T on the other. The TA stands for Tavistock and Ashburton. There are numerous stones crossing the moors marking this ancient pack-horse track, although this particular stone has obviously been moved at some point as it is slightly off the original route. Retrace your steps back to the junction and turn right following the original TA route where you’ll notice a number of ruined buildings. An ornate large gatepost can be seen on your left with ruins of farm buildings. On the right in the fields are other ruined buildings, one which was built in 1912 and known as Swincombe Farm. This building is the one with rendered walls. Other ruined buildings were associated with the farm. The last family left this beautiful area in 1955 and was named Chudley. From here retrace your steps back to the main track and head back towards the junction of the lanes, and then continue eastwards carefully avoiding the wet areas to another ruined building. This ruin with its domineering porch was known as John Bishops House who was a 19th century moorman. This was the setting of a BBC programme many years ago called ‘The Stallion’ |
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From John Bishops House head carefully back to the track that will lead you back to Fairy Bridge. Cross the river and retrace your way as though you’re heading back until you arrive at a signpost on your right. You can take a short detour here and follow the track uphill for about 150 metres where you’ll notice a couple of upright standing stones in a walled enclosure. This is known as Dolly Trebble’s House and the name still remains a mystery today. The ruin was named Swincombe Cottage in a publication called Deserted Sites. There are records of a Dolly marrying a Tom Trebble who worked at another mine nearby, namely, The Hooten Wheals Mine. The two upright stones are believed to be that of the fireplace within the cottage. Imagine living here in the cold and wet of the Dartmoor climate?
Now retrace your steps back downhill until you reach the metalled road within 100 metres or so and turn right following the road back to your vehicle.
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Fairy on the left of the bridge |
 TA Stone |
 Swincombe ruins |
 John Bishops House |
 Dolly Trebbles House |
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