MDE9012 - Wheal Vervale or Combmartin Consols (Monument)

Combmartin Consols. Exact location unknown. Mineral unknown, closed down in 1865. Unnamed mine. Old workings reported on the south side of the valley, 500 to 600 yards southwest of Tattiscombe Farm. Mineral or date unknown. [1] Centred at SS 6260 4645 are the remains of mining activity, described by Claughton [2] as the Combmartin Consols or Wheal Vervale silver lead mine. It includes spoil heaps, an alleged adit and shafts. The stub of a dam also survives with a tail race leading from it. At SS 6272 4632 are the remains of the stub of an earthen dam on the northern bank of an eastward flowing stream. The dam is 1.4 metres high and up to 5.8 metres in width. On its eastern side is a stone lined channel 1.2 metres wide and up to 0.9 metres deep. It emerges from the eastern side of the dam, and leads into the the stream after some 12 metres. The function of the channel is not certain, but it appears to have acted either as a tail race for the dam, or perhaps as a wheel pit. To the north are four separate mounds. The first is at SS 6266 4645. It consists of an arc shaped mound 1.5 metres high. The farmer indicated that one of the spoil heaps had an attendant shaft, which was recently infilled by earth moving machinery to make it safe. The disturbed nature of the mound suggests that this is the same mound, although Claughton [2] describes it as an adit. At SS 6259 4656 are the remains of a massive spoil heap 2.6 metres high. It lies within an area of scrub and was formerly enclosed separately; traces of the field bank survive. On the north side of the mound is a shallow irregular depression which may mark the site of a shaft. It is called "engine shaft" by Claughton. At SS 6255 4681 is a rectangular mound which tapers into the hillside on its northern side. It is 1.7 metres high at its southern end. It is presumably a spoil heap although no indication of the associated workings is visible. Claughton states that there was a shaft, possibly for iron. Some 30 metres to the west is a 1.3 metres length of ?concrete and stone footing, which may be associated with the workings. At SS 6249 4659 is a fourth spoil heap lying on the eastern bank of a small stream which has apparently eroded away its west side. A channel, with possibly a stone lined inlet, leads around the eastern side of the mound. It is possible that the whole feature acted as a dam with a bypass arrangement, an interpretation which is favoured by Claughton. However, the irregular form of the mound lends weight to its interpretation as a spoil heap. [2-4] A spoil heap is depicted on the 1st Edition Ordnance Survey map at SS 6266 4644. A further scrubbed enclosed area is shown at SS 6258 4655, including earthworks. [5] This record was enhanced as part of the National Record of the Historic Environment to Exmoor National Park Historic Environment Record data transfer project. [6]