My Background

Just to explain this ramble, I am a Chartered Environmentalist (that doesn’t mean I’m a tree hugger !) so I have spent must of my 22 professional career working in and around these sites. Caradon is my favourite – there are sites there that could tell a story – but this was right in my element. Apologies for the rambling background info but I hope you find it interesting. It may help explain some of the occurrences – then again, it may not ! My main interest in HD is using my environmental knowledge to support investigations but I am not necessarily a sceptic. The environment, like the paranormal, plays tricks sometimes !

Mining Background

Dartmoor’s mining history goes back to Roman times and, no doubt, beyond. The moor we see today is the result of thousands of years of human interaction and, although we may now see it as a pleasurable wilderness that needs protection and conservation, the reality is that the open space we enjoy today has only really existed for less than 100 years. Nowhere is this more relevant than the mining communities of Southern Dartmoor.

Less than romantic realities

We have a very romantic view of mining heritage. You only have to pick up or watch the interpretations of Winston Graham in his (and the BBC’s) Poldark series, the Retallick series of EV Thompson (based just across the Tamar on the areas around Minions) and, closest of all, Fiona Kendall’s ‘The Plundered Land’, which focuses on Sharpitor and the tributors mines – exactly where we were working.1

In reality, mining life was hard and dangerous for men, women and children alike. The work was back breaking and the Stannary Laws even more so. As far back as Henry VIII’s time, Stannary Laws could have you hung for minor offences – often with no rights to a hearing or any chance of putting your case. Lydford jail’s reputation is based on this unjust system – where people would simply disappear over night only to re-appear strung up for not paying a six penny tax or something even more trivial. Even personal rights were limited and beyond the general law of the land – in 1800 it was still legal to sell your wife or daughter (don’t get any ideas !) whether or not she approved !

Miners rights were also limited. Many were ‘tributors’ – travelling miners who would work where they could and often in the worst conditions. Many came from Wales and Scotland and, by 1790, from Cornwall as the tin industry there faltered. If you found tin (bound in to the mineral cassiterite) you could claim squatters rights and, if you could build a home between sunrise and sunset, you could keep the land. Few became rich this way and you were always at the mercy of the land owners who would do what they could to repossess your stake and the minerals on them. The same practice is found in Cornwall, Wales and Scotland (‘chy an nos’ or ‘ house in a night’) and is possibly even a right today – although I wouldn’t try it !

The tin itself, once refined, was brought twice a year to Stannary Courts to be valued, stamped and sold. Plympton, as a Stannary Town, was the nearest centre for this mine and was, at that time, more important than Plymouth.

The Environment – what you see isn’t necessarily what you get here !

And then there’s the environmental implications. All of the minerals found around Dartmoor and Bodmin Moor and along the spine of Cornwall were created when the granite we see in its weathered form today, was pushed through the existing landscape in huge volcanic eruptions. The heat created simply melted the minerals in to veins that then set in to the rock.2 This all took place millions of years ago.

By Neolithic times, Dartmoor’s climate had warmed up and was very much like that of Southern France. As crops and livestock thrived here, Neolithic people inhabited the high moor – usually on and around the tors. The area of Sharpitor, less than 1km from our site, is littered with round houses and farmsteads and would make a good investigation site. As such these people were, quite literally, pagans, as this took place long before the introduction of Christianity, so I suppose it is possible that spiritual evidence of pagan worship could be sensed here – especially close to the river as water spirits were highly prized for their powers. Archaeological evidence shows these people were tough but they had a complex worship system.3

As for modern day pagan or ‘satanic’ worship, my colleagues at the D&C Constabulary and Dartmoor National Park are aware that it happens but there’s no evidence of it here….the site is simply too close to habitation and is easily accessible by Police and Ranger transport.

In support of this you need to consider what the landscape looked like then and what it looks like now. The heyday of mining in this area was between 1790 and 1920. Although mining for china clay and, possibly, tungsten, is still possible, these in no way match the extremes of landscapes you would have seen. The Southern moor was littered with settlements, mines, shafts and ‘blowing houses’ – the furnaces where the ore was smelted. The air would have been thick with smoke and fumes and the land and water highly contaminated with spoil heaps. A bill to protect the water sources on Dartmoor from this pollution resulted in its proposer, a local MP, being taken to court for daring to threaten the mining industry. He was simply trying to protect the water supplies of the Devonport and Drakes Leats – the first –ever- UK example of piped water (dating back to 1550 or so). If you want some idea of what it looked like visit the Red River Valley near Redruth as here the derelict land left behind has never really recovered.

The other consideration here is arsenic – originally a by product of the tin mining but, as supplies began to dwindle, something that 18th Century mine owners pounced on. Arsenic was used to created green dye – a favourite colour of Georgian England and probably the eventual reason for the demise of both Napoleon and the writer Emile Zola and reputably linked with the hauntings at Mary Kings Close in Edinburgh. The natural arsenic in the water in the S West is still high and anyone particularly sensitive moving in to areas such as Bodmin Moor may still experience stomach discomfort for a few days whilst they get used to the water. It wont kill you – in fact in small doses it’s a tonic and it makes Begonias grow – but it is a natural killer !

The arsenic was also extracted by smelting – with the fumes channelled along flumes where the arsenic crystallised. Those unfortunate enough to be sent down these cooled flumes to hack the crystals off rarely survived more than three of four weeks…experiencing a slow and painful death focused on stomach pains. The churchyards of the Bere Alston peninsular bear witness to this with the average age of the men being between 20 and 30, that of women between 50 and 70. Needless to say miners wives (like those of soldiers and sailors at the time) often bore many different surnames as, once widowed, you didn’t hang around. You found a new husband to provide for you – that was if you weren’t already overworked and suffering yourself !

Then there’s radon. An odourless, colourless natural radioactive gas that is emitted by granitic rocks. Some of you may have radon monitors in your cellars. Again it is relatively harmless if vented properly but, as a natural source of radiation, it has to be taken seriously.

Lastly there’s the vegetation. The area around our site was mined mostly between 1823 and 1920 so much of the vegetation seen is less than 100 years old and, if you look at the trees, they confirm that, with one or two exceptions, most are only about 50 to 70 years old. The conifer plantations at Norsworthy Plantation (to the right of the lane leading to the site) and the Leather Tor Planation (to the left) are even younger. Conifers grow quickly and are a cash crop on Dartmoor. These areas are probably no more than 20 or 30 years old. This needs to be taken in to account too.

So what did we get and what have we got ?

Excluding the bright light on one of my photos that I cant explain there are a number of interesting links we could make with what members were finding on Friday night. I can’t believe I was trying to talk to a stalk of bracken by the capped off mine shaft but, it was moving more than any of the other bits around and responded to questions. It was slightly breezy but the movement seemed to happen when the breeze died down – paranormal or simply environmental ? There were no orbs, mists or shadows on any of my photos.  Yes, the top meadow did seem strange (as did the second area we tried to the right of the stile) but Dartmoor is a strange place at night…as are wooded valleys and conifer plantations. Maybe I am too used to sites like this – not that I’ve ever been to one that late at night !

Pagan worship : Very possible given the location, the evidence of remains and the water but probably Neolithic rather than recent.

A small child and a woman – very possible. Families grew, worked and died together up here. Children were often working collecting ore etc by the age of five but that doesn’t mean they didn’t play. Many died tragically young from disease, the conditions or in accidents.

A Scotsman as a ‘ganger’ – very possible. Towards the end of the industry tributers came from all over the UK for work. Experienced gang leaders would have been in charge and quite possibly would have been very short tempered due to the nature of the dangers they were overseeing. They were also probably single men having had to travel far and wide for work.

A mine worker : not difficult. It would have been good to know if there are any records for this site but accordinglyto  A K Hamilton Jenkin’s Mines of Dartmoor, there are few records of any of the workings around this area – mainly because they were all tributer mines.

And that was about it. The site seemed very quiet…more likely to disturb a big cat than a ghost !