page_title: Eylesbarrow mine
section_title: Shafts and adits
hierarchical_section_title: Eylesbarrow mine / Field remains / Shafts and adits
caption_attribution_description: Entrance to the Two Brothers adit at Eylesbarrow mine on Dartmoor in South Devon, UK.
context_page_description: Eylesbarrow mine was a tin mine on Dartmoor, Devon, England that was active during the first half of the 19th century. In its early years it was one of the largest and most prosperous of the Dartmoor tin mines, along with Whiteworks and the Birch Tor and Vitifer mines. Its name has several variant spellings, such as Eylesburrow, Ailsborough, Ellisborough, Hillsborough etc. It was also known as Wheal Ruth for a short period around 1850. The extensive remains lie to the north of the River Plym, less than 1 mile north-east of Drizzlecombe, on the southern shoulder of the hill called Eylesbarrow on top of which are two prominent Bronze Age barrows.
context_section_description: There are 25 shaftheads visible at Eylesbarrow, most of which are on a single curved alignment along the line of the main lode, which is roughly followed by part of the main track that runs through the mine. The shaftheads exist as conical pits, the smallest being 9m in diameter and the largest, marking Pryce Deacon's Shaft near the eastern end of the alignment, 16m in diameter. Some of them (for instance New Engine Shaft, shown here) have the original masonry collar still visible. Each pit has a spoil heap nearby, usually in the shape of a crescent on the downhill side of the pit. These heaps vary in size; the largest, at Pryce Deacon's Shaft, is over 3 m (9.8 ft) high and covers about 665 square metres (7,160 sq ft). Much interpretative work has taken place to match the visible shafts with the names mentioned in the contemporary documentation, with the result that about half of them can be named and dated with some confidence.
  Four adits are referred to in the mine documents. Shallow Adit and Deep Adit both date from the early phase of working, around 1815. Shallow Adit is blocked, its position marked by a stream issuing from the hillside just to the south of the main track. Deep Adit, however, is still open. Its entrance is lined with sturdy granite slabs and is about 2.2 m (7 ft 3 in) high and 0.9 m (2 ft 11 in) wide.
  Two Brother's Adit is also still open and discharges an abundant stream of water into the steep-sided gulley that surrounds it. It evidently belongs to the later phase of the mine, being first mentioned in the 1840s. The fourth adit, referred to as Deacon's Adit, is untraceable in the field and may never have passed the planning stage.
caption: The entrance to Two Brothers Adit
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