Built Heritage

We are working with our partners to conserve and enhance key historic sites, and we are also helping local communities to identify, research and protect the unique heritage that matters to them. 

A new vision for a new era

Latest News on this project

January 2023

Heritage News Update

Monument Management Plan Completed

One of the Tamara Scheme’s key heritage projects which has involved surveying the condition of 7 key mining sites in the Valley and providing a costed repair or stabilisation recommendation, has been completed. Gunnislake Clitters Mine, New Consols Mine, Okel Tor Mine, Gawton Mine, Holmbush Mine (Winsor Lane), Tamar Canal Lock and WW2 Landing Craft Grid at Saltash are all on the Heritage at Risk Register and this work will move them closer to being removed from that register and ensure they remain in at least as good condition as they are currently.  The findings will also help the site owners to look for further funding in order to carry out essential repairs and Tamara will be available to advise on this.

Mineworkers’ Smallholdings

In the late 1700s and up until the late 1800s Mineworkers families were allocated plots of land to grow crops or rear livestock.  These plots could range from the size of a large back garden up to a few acres.  The work looks to identify these plots of land by using the 1840 Tythe Map and the 1841 census.  It will identify who owned the land, what the land was used for and trace the family history of ownership.  Some work had already been done in the Calstock area, but this research will be extended into the Bere peninsula and north of the Callington/Gunnislake road. 

Preserving and archiving the Valley’s special features

Previous research has helped us to identify a number of heritage features in the Valley to preserve and if that’s not possible archive them. Tamara is concentrating on these specific topics:

  • Lost Landings & Abandoned Quays
  • Discovering ancient lives lived in the loops of the river (Living in the Hooes)
  • Following former footsteps – historic highways and byways
  • Appreciating the heritage of salt marshes
  • Tracing the leats that watered and powered the land of Tamara
  • Examining the homes and smallholdings of mining families
  • Conserving & regenerating market gardens and orchards

Initial work is being facilitated by an expert, but there will be opportunities for community input later this year and beyond.  Our first community workshop, will be this Spring (date tbc).

Heritage Grants

Tamara has some grant funding available for heritage sites that are not eligible for other grant funding.  Most grants awarded will be between £500 and £2000 and applications will be considered by the Tamara Heritage Project Group which comprises heritage experts from both Devon and Cornwall.  If you think you have a site or feature that might benefit from such a grant, contact Gary Lewis, the Tamara Senior Heritage Officer: gary.lewis@cornwall.gov.uk

Call out for Photos and Memories!

We are planning a mobile photographic exhibition for late 2023 and 2024. Alongside this we are collating new research which will focus on the innovative techniques developed in the Tamar Valley in the fields of Mining, Forestry and Market Gardening/Orchards, how they were used and to trace their export to other parts of the UKand further afield.  It is also exploring the history of the Quays and Ferries on the Tamar, Tavy and Lyhner. If you have, or know somebody who has, photographs, personal memories or other documents relating to these techniques then Tamara is keen to hear from you. 

Hopefully you would have heard that we are hoping to create a River Festival, which will take place in 2024. During the festival we are planning a week of storytelling that will explore the history of the Tamar Valley. We’re really keen for local schools, history societies and interested individuals to be involved in the research for the stories and those with an artistic flair to help tell the story.  If this is you then please make yourself known to the Tamara Senior Heritage Officer gary.lewis@cornwall.gov.uk.  A pilot event is planned with Calstock Primary School and will take place at the Calstock Heritage Weekend in June.

Online Access to Heritage

We had hoped to create a bespoke online heritage hub for the scheme area, but because of the large costs involved and the need for an expert archivist, we have decided to instead work closely with existing online heritage/historic sites, including Devon & Cornwall HER, Kresen Kernow, The Box (Plymouth) and Historic England, to ensure that records relating to the scheme area are searchable on their systems. This is still a considerable undertaking, but the start-up costs will be mitigated and the expertise is already in place.

August 2022

Work Continues Apace on the Valley’s Heritage

Monument Management Scheme (MMS)

We are working with Historic England to survey and develop reports for important historic sites in and around the Valley, namely Gunnislake Clitters Mine, New Consols Mine, Okel Tor Mine, Gawton Mine, Holmbush Mine (Winsor Lane), Tamar Canal Lock and WW2 Landing Craft Grid at Saltash. This work is now coming into its last phase and we will have comprehensive surveys of their condition and the prioritised and costed repair or stabilisation intervention reports by the end of March 2023. 

All of these 7 sites are currently on the Heritage at Risk Register and this work will move them closer to being removed from that register.  We are also helping the site owners to look for further funding in order to carry out essential repairs.

Mineworkers’ Smallholdings

We hope to have the final report which will identify the plots of land that were once minworkers’ smallholdings, by the end of September.

In the late 1700s and up until the late 1800s Mineworkers families were allocated plots of land to grow crops or rear livestock.  These plots could range from the size of a large back garden up to a few acres. 

These plots of land are being identified using the 1840 Tythe Map and the 1841 census.  We are able to dientify who owned the land, what the land was used for and trace the family history of ownership.  Some work has already been done in the Calstock area, but this research is being extended into the Bere peninsula and north of the Callington/Gunnislake road.  

Heritage Input into Parish/Local Plans

We are available to offer help and advice to any parish or community reviewing a local plan. It is important that key heritage features are considered when parish/local plans are being written; these are just as important as any ecological/biodiversity input that may be considered.  Gary Lewis, our Senior Heritage Officer can be contacted directly: gary.lewis@cornwall.gov.uk

Historic Environment Record (Devon & Cornwall)

We are working with Cornwall Council, Devon County Council and Kresen Kernow to identify records in the Tamara Scheme area and make them more widely available. We aim to upload all new records and documents that are discovered so that the historic record is improved and widened.

The Cornwall Historic Environment Records team are willing to run a free workshop to train volunteers how to enter records onto the HER.  This can take place locally and will be open for up to 10 attendees. More information will follow on this.

Both Devon and Cornwall have Historic Environment Records.  These are hosted by the county Local Authority and are publicly available interactive maps with links to information about each site.  In addition, Cornwall has a county archive, Kresen Kernow, where documents, photographs and oral history are retained.   

Heritage Grants

Tamara has some grant funding available for heritage sites that are not eligible for other grant funding.  Most grants awarded will be between £500 and £2000 and applications will be considered by the Tamara Heritage Project Group which comprises heritage experts from both Devon and Cornwall.  If you think you have a site or feature that might benefit from such a grant, contact the Tamara Senior Heritage Officer in the first instance gary.lewis@cornwall.gov.uk

July 2022

Conservation Plan Complete and Mapping Miners’ Smallholdings

Mapping the Miners’ Smallholdings

We have been working with the World Heritage Site (WHS) and Exeter University to map the mineworkers’ smallholdings in the Valley to inform the WHS Management Plan. During the mining boom in the Valley, some mineworkers were given land to grow their own vegetables, but there isn’t a clear picture of where these plots are. We hope to have this all mapped out in the Autumn. 

Gunnislake Clitters Mine Conservation Management Plan Completed

We have been working with the World Heritage Site (WHS) and Exeter University to map the mineworkers’ smallholdings in the Valley to inform the WHS Management Plan. During the mining boom in the Valley, some mineworkers were given land to grow their own vegetables, but there isn’t a clear picture of where these plots are.

Work has also continued with Historic England across the five mining sites in the Valley – Gunnislake Clitters Mine; New Consols Mine; Okel Tor Mine; Holmbush Mine and Tamar Canal Lock, and we now have a completed Conservation Management Plan for Gunnislake Clitters Mine. The plan has prioritised and costed the work that needs to take place to consolidate the mine, which is a scheduled monument in the World Heritage Site (WHS). We will now work with the landowner and Historic England to agree next steps.

10 exciting projects