Rainbow Journeyman’s diary

Although shown in our photographs as the main road, this picture we show is probably not the original road from Docton Mill to Speke Mill. The original road was always believed to follow the older drover’s tracks. This was used by the steel wheeled wagons heavily laden with grain drawn by shire horses of grand stature. Often bred for their strength and stamina these gentle giants could sense the wagons feel on the muddy road and transported grain and workers with ease.

At Harvest time all able villagers would assist in the gathering of the grain. The fields were worked systematically, edge to the middle, with scythes. ( Scythe - a long curved pole with a shear razor sharp blade clamped to the bottom edge which was used to crop the grain at ground level.) This method was applied to catch the secondary harvest “Rabbits”. A welcome addition to the cook pots of these practical country workers.

The villagers gathered the cut corn by hand making it into stooks. The stooks were stacked laden corn heads uppermost. These in turn were gathered by “pitch forking” onto wagons into stack then taken to a clear ground and winnowed. The retained straw was used for thatch and bedding. In the later half of the mills life a static steam engine would be linked to a thresher to complete the task. During harvesting the whole village would gather into the spirit of teamwork. The “maids” prepared hampers of food and scrumpy to ease the needs of the dusty worlers as they toiled.

The resulting grain “harvest” was collected and shovelled into high sided horse drawn carts which threaded their way through the winding narrow Devon lanes to the local miller. The grain was dumped into a collection pit where it was shovelled into a lift hoist to be raised to the top of the mill where it began its decent to the ground through the rumbling stone dressed wheels whose job was to grind the corn and turn the rough grain into feed for villagers and livestock.

History shows that Wagons in different counties were painted in local colours. The livery colours for Devon’s Wagons were mid blue. At harvest the wagons had to haul heavy loads through narrow lanes which soon became rutted and slippery. To counter the wheel slip on a laden wagon as they negotiated the steep hills around the mill, wooden wedges, called slippers, were attached to the wagon’s wooden chassis by chains. These were placed by the carter, under the rear, non steering wheels, of the wagon if slip was detected. The horses, as mentioned were probably Welsh stock shires. These were well adapted to the movement and control of these heavily laden wagons. Sensing the weight shift on hills they would have leaned and held the forward motion of the wagon against the down thrust of the hills. The Waggoner’s brake comprised little more than curved blocks sometimes steel shod held against the wheel to control the rotation. Horses also needed re-shoeing every three to six months and cart wheels repaired.

There was a support industry of Black Smiths and Wheelwrights in virtually every village.

History of Devon

Devon was one of the first areas of England to be uncovered following the end of the last ice age. Dartmoor was home to Mesolithic hunter gatherers, from about 6000 BC; they later cleared much of the oak, which regenerated the area as moorland.

In the Neolithic times, from about 3500 BC, there is evidence of farming on the moor, also buildings and the erection of monuments, using the large granite that is readily to hand; Dartmoor still contains the remains of the oldest known buildings in England.

There are over 500 known Neolithic icons on the moor, in the form of burial mounds, stone rows, stone circles and ancient settlements such as the one at Grimspound and Roughtor. Stone rows are a particularly striking feature, ranging in length from a few metres to over 3Km. Their ends are often marked by a cairn, a stone circle, or a standing stone . Because most of Dartmoor was not ploughed during the historic period, the archaeology trails are relatively easy to trace.

The name “Devon” derives from the Celtic who inhabited the south western peninsula of Britain at the time of the Roman, the Dumoni. These were Germanic peoples who settled England from the fifth century but did not conquer Devon until relatively late. The Saxons are believed to have reached Devon in small numbers in the seventh century, and there was an incursion by the King of Wessex in 614.

Over the next 100 years there was repeated fighting between Dumnonia and Wessex, resulting in the effective conquest of Devon by Wessex by 715 and its formal annexation. In 805 the Dumnonian Kings continued to be able to maintain (nominal) influence for some time thereafter. In the 823 Anglo-Saxon Chronicles, the men of Devonshire were recorded as fighting against the “Welsh in Cornwall”.! But later, in 927, William of Malmesbury claimed “that the Britons and Saxons inhabited Exeter “aequo jure” (as equals”) and the notion of two nations within the city at that time was confirmed by E A Freeman in his History of the Norman Conquest.

Nineteenth century studies suggested that a significant ethnic Celtic element remains in the local population, and this has been confirmed by modern DNA analysis in the late twentieth century. More obvious signs of remaining Celtic culture, such as place names, are scarce; however some common Devon name components, such as the ending “- combe” or “tor”, are of Celtic origin (compare) cwm and twr, (Welsh) pronounced almost identically). Devon also retained a number of Celtic customs (such as its own form of Celtic wrestling. As recently as the nineteenth century a crowd of 17,000, collected at Devonport, and attended a match between the champions of Devon and Cornwall).
By the ninth century, however, the major threat to Saxon domination of Devon came not from the Cornish but from Vikings, and their sporadic incursions continued until the Norman Conquest. A few Norse names remain as a result, for example Lundy. Though, the Vikings’ most lasting legacy is probably the move of the Devon’s Cathedral from Crediton to Exeter. Where it remains today.

Devon has featured in most of the civil conflicts in England since the army of the Norman Conquest besieged Exeter for eighteen days. Both Exeter and Plympton were held against King Stephen in 1140; there were also local skirmishes during the War of the Roses: Perkins Warbeck, Exeter in 1497; the Prayer Book Rebellion of 1549 (largely a Devon affair); and Exeter and Dartmouth both were both besieged during the English Civil War. Perhaps most notably, the last successful military invasion of Britain was the arrival of William of Orange launching the Glorious Revolution1688, which took place at Torquay. Now known as the English Riviera.

Devon has produced tin, copper arsenic, uranium and other metals from ancient times. Tin was found largely on Dartmoor’s granite heights, and copper in the areas around it. In the eighteenth century Devon’s Great Consol mine (near Tavistock) was believed to be the largest copper mine in the world.

Home Rule.
Devon’s tin miners enjoyed a substantial degree of independence through Devon’s stannary parliament, which dates back to the twelfth century. Stannary authority exceeded English law, and because this authority applied to part time miners (eg tin streamers) as well as full time miners, the stannary parliament weilded significant power.
The stannary parliament often met as an open air parliament at Crockern Tor (Dartmoor) with stannators appointed to it from each stannary town. The parliament maintained its own gaol (at Lydford) and had a brutal and ‘bloody’ reputation for justice, and once even gaoled an English MP during the reign of Henry VIII.
The last recorded sitting was in 1748, and it is believed and recorded they then adjourned to a pub in Tavistock.

Devon is also known for its mariners, such as Sir Francis Drake, Gilbert, Sir Richard Grenville, Sir Walter Raleigh.
Plymouth Hoe is famous as the location where Drake was recorded as continuing to play bowls after hearing that the Spanish Armada had been sighted. The fact has been questioned by many historeans.

It is therefore small wonder that Rainbowjourneyman’s travels should take him/her to so many places of historic note and picturesque intrest. Every corner and every roas leads on. And as we reshape our site to make it more interesting to you. Remember the history of Devon took a little longer than six months.

If oyu have been readin. Thank you.

Mike Tyrrell for Rainbow Journeys