Discovering Dewerstone Wood
1.
Start in the car park, outside what was once a kiln for the local china clay
industry. Take the path starting at the notice board and head over the
footbridge across the River Plym.
2.
Once over the bridge, you will find the remains of the Ferro Ceramic Mine and
Brickworks directly in front of you. The most notable feature, which you can
still see today, is the long tunnel brick kiln which was built in the late 19 th
century. To continue, follow the granite boulder path in an easterly direction.
3.
Continue on this path as it curves sharply round to the left and advances
uphill another 30m. The path should then level out to form what was once a
tramway for the Dewerstone granite quarries. Follow this track round the hill,
passing a couple of the disused quarries on your right and looking out for the
granite tramway ‘sleepers’ under your feet.
4.
Just before you reach Dewerstone cottage, the former counting house,
stables and smithy for the quarries, take a sharp left down the hill. Keep going
along this footpath, following the River Meavy downstream, this should take
you back to the car park.
Features
The Shaugh China Clay Works
Near the car park lie the ruins of a china clay drying works, which operated from
around 1870 until the 1960s. Liquidised clay was driven by gravity down a pipe
from quarries on the moor, near Cadworthy Bridge. The clay was filtered of grits,
and fed into massive settling tanks where excess water would be drained off.
Clouds of steam billowed from the coal-fired kilns which dried the wet clay. These
were then formed into blocks and transported to the train station, initially by horse
and cart and later by lorry, for use in various processes from cosmetics to
medicines and paper.
Climbing at Drewerstone
The Dewerstone stands in a commanding position above the River Plym. It takes
its name from the Dartmoor legend of demonic hunter Dewer - the Devil himself.
When night fell, Dewer would hunt down people who were lost on the moor.
Accompanied by a pack of fearsome, ghostly dogs called Whist Hounds, Dewer
would drive people to their deaths via a fatal fall from Drewerstone’s highest cliff:
the 150ft Devil’s Rock. These days Devil’s Rock is a climbing hotspot in the South
West.
The Dewerstone cup
High up on the hill above the tall cliffs at Dewerstone are two stony banks which
form ramparts that cut off the spur end of the hilltop. These belong to a Neolithic
Tor Enclosure dating back some 5,000 years. About 3,000 years ago, in the
Bronze Age, another enclosure with a small hut circle was built inside the earlier
defence. Was it someone once living here that gave a Drewerstone climber in the
1960’s the find of a lifetime when they discovered a small Bronze Age pottery
vessel hidden in the cliffs?