Drizzlecombe

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Main standing stone.

Drizzlecombe or Thrushelcombe is an area of Dartmoor in the county of Devon, England. It is located on the western side of the moor about 4 miles east of the village of Yelverton, to the west of the upper reaches of the River Plym.

The area contains a number of Bronze Age stone rows, cairns and menhirs, most of which are on the southwest slope of Hartor Hill. There are three principal stone rows each with an associated barrow and terminal menhir. The tallest menhir, which at 14 ft (4.3 m) high is the largest on Dartmoor, was re-erected by Sabine Baring-Gould, R. Hansford Worth and others in 1893. Nearby is the large but damaged cairn known as Giant's Basin; many of its stones were removed by warreners to build their rabbit-warrens at Ditsworthy, lower down the river. Higher up the slope and overlooking these monuments is a village of stone hut circles, akin to the one at Grimspound.

[edit] Eylesbarrow tin mine

To the north of Hartor Hill, on the southern shoulder of Eylesbarrow Tor, are the remains of the Eylesbarrow (otherwise known as Eylesburrow, Ailsborough, Ellisborough, Hillsborough etc.) tin mine. This was opened in 1815, though tin-streaming and open-cast mining had taken place in the area for several centuries before this. The mine continued in operation until 1852, but its most productive period was in the 1820s when it had its own smelting house, the only one in operation on the moor.

The most significant remains of the mine are the two rows of paired stones which were the supports for the flatrod system that was used to transfer power from the water wheels to the mine shafts at the top of the hill. By 1831 the mine employed over sixty men, but this was down to fewer than ten by 1841; after another resurgence of activity during which a 50 ft (15 m) waterwheel was installed, the mine closed with the auction of all its equipment in 1852.