Mortar stone

Taken in March 1942 of a mortar stone, used in a blowing house, the remains found on the Glazebrook on the southern edge of Dartmoor. Blowing houses were where tin miners smelted tin ore. They first came into existence on Dartmoor in the 13th century and were in use until the 18th century. A typical site for a blowing house was on a bank jutting out into a stream. The stones in the photograph are called mortar stones. These were used for crushing the tin ore in a stamping mill.