Summary

A late-C19 linear target railway, designed and used for artillery training, with a later curved target railway nearby.

Source: Historic England

Details

PRINCIPAL FEATURES: the earthwork remains of a former artillery target railway of late C19 date, which runs north to south from the lower, south-facing flank of Black Down to the Red-a-ven Brook immediately west of West Mill Tor. Also, the earthwork remains of an early-mid-C20 curved target carrier to the south west.

DESCRIPTION: the earthwork remains of a former artillery target railway run north to south from SX5823592141 to SX5812791168. The embankments and cuttings remain, indicating an original length of 960m, and the rails have been removed. The first 60m of the line at the northern end of the railway lie in what is now a deep, 3-4m, cutting with irregular sides and traces of masonry and concrete. This is described in 1906 as 'Engine Shed' and presumably formed covered accommodation for the targetry. The trackbed leaves the site of the former shed at 416m OD and gently descends to 411m near the centre (where another engine shed is marked on the 1906 map) before rising slightly to 412m at the southern end. At SX5820691879 it crosses a road, which is not included in the scheduled area. The trackbed averages 3.0m wide and there are some indentations of sleepers. Motive power for this feature is uncertain though unlikely to have been a locomotive, the engine sheds probably housing stationary engines. Given the slight incline of the line it seems likely that the targetry was partly gravity-powered on its north to south run. Pulleys and wire tensioning blocks, which were at one time visible along the edges of the trackbed, may have assisted this and also formed a retrieval system to return the targetry to the north end. To the west of the railway, at approx. SX5815791764, is an earth mound, possibly related to the southernmost late-C19 engine shed. Finds of 0.5 solid rounds on the target railway suggest that it was used for training with the Boyes anti-tank rifle.

The earthwork remains of a curved target carrier run north-east to south-west from approx. SX5818591788 to SX5799691363. The cutting averages approx. 1.0m wide and 0.5m deep. Any tracks that may have been in place have been removed. The bends in the cutting have a steel or iron pin and tube used as cable bearings for the carrier. One possible use in the 1920s is via a sleigh made of two pieces of rolled corrugated iron sheeting on which canvas figures were attached, pulled by a limber. Kite balloon wire would be used to prevent the sleigh skidding, in conjunction with the bearing pins and tubes. The southern end of the carrier splits into two and terminates at a point that formerly had pulleys staked to the ground. The northern end terminates close to the mound at the former engine shed at SX5815791764.

EXTENT OF SCHEDULING: the monument comprises 3 separate areas of protection and the boundary runs between SX5823592141 in the north and SX5799691363 in the south, to include the target carrier track beds and cuttings. A buffer of 2m is included around the whole monument for the support and preservation of the earthworks. The road that crosses the linear target railway at SX5820691879 is not included in the scheduling.

Source: Historic England

Reasons for Scheduling

The linear and curved target railways at F Range, Black Down are scheduled for the following principal reasons:
 
* Period: the Royal Artillery Training Range at Okehampton played an important role in the advancement of new military techniques and tactics from the late C19 to the present day, and has a strong cultural and historical significance, within both a regional and national context;
* Survival: the target railways survive well as earthworks, providing clear evidence of their original construction and the development of artillery tactics and weaponry. The curved railway has some remaining cable bearings in situ;
* Rarity: as the official summer school of the School of Gunnery, the range at Okehampton became the most important artillery range established in the late C19, with a set of imaginative, and in some cases unique, practice range features. Late-C19 target carrier railways are particularly rare, and those from the first half of the C20 are also not common;
* Documentation: the features have been documented in historical maps of the range, aerial photography, and a number of landscape and condition surveys throughout the C21;
* Group value: the site has strong group value with the other related military training features. The associated camp to the north is of historic significance in itself, particularly the listed late-C19 buildings, and the two sites should not be seen in isolation of each other. The Okehampton target railways are a key part of a larger multi-phased military landscape that can be seen across Dartmoor.

Source: Historic England

Sources

Websites
Armed Forces on Dartmoor: A Brief History, accessed 11/2/2015 from https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/33309/armed_forces_ondartmoor_brief_history.pdf
English Heritage Pastscape - Monument No. 1396549, accessed 9/2/2015 from http://www.pastscape.org.uk
English Heritage Pastscape - Monument No. 1396569, accessed 9/2/2015 from http://www.pastscape.org.uk
English Heritage Pastscape - Monument No. 1396582, accessed 9/2/2015 from http://www.pastscape.org.uk
English Heritage Pastscape - Monument No. 1396589, accessed 9/2/2015 from http://www.pastscape.org.uk
English Heritage Pastscape - Monument No. 1396606, accessed 9/2/2015 from http://www.pastscape.org.uk
Other
Francis, P (2002) Okehampton Artillery Range, Devon: Report and Photographic Survey (unpublished)
Probert, S, (2004) Okehampton Range: Monument Baseline Condition Survey English Heritage (unpublished)
WO78/4547 Okehampton Ordnance Survey Map of Camp and Artillery Ranges 1892 Reproduced in 1906, from the National Archives

Source: Historic England