Oak was the wood commonly used to produce charcoal for the smelting furnaces
associated with the Devon silver mines in the early 14th century. I am
careful not to say that it was the wood 'preferred' for charcoal, as it was
a matter of using the available resources - the native oak woodland of the
Tamar and Tavy river valleys. With a coppicing cycle of 16 to 20 years and
a pressing demand for fuel, there was little opportunity for new plantations
which would, in any event, take up agricultural land already under pressure
at the peak of medieval population growth.
It may be that there was planting of preferred coal woods for industries
sustained through the decline of the 15th century. The iron industry in
areas like the Weald might provide such examples.
Peter
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Peter Claughton, Blaenpant Morfil, Rosebush, Clynderwen,
Pembrokeshire, Wales SA66 7RE.
Tel. 01437 532578; Fax. 01437 532921; Mobile 07831 427599
University of Exeter - Department of History
School of Historical, Political and Sociological Studies
E-mail: [log in to unmask]
Co-owner - mining-history e-mail discussion list.
See http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/files/mining-history/ for details.
Mining History Pages - http://www.exeter.ac.uk/~pfclaugh/mhinf/
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