>Are we,
>therefore, missing a whole tier of smelting sites in the Dales?
>

Mike,

There is a strong possibility that you are missing not only a tier of
smelting sites but a whole process not really fully addressed in studies of
the Yorkshire Dales.  As you say lowland smelting sits have been identified
in the Northern Pennines and there is clear evidence for the re-smelting of
residues by the mid 15th century. I've said elswhere that my belief is that
such was the practice on some upland sites, as at Calver Hil in Swaledale,
where charcoal heaps have been found in association with smelting sites.

However, I would take you back to the presentation at the NAMHO conference
in Bradford by the ladies from the Yokshire Archaeological Society(?) in
particular the evidence presented by Maureen Scholey, extracted from
Swaledale wills of the mid 16th century.  In the 1550s and 60s there are
references to 'ure sand', priced on a par with other loads of lead 'ure',
and some ores differentiated as being 'greate uyre', along with at least one
reference to 'coales for the said leade', i.e. charcoal for smelting.  To me
that would appear to add up to some form of furnace smelting, using a
footblast(?), reducing finely crushed ore.  Such a process could easily have
been carried out on the valley floor.

Going back to the Devon mines, I would point out that Bere Ferrers is a
largely agricultural parish with some market gardening and fruit growing in
the early part of last century and the smelting sites ore, on the whole
sited away, from the settlements. On the other hand those at Combe Martin
are in the village itself, as are the mines.  Trevor has been performing the
archaeological equivalent of keyhole surgery to identify a late medieval -
early modern smelting site benefitting from water power alongside the stream
directly between the church and the manor house site - you don't get more
central than that! Soil sampling in such a location - even the probable bole
site, recently destroyed, is on the edge of the old burgage tenements
intensively worked as smallholding and for fruit farming up to he middle of
last century - would to be extremely difficult.

One of the post-grad students in the Archaeology Dept., at Exeter, is
working on geo-chemical analysis as an aid to studying mining / smelting
activity in the area and I for one await his conclusions with interest.

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 - School of Historical, Political and Sociological Studies
(Centre for South Western Historical Studies)
E-mail:  [log in to unmask]

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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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