Dear John,
Yes, I was aware of this type of hatch, which is one of the reasons why I ignored the names for a long time. There are quite a few Hatch placenames in Devon outside the Devon/Cornwall border, and none to my knowledge are associated with mining, making it perhaps more likely for them to be deer-related. The trouble is that the Tamar & Tavy ones aren't associated with deer-parks as far as I can tell - at least there aren't historically recorded parks there, although the woods concerned were recorded as woodland within the Tavistock Abbey estate as early as 1422. So perhaps the latter part of your point could be the case?
It remains a knotty problem. I will continue to research the subject in the hope that more specific documentary evidence comes up.
Robert
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Message Received: Oct 29 2006, 07:45 PM
From: "John Phillips"
To: [log in to unmask]
Cc:
Subject: Re: Hatches
I don't know about hatches in mining but hatch names are fairly common in
south-east England. They are usually where a road passed through the edge of
a deer park - the hatch kept the deer in. They are sometimes found the edge
of open forests - I not certain of their exact significance here although I
think they are again related to deer management.
John Phillips
-----Original Message-----
From: mining-history [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of
Robert Waterhouse
Sent: 29 October 2006 18:14
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Hatches
Dear List,
In the Tamar and Tavy valleys in West Devon we have several woods called
Hatch Wood. I had thought that these might relate to deer-management or
salmon trapping, both of which use the name for gates or trapping devices.
However, a friend recently suggested that they might relate to an early
mining technique called a 'hatch'. I understand that Agricola mentions
hatches, which seem to relate to shafts or box-like open-works, but wondered
if anyone else has come across the term, or has evidence of other places in
Britain where placenames record this term. Needless to say, all three Hatch
Woods in the area are stuffed with old copper and tin workings, which are
documented from the 15th century up to the 19th.
Robert Waterhouse
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