At 21:34 20/01/2009, you wrote:
>I wonder if anyone can give me some idea of when the system of
>Possession Stowes was first used to mark out mines in the High Peak
>& Northern Mining fields of England.
>I am interested in the above because I'm researching the history of
>Windlass's, so am wondering if the above is a good indication of the
>first appearance of the windlass.
Roger,
For the Devon silver mines of the late 13th to 15th centuries, worked
by the English Crown or its lessees, the Exchequer Accounts provide
ample evidence of the materials purchased for use in haulage of ore,
rock, and water from the mines, and 'to lower down miners, timber
and tools'. Hempen ropes along with leather bags (bulgi) feature
regularly amongst the expenses of the mine. It is generally assumed
that the ropes were used in conjunction with windlasses, although
there are no specific references to their construction and earlier
references are to the manual haulage and 'winding' as such is not
referred to in documents until the 15th century. The construction of
a 'winch' is, however, specifically referred to in accounts of an
abortive trial for copper at Dyserth, in Flintshire (north-east
Wales), in 1303. A group of four central European miners, one from
Freiberg, were engaged to carry out the trial using bags and ropes
for haulage as in south Devon (Jones, Flintshire Minister's Accounts,
App. A). Similarly, head frames are not referred to in the Crown
documents although an illustration of mid to late 15th century mining
activity, albeit probably in an Italian context, does show a head
frame similar in construction to the 19th century 'poppet head'
although without a windlass (Pliny the Elder, Historia Naturalis,
Book XXXXIII - National Arts Library, London, MSL/1896/1504).
You might refer to Gimpel, Jean. The Medieval Machine; the industrial
revolution of the Middle Ages, (London, 2nd edn., 1988), for more
information on the use of the windlass and haulage devices.
Peter
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Dr Peter Claughton,
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