At 11:28 01/09/2009, Rick Stewart, Morwellham Quay Mine Manager wrote:
>What documenary evidence is there for pre eighteenth century copper
>mining within the Tamar Valley? The earliest references that I have
>come across are early eighteenth century Bedford Estate leases held
>in the DRO.
>
>Dines and (Ithink) Hamilton Jenkin both note that Virtuous Lady is
>reputed to have been worked in the 16th Century.
>
>A more recent reference (Rippon, Claughton & Smart, 2009) notes
>"there is, however, good documentary evidence that some copper -
>bearing ores were being worked in the Tamar Valley by at least the
>first decade of the fourteenth century."
Rick,
There is a list of mines in Devon, and other parts of south-west
England, assessed / 'proved' by Petrus Filius in about 1528 (TNA: PRO
SP1/236) which includes 'A mine beside our lady in the cliff -
copper and lead'. No specific location but, although it appears in
the list between two mines in the area of Codden Hill in north Devon,
the list generally runs from north to south across Somerset and
Devon, and the mine 'beside our lady in the cliff' is shortly
followed by two other mines in the Tavy and Tamar valleys - so the
mine could be Virtuous Lady, although it needs some work on
identifying 'our lady in the cliff' which may be shrine?
The best evidence for copper working comes in the early 14th century
and the reworking of copper smelting residues at the Crown silver
mines in the Tamar valley. The residues are described as being 'from
old works at Calstock' which, until we found the Roman fort and
associated furnace at Calstock (on the Cornish bank of the Tamar),
was thought to have probably been the result of earlier medieval
activity - but they could perhaps be the result of smelting in the
1st century. The furnace found outside the southern boundary of the
Roman fort has been stripped of slag and that may be the result of
collecting the residues reworked in the 14th century - the furnace is
not a lead smelter but we have not, so far, identify any metallic
residues associated with it beyond a high arsenic level in the
material filling the furnace bottom. See Claughton and Smart, 'The
Bere Ferrers Project and Discovery of the Roman Fort at Calstock',
Tamar - Journal of the Friends of Morwellham, 30 (2008), 4-15, for
some preliminary detail - work on the fort and its environs is
on-going but a report should appear in the not too distant future.
Peter King is correct to identify Sweden as the principal source of
copper used in England and Wales prior to the late 17th century - all
attempts to work copper in England and Wales before the late 17th
century, even the renown Mines Royal operations in Cumberland, were
economic failures.
Peter
Dr Peter Claughton,
Blaenpant Morfil, nr. Rosebush, Clynderwen, Pembrokeshire, Wales SA66 7RE.
Tel. +44 (0)1437 532578; Fax. +44 (0)1437 532921; Mobile +44 (0)7831 427599
Hon. University Fellow - School of Humanities and Social Sciences
http://huss.exeter.ac.uk/archaeology/staff/claughton.shtml
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See http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/files/mining-history/ for details.
Mining History Pages - http://www.people.exeter.ac.uk/pfclaugh/mhinf/
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