Slightly at a tangent similar bell shaped pits occur in the Purbeck outliers
in the Brightling area of Sussex where iron ore and limestone were mined
until the 19th century. Oral tradition talks of being able to see the stars
during the daytime through the small access hole at the top!
Pax et bonum,
Brian
-----Original Message-----
From: Adrian Farrel <[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask] <[log in to unmask]>
Date: 22 September 1998 17:38
Subject: RE: Chalck pits vs. glas-making
>Joep,
>Hi again.
>
>My immediate reaction as soon as I started reading your mail was "Dene
>Hole".
>
>I don't have any information on the area of France that you are
>interested in, but if you want more (and detailed) information on Dene
>Holes, I suggest you contact Mike Clinch ([log in to unmask])
>of the Kent Underground Research Group. Also, Adrian Pearce should have
>quite a bit to say on the subject - are you reading Adrian?
>
>Adrian
>North Wales Caving Club
>--
>Adrian Farrel mailto:[log in to unmask]
>Data Connection Ltd., Chester, UK
>http://www.datcon.co.uk/
>Tel: +44 (0) 1244 313440 Fax: +44 (0) 1244 312422
>
>>----------
>>From: Joep Orbons[SMTP:[log in to unmask]]
>>Sent: Sunday, September 20, 1998 11:48 AM
>>To: mining-history
>>Subject: Chalck pits vs. glas-making
>>
>>In an area in France that I am studying there is something that puzzles
me.
>>Maybe you can help.
>>The facts are that high up on the "Gaize", a sort of chalck/sand stone,
>>there are a couple of dozen pits nicely aligned along an old disused road.
>>One of these pits was excavated by the archaeological service some 3 years
>>ago and it turned out to be a bottle-shape shaft of 23 m deep. The shaft
>>does not reach any other layers, just the gaize, so no flint mine or the
>>sort. At the bottom of the shaft some roman-age pottery sherds were found.
>>On these sherds there is a thick (5 mm) layer of glass.
>>The area is known to be intensively used in the Roman era and there has
been
>>glass-making industry (Roman aged) in that region.
>>The stone "Gaize" is very fire-resistant.
>>
>>The French archaeologists concluded that these shaft relate to this glass
>>making industry. Problably extracing the chalcky sandstone and using it
for
>>glass-making. This would mean that the glass-ovens could not have been far
>>from the shafts. I was asked to carry out a survey at the shafts to detect
>>ovens with a magnetometer. I did two shafts covering an area of 20x25
meters
>>and 30x50 metres, keeping the shafts in the middle. In these surveyed
area's
>>I found an absolutely silent magnetic area, meaning no ovens of other
>>burning activities at all. The measurements are so clean, there is not
even
>>a smallest hint of metal.
>>
>>Even when I started the survey I told the French archaeologists I did not
>>beleave these shaft being used for glass-making. These sort of shaft I
know
>>from other regions in France and from Britain (dene-holes), Germany, The
>>Netherlands and Italy, and they are always chalck-pits. Mostly used to
>>extract chalck to chalck the fields, but sometimes used as quarries for
>>building stone. Maybe these shafts were used to extract stones to build
>>glass-ovens, but that would be the maximum relation.
>>The fact that they use pits where they can extract the gaize relatively
easy
>>in open-cast mining to me means nothing as I know many other site where
very
>>labour-intensive shafts were lowered and maybe 500 m away the stuff just
>>simply surfaces, so obviously other parametres are in place as well, that
we
>>do not know of (yet).
>>
>>
>>My question is:
>>- Does anyone have any knowledge of these chalck-pits relating to
>>glass-industry? I am convinced they relate to chalck mining or quarrying,
>>but please convince me of the opposite.
>>
>>Best wishes,
>>
>>Joep Orbons
>>
>>--------------------------------------------------------------------------
---
>>-
>>Joep Orbons, Holdaal 6, NL 6228 GH Maastricht, The Netherlands
>>E-Mail: [log in to unmask], WWW:
>>http://www.xs4all.nl/~jorbons/souterrains.html
>>--------------------------------------------------------------------------
---
>>-
>>Office: RAAP archaeological consultancy, P.O.Box 1347, NL 1000 BH
Amsterdam
>>E-Mail: [log in to unmask], WWW: http://www.raap.nl/
>>--------------------------------------------------------------------------
---
>>-
>>
>>
>
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