David's comments confirm my general point that organisational changes occurred at different times in different places.
Likewise, 40 ish horse grinder circles north of the River Wye, in the northern Peak District, hardly rates as other than a "very limited {and very late} application". I presume that if the limestone plateau of Derbyshire had copious supplies of surface water, then they too would have used waterwheel-powered crushing rolls.
Similar edge rollers were used for crushing sand(stone) - we have one on the famous Ilkley Moor. I suppose that diffusionists might prefer the idea of visitors to or from Mexico.
>Organisational changes - Once again Derbyshire is somewhat different.
I suppose this is a matter of interpretation and conception. By large mines I was thinking in terms of those which had gone for significantly larger areas rather than a number of meers (even if it was tens of them) constrained within a quarter cord. Nevertheless, some of the latter achieved considerable depths and supported not inconsiderable levels of production in Derbyshire. I seem to remember that the whim shafts on Eyam Edge were quite deep in the early C17th.
The consolidation of meers in C17th Derbyshire certainly gave larger mines and outputs, but perhaps not always the concept of one, systematically worked mine.
Clearly, developments in the Devon silver mines, between one and three hundred years earlier, were not relevant to the owners of lead mines or, more especially, the mineral lords who controlled access to the veins.
Mike
