At 23:40 22/05/2006, Peter King wrote:
>I posted this question to the mining history list and have had no
>reply. Can any one here help me?
>
>Can any one tell me the earliest date when there is a record of
>soughs being used to drain mines in England?
Sorry, Peter, I evidently missed this on the mining history list.
The earliest reference I have is circa 1298 for the silver mines at
Bere Ferrers, with true crosscutting drainage levels appearing in the
1320s (full ref. available but not to hand as I'm away from home /
office). Of course they were not referred to as 'soughs' as that's a
name confined to the English Midlands - the docs. I have refer to
them as 'avidods' or adits. But, if you want an early European use,
then it's the gold mines in Limousin (France) with crosscutting
drainage levels employed in the late Iron Age.
Peter
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