England Mining and Quarrying Occupations - International Institute

Iron Ore Mining and Smelting
From the pre-historic Iron Age making iron involved mining in shallow pits and smelting on windy hills. Development of cast iron depended upon the new blast furnace which required huge amounts of fuel, provided at first by water or charcoal, and later by coal and coke allied with the development of the steam engine. The important 15th-17th century iron working centres of the Weald of Kent, Sussex and Surrey which turned out vast quantities of horseshoes, cauldrons, nails, guns, cannons, firebacks, and assorted tools had completely faded by the late 18th century for lack of nearby fuel.

The newer technology arrived in the midlands and the north of England in the 1560s and continued developing there and in South Wales throughout the ensuing four centuries. The Industrial Revolution was born at Ironbridge Gorge, Shropshire, which now boasts an award-winning museum. It was on the edge of coalfields and on ironstone and limestone and in 1709 the ironmaster Darby, together with a succession of other notable engineers, pioneered the use of blast furnaces together with huge forges and rolling mills here. The resulting pollution gave the area its name, the Black Country, and this area was the biggest iron producer in the world up until the mid-18th century.

Further development of the iron industry took place across Britain and steel making was introduced by Bessemer in 1856. In the east Midlands, especially near Corby, Northamptonshire, iron and coal deposits led to the development of the steel industry here during the period 1880-1920, but this has now declined. North-east England, which has large amounts of coal and iron, saw the greatest development of the steel industry in England. From Sheffield and Rotherham in South Yorkshire to Middlesbrough and up Tees-side to Durham there have been great steel works for over two centuries. The name Sheffield is synonymous with quality steel, and it specialized in knives and cutting tools, the trade being regulated by the Cutlers’ Company. Further north bulk steel for car bodies, ship and boiler plates, railway lines, bridge girders and so on are produced. Good histories of ironworking are provided by Hey (The Oxford Companion to Local and Family History. Oxford University Press, 1996) Gale (Ironworking. Shire Publications., 1994) and Bailey (The Industrial Heritage of Britain. Ebury Press/Book Club Associates, 1982) and there are many museums worth visiting.

Lead Mining
The most notable deposits of lead in Great Britain are in the Peak District of Derbyshire, with others in Somerset, Shropshire, the Yorkshire Dales, Durham and the Lake District. They have been exploited since Roman times, particularly as a by-product in the quest for silver. The production heyday was in the 18th and 19th centuries but the high cost of upkeep meant that new foreign competition made them uneconomical. Uses included church roofs, gas and water pipes and cisterns (until it was discovered to be toxic), coffins, in paint and the alloy of tin and lead made pewter which has been in use from Roman times. In a similar manner to the stannaries, the Derbyshire Great Barmote courts were fiercely independent regulators of local mining and trading laws. Willies (Lead and Lead Mining. Shire Publications, 1994), Bailey (The Industrial Heritage of Britain. Ebury Press/Book Club Associates, 1982), and Hey (The Oxford Companion to Local and Family History. Oxford University Press, 1996) are excellent sources for lead mining, and Campbell-Passmore (Old Occupations: Leadminers. Family Tree Magazine Part I in Vol 9 #1, page 4-5. Part II in Vol 9 #2 page 4-6, 1992) details lead miners’ records and practices going back to 1194.

Tin Mining
Cornwall, and to a lesser extent Devon, were major sources of tin that was being worked before the Romans came to Britain mainly by streaming, that is washing out the waste alluvial sediment with running water whilst leaving behind the heavier metal. The tin industry had become so important by the reign of Richard I (1189-1199) that a charter for the stannaries made the workers their own masters with their own parliament and courts, and exempt from ordinary taxes. Shaft mining was introduced here in the 15th century and tin and copper were often dug from the same mine. The demand for tin increased from the 19th century onwards with the growth of the food canning industry but, as with copper, overseas deposits started to compete and Cornish miners emigrated so that foreign mines were said to be ‘holes full of Cornishmen’. Although vastly diminished, tin mining still proceeds in Cornwall surrounded by the derelict engine sheds of former mines (Bailey 1982, Atkinson 1985).

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