The oldest industry in this locality is that of lead mining, and it is known that some of the mines here were worked by the Romans, whose pigs of lead have been found. Pieces of ore have been found during the explorations of the military camp at Brough, doubtless from the Bradwell mines. It is asserted by ancient authors that the lead, tin and copper mines of Great Britain were known to the Belgians, Romans, Saxons, Danes, and Normans, who invaded the Kings of this Isle to rob them of their mineral possessions.

GROUP OF OLD LEAD MINERS.

Reading left to right -

Top Row - Wm. Bagshaw Ashmore, Robert Furness, jun., Isaac Elliott, George Ashmore, Charles Andrew, Thomas Morton, Elias Jeffrey
Middle Row - Thomas Hallam, Isaac Evans, Isaac Hibbs, John Jackson, John Morton, John Jennings, James Evans, Caleb Morton.
Bottom Row - Robert Bocking, Benjamin Morton, Robert Ashmore, John Howe (barmaster), Benjamin Barber, Robert How Ashton, Robert Furness s.n., Robert Evans, and William Jeffrey.

At Rake Head Mine, 45 years ago. [Ed: presumably 1867]

That the inhabitants of this isle were anciently very careful in defending and securing their mines is evident from the speech of King Canutus to his army when drawing them up against the Romans. He called upon his soldiers to defend his rich mines, which would be to show themselves Englishmen, truly valiant, tenacious of their rights, and inspired with a due sense of the price of their country and its productions.

A few mines were left by the Romans at the conquest of this isle, under the command of Julius Caesar, whose descendants continued their work in the lead mines of the High Peak. The Kings of England were always jealous of the mines and minerals, several of whom, after the conquest, would not allow their mines to be worked. In 1246, Henry the Third executed a writ of inquiry at Ashbourne, when it was given for the King that the mines in the High Peak were the royal prerogative of the Crown, and not the property of those who had by long custom worked them, but he permitted the miners to proceed till further order, paying to him the thirteenth dish, cope and lot.

A volume could be written on the history of Peakland lead mining. At an inquisition taken at Ashbourne in the year 1288, one of the jury was “William, son of the smith of Bradwell”. Their findings are highly interesting. A miner could, and still can, dig where he likes in search of lead ore (gardens, orchards, burial grounds, and highways excepted), and having found a vein he can call in the Barmaster and have staked out to him a meer of ground, sufficient to work and dress and prepare his ore and generally carry on his workings. And he can go to the nearest water and conduct it to his mine for use in dressing the ore, and can also make a road across anyone's land to the nearest highway for the purpose of conveying his ore from the mine. And the miners still govern themselves through their ancient Barmote Court, though many of their ancient laws have been very much modified. Formerly when convicted of stealing the ore of another miner he was fined the first and second times, but for the third offence he was taken to the top of the shaft where are the “stowses”, a contrivance for winding the buckets of ore up the shaft, and a knife sent through the palm of his right hand up to the haft in the stowse. where he was left either to tear himself loose or die on the spot. And the miner could have as much timber as he chose for working his mine without paying for it.

Coroners had no jurisdiction whatever over the miner, and fatal accidents in the mine were inquired into by the Barmaster only, and a jury of miners themselves.

The Bradwell mines are in the King's Field, and formerly belonged mostly to the working miners and held in shares frequently very small, as 48ths, 96ths, and even 384ths and 768ths. The very smallest mines often had many partners concerned in them.

For hundreds of years lead mining was the principal employment of the inhabitants. Both men and boys worked therein, while women were employed on the surface dressing the ore. The whole district is completely undermined, and scores of shafts have been covered over, and their exact locale not now known. Veins of ore run east to west for miles and cross veins in all directions, as well as “pipe” mines. There are several main “rakes”, such as Moss Rake, Hills Rake, Shuttle Rake, and Dirtlow, and among the mines that have been extensively worked for centuries on Moss Rake are Yeld, Mule Spinner, Butts, Outland Head, Windy, Bank Top, Hartle Dale, Sykes, Bennetts, Nether Cross, Upper Cross, Raddlepits, Rake Head, Hills Grove, Broctor, Providence, and New York. There were also Peveril, Dirtlow, Bird, Hazard, Holland Twine, Nunley, Smalldale Head, Picture End, Tanner's Venture, Virgin, Wet Rake, Moor Furlong, Cronstadt, Maiden Rake, Nail Hole, Chance, Gateside, Neverfear, Pack of Meal, Hungry Knoll, Dore, Bradwell Edge, Water Shaft, Palfrey's, Cobbler's, Frog Hole, Burrows, Eyre's, Ripper, God Speed, and many others.

Miners wages were always exceedingly low, and 15s. a week was the top price to the one who was foreman. Here is the exact copy of “A Reckoning at Naw Hole, ending May 15th, 1806”. This was at “Nail Hole”, at the top of Hill's Rake, in Hartle Dale.

This was a five week's “reckoning”, and from the accounts before us. extending over a period of three years at this small mine, it is plain that the men's wages varied from l0s. to 15s. per week, and the women 1s. per day.

But however low the wages, or small the quantity of ore raised, there was no diminution in the quantity of “ale” at the reckoning. The old lead miner is known to history as having loved good ale as well as good music, for

And Philip Kinder in the preface to his intended History of Derbyshire, written about the middle of the seventeenth century, tells us that “They love their cards. The miners at Christmas tyme will carry ten or twenty pounds about them, game freely, return home again, all the year after good husbands”.

Right away down for years, at every “reckoning” the item for ale is in evidence, varying anywhere from 4s. to 25s., and at one reckoning extending over a period of four months, the sum paid to “Richard Bennett for ale” was £5 4s. 0d. The host at the “White Hart” evidently had good times, judging from the patronage extended to him from Nall Hole, where not more than eight persons were employed, some of whom were women. Two of these men, both named George Maltby were killed at this mine. And at many of the larger mines where large numbers were employed, the workmen - and women too - were, expected to buy a quantity of malt every pay day to brew their own beer at home.

We came across an item in 1780, “given men when rearing coes 2s.” and “spent at Windmill 1s.” There was formerly a public house at Windmill. The “coe” was a small building over the climbing shaft by which the miners descended the mine, and in which they divested themselves of their clothing for the ordinary attire of the miner. On every mine there was another and larger “coe” in which the ore was deposited when dressed, and on the 13th of May the miners used to dress their “coes” with oak branches, garlands, etc. The day was always kept as a general holiday, and a dinner of beef, pudding, and ale provided in the open air, music and singing at the inns concluding the carousals of the day.

Miners' Liberties and Customs in Rhyme.

In the year 1746 there was found in the office of the Duchy of Lancaster the following relating to “the Liberties and Customs of the Lead Mines within the Wapentake of Wirksworth, in the County of Derby, part thereof appearing by extracts from the bundles of the Exchequer, and inquisitions taken in the 16th year of the reign of King Edward the First, and in other kings' reigns, and continuPd ever since”. “Composed in meter by Edward Manlove, Esq., heretofore steward of the Barghmoot Court, for the lead mines within the Wapentake, London. Printed Anno Dom. 1653”. It should be remembered that this is exactly applicable to the “King's Field”, of which the Bradwell district forms a part:-

A Precarious Occupation.

In 1830, before the passing of the Reform Bill, there must have been a great deal of poverty owing to the depression in leadmining, when the “Sun”, an influential paper published in London, wrote thus: “A numerous and respectable meeting of the inhabitants of the village of Bradwell, held on Wednesday the 29th ult., for the purpose of considering the best means of administering relief to the suffering families in the neighbourhood, especially those who are in indigent circumstances, in consequence of the low rate of wages afforded to those employed in the above trades, who, it is well known, cannot by the most difficult exertion earn more than three to four shillings per week. It is impossible to conceive the vast depth of misery which exists. It appeared, from the statements of some of the speakers that many of these poor sufferers had their children in bed when visited, whose bedclothes had not a vestige of either linen or flannel about them, but was composed of wrappers and old clothes; others had not a little of fire. The respectable inhabitants of the village and neighbourhood subscribed nearly £50, which sums they are actively distributing in coals, meats, and blankets. Several resolutions were unanimously adopted, appointing a committee, and earnestly recommending a subscription from all who could afford it”. The working miners gradually abandoned the small workings, for they had no capital to work in a scientific way and put down machinery to cope with the water, and the larger mines followed suit when the low price of lead made them no longer profitable.

But doubtless there is yet much more ore in the bowels of the earth than has ever been got out, and a rich harvest awaits those capitalists who acquire the miles of mines and work them on up-to-date methods.

Calamine.

Calamine was formerly found in large quantities in most of the Bradwell mines, and was separated from the lead in the ordinary process of dressing the ore. It is an

ore of zinc, and was much used in the manufacture of brass, and was formerly raised in considerable quantities from the Nail Hole Mine.

Sulphur and Petroleum.

Sulphur has been found in layers, and in very great purity in the Virgin Mine, also on Tideswell Moor, and at the Odin Mine, Castleton. It is generally combined with lead, barytus, and fluor spar. Sulphur was formerly met with in the cellural parts of baroselenite, and also in galena. It was found in a layer four inches thick in the mines at Hazlebadge, Bradwell, and in a layer of one inch thick in the toadstone at Tideswell Moor. It was in a state of such purity in these places that it would flame with a candle. “Petroleum, or rock oil, was found in veins of the black marble at Ashford, and when the sun shone upon the stone it gently exuded. Stones containing a considerable quantity of rock oil were formerly met with near Stoney Middleton, and were so common that the miners used to burn the oil they produced in lamps”.

Barytus.

From the lead mines barytus was raised in very large quantities, especially in the New York vein and in the Moor Furlong mines. Millions of tons of this mineral have been got. It is known as cauk, and was converted into a material which is used for many of the purposes for which white lead was formerly applied.

Fluor Spar.

This mineral has become exceedingly valuable during recent years, and as many of the Bradwell mines abound with it - yea, there are thousands of tons ready got in the mines, and left there by the miners of former days as refuse - these mines have been acquired by capitalists, who have sent large quantities of the mineral abroad. But it should be explained that in the mineral laws of the Peak only the lead ore belongs to the miner, every other mineral, cauk, spar, feigh, etc., being the property of the landowner.

Lead Smelting.

When the ore is dressed and sold it is conveyed to the smelting furnaces. The cupola furnace was introduced into Derbyshire nearly 200 years ago, and several of them were erected at Bradwell. One of these was at the bottom of the Dale, and was worked by Thomas Burgoyne, of Edensor, seventy years ago, and afterwards down to its closing by John Fairburn, of Sheffield. It was known as the “Slag Works”, from the slag made by smelting. The only vestige of these once extensive works is the base of the once tall chimney, and the dilapidated old flues along which the poisonous fumes passed and deposited most of their poison before reaching the chimney.

There were other cupolas for the smelting of lead on Bradwell Hills, one where Overdale houses now stand, and the other, “th' owd cupola”, on the site now occupied by Mr. Z. Walker's houses. Nearly a century ago these were worked by James Furness and Company, and Jeremy Royse, of Castleton. A fourth cupola was in the meadow below Edentree. It belonged to Messrs. John, Thomas, and Edward Middleton, three brothers, who were mineowners as well. The cupola has long been used as farm buildings.

Many elderly people remember that awful calamity on the night of the 19th of April, 1854, when there was a fearful catastrophe at the Slag Works. Two workmen, William Mitchell and Joseph Hallam, were suffocated by the poisonous fumes, and [sic] other two, highly respected young men of the village, John Edwy Darnley and Jonah Elliott, met with a similar fate by venturing too near the spot in their eagerness to lend a helping hand in the work of rescue

White Lead Making.

The importance of Bradwell as a centre of the lead industry may be gathered also by the fact that on this very spot the article is not only raised from the mines, but smelted into lead, and actually manufactured into the genuine article, white lead. The late Mr. Robert How Ashton, of Castleton, erected the works at Brough, or rather enlarged a disused cotton mill, about 1860, and there commenced the manufacture of white, grey, and red lead. Subsequently the works were extended by his son, Mr. R.H. Ashton, J.P., who built smelting mills and a refinery, and these industries are still carried on successfully by Colonel Joseph Hall Moore, J.P.