Description
Some of the sites recorded by Amy Lax of RCHME in 1995 were recorded by Christopher Whitfield as apart of the landscape survey also in 1995.
The following sites have been amalgamated with relevant survey record:
RCHME Survey no 73 (Stock Pen) details have been added to Sheep Fold (22530*0).
RCHME Survey no's 65-70 (Water Mill and associated features) have been added to Water Mill (20118*0) as suffixes *65-70 and associated back to The Wad Mine (20118*0).
RCHME Survey no 64 (Saw Pit) details have been added to Saw Pit (22527*0) and site has been associated back to The Wad Mine (20118*0).
RCHME Survey no 79 (Boundary Stone) details have been added to Boundary Stone (22526*0).
RCHME Survey no 80 (Boundary Stone) details have been added to Boundary Stone (22532*0).
RCHME Survey no 81 (Washfold) details have been added to Washfold (22525*0).
RCHME Survey no's 72, 74-78 are all walls and are apart of the boundary survey yet to be done (Siddall, J. 1998).
This site is associated with the Seathwaite Wad (Graphite) Mines (20118*0) (Siddall, J. 1998).
A measured survey of this site is needed, (Survey done by RCHME 5-1995).
It has been suggested that the site would benefit from an interpretation board. To prevent damage by the general public some thought to footpath diversion should be considered. It should be remembered that the placing of a board may attract visitors and start the process of erosion (Whitfield, C. 1995).
A very famous mine with a long, complicated and colourful history. It is situated on the hill side a little to the northwest of Seathwaite (NY232125). A great deal has been written about this mine, much of it vague, and seemingly no-one has yet succeeded in putting together a really comprehensive account of its history. Equally ill-furnished, the author merely offers some of the less speculative features of its past. Even the date of the last working is not certain, for although official statistics show that a ton of graphite was removed in 1876 and none thereafter, the mine was nevereless in the hands of a private company right up to 1891, therefore it seems likely that some work was done after 1876.
Mining Details: The graphite is associated with a dyke of highly altereed diorite (300 fathoms long in a NNW/SSE direction) bounded by two masses of compact blue diabase. There are numerous quartz veins and strings traversing this formation and, although these are often discoloured with graphite, the big deposits, in the form of pipes, occur some distance away from the veins. The pipes are randomly distributed throughout the diabase and to a lesser extent the diorite; this made mining a difficult and hapzard affair. The only effective way to locat pipes was by driving long and tortuous exploratory tunnels. Thus the output of the mine tended to be sporadic, prolonged periods of no output whatsoever being quite common. Not surprisingly, therefore, this mine is a maze and the illustrated section of it appearing in several books (and reproduced here) presents a gross over- simplification of its true interior. The graphite from this mine has been variously named Black Cawke, the early days it was used for marking sheep and rust-proofing stoves. Taken in conjunction with ale or wine it was a panacea for an absurdly wide variety of ills, though its poisonous metallic compounds content probably made the patient feel a good deal worse! The prime uses, however, seem to have been in crucible and refractory mould constuction, as a separating agent in metal casting and, of course, pencil making. The Borrowdale Mine is well known for being responsible for the birth of the Keswick pencil industry in about 1790, an event which rather curiously came quite late in the mine's history. Two of the graphite pipes outcrop and these were where mining first took place. The higher outcrop is on Gorton's (or Goaton's) Ppe and it would seem that the very earliest work was done here. This working- a pit - was known as Upper Wadhole and by 1555 was already very deep. The lower is on the Grand Pipe and is said to have been discovered sometime in Elizabeth I's reign when a storm-uprooted ash tree exposed the graphite below. This location was known as the lower Wadhole. Gilberts Stage or Level, which drains the main body of the mine, was driven between the years 1798 and 1800. Robson's Level was the last major work (c.1820).
History: On 26 August 1555, two Royal commissioners, Thomas Legh and Nicholas Bardsey, were instructed to visit Borrowdale and report on, among other things, any wad hole 'for the colouring or uring of sheeo'. Their subsequent report tells of a wad hole on Seatoller Common (Upper Wadhole) indicating it to have reached such a depth that flooding made the removal of graphite a hazardous business. In December 1555 as a result of this report the Crown granted a 21 year lease to Ambrose Dormer, son of Sir Michael Dormer, Lord Mayor of London 1541-1542. Dormer died eleven years later and nothing is known of his activities or the subsequent fate of the lease. In 1578 a new lease to the wad holes and some other properties was taken by a Roger Robinson. In 1594 this passed into the hands of a Mathew Buck, Thence to be acquired in 1607 by Messrs Edward Boraston and Tomas Fanshaw. These two gentlemen subsequently sub-let to Daniel and Emanuel Hechstetter of Mines Royal, but unfortunately nothing is known about the work done by any of these people. The Hechsetters held the lease until 1625 (note that as the Mine Royal charter did not include reference to graphite the Hechstetters had no automatic right to the mine). Around 1613-14, James I sold sonsiderable areas of land in Lincolnshire and the Furness Abbey Manor of Borrowdale to Messrs William Whitmore and Jonas Verdon who in turn sold the land to existing tenants. The Borrowdale sale in 1614 included the was holes subsequently to be sold to Messrs William Lamplugh and Charles Hudson. It should of course be remembered that at all times the mining rights were held by the Hechstetters, such rights being unaffected by change of ownership. In due course the mining property descended in two moieties. One was purchased on the 9th March 1622 by London lawyer, Sir John Bankes, the other remainnig in the Hudson family until acquired in two parts, in 1697 and 1706 respectively, by one John Shepheard. In 1625 Bankes purchased the Hechstetter lease, wgicg still had eleven years to run, and started mining for himself. The Shepheard and Bankes families ran the mine as joint proprietors until the 28th February 1758 when John Sheapheard's son let his moiety on a 99 year lease to a group of London gentlemen. The Bankes moiety stayed within that family until very recently. It is known as early as the 16th century there existed a good market for graphite, the prices quoted in a lawsuit of 1597 being œ13 6s. 8d. And œ5 6s. 8d. Per ton for superior and inferior quality respectively. During the 17th century and later the graphite was sold at irregular intervals in transactions - called bargins - between the proprietors and certain approved merchants. One reason for this irregularity was the unpredictable nature of the mine itself, but another was to keep the selling price high by means of an artificially - induced rarity. The markedly various charges for the graphite are astonishing, and the following are some examples taken from records of sales all of which refer to the price per ton for superior quality: 1646, œ18; 1671, œ100; 1761, œ1,344; 1804, œ3,920. Not surprisingly these high prices attracted the attention of rogues so that pillfering and illicit working became a serious problem. Miners were undressed and inspected internally on leaving the mine, and armed gaurds patrolled the site in an attempt to people raking through spoil heaps or entering the mine itself. In 1749 a particularly craft attempt was made to work the mine illicitly by a man called William Hetherington. He obtained a lease to drive a copper adit on the site and actually found some copper. However, as the workings contained a secret door giving access to the wad mine, Hetherington and friends did quite well for a while. On discovering what was happening the Bankes family cleverly solved the problem by appointing Hetherington as steward - set a thief to catch a thief! The theft problem became so severe that in 1752, following an armed attack on the mine, an Act was passed in Parliament declaring illegal entry into, or stealing from, a wad mine to be a felony. Punishment for an infringment was a public whipping plud one years hard labour, or seven years transportation. Presumably the Act must have been some deterrent but clearly wasn't wholly effective for as late as 1771 there are reports of rogues using gunpowder during the night. By the late 1830's the proprietors seem to have losr interest in working the mine for themselves, letting it to a succssion of mining companies who by various accounts, didn't do very well. The last one was the Borrowdale Plumbago Mines and Manufactoring Company under the management of Henry Vercoe. This went into liquidation in 1891. In 1981 under the terms of the will of Mr H.J.R. Bankes, the National Trust was given the family's Kingston Lacy and Corfe Castle estates: included was the Wad Mine. Later a small ceremony took place for the unveiling of a boundary marker at the foot of the fell. This replaced a pre- existing marker (one of several) which was erected in 1752 but destroyed by vandals (Adams, J. 1988).
The earliest mention of the graphite deposits is in a document of 1540/2 but there is indirect evidence which shows that the graphite was being extracted at the beginning of the 16th century, possibly even the beginning of the 15th century (Boon 1976, 105). After a visit to Seathwaite by two Commissioners of the Mines Royal in 1555 the mining rights were leased out to a succession of different people. In 16 13-4 James I sold off land in Borrowdale including the mines; thereafter the mines became two separate moieties consisting of the Upper and Lower Wadholes. By 1638 Sir John Bankes owned the Lower Wadhole and by 1706 John Shepherd had acquired the Upper Wadhole. The mine was run jointly by the two families from this time, although in 1758 the Shepherd moiety was leased to a wider group of businessmen. The final mine company was wound up in 1891 following a steady decline in discoveries of new graphite deposits (Tyler 1995).
From the beginning it was usual for the mine to be worked sporadically, for after a large find of graphite the mine might be closed for up to seven years to keep the market price of graphite high; in the 18th century penalty clauses were written into sales agreements to ensure such closures (Boon 1976, 119-25). The desirability of graphite was also a source of trouble; armed attacks by robbers were a recurrent problem, so much so that in 1752 an act was passed in Parliament making the stealing of wad a felony.
The number of miners employed at any one time was very low and often did not reach double figures. The re-opening of old adits and shafts at different times was common, especially towards the end of the mine’s life when graphite was becoming more elusive (Tyler 1995).
Adits, shafts and spoilheaps
The lowest, and latest, level driven in the mine was Robson’s Level (1), situated on the south-western side of the enclosure wall. It was started in 1845 as a drainage adit to allow further exploitation of deposits below the grand pipe but had not joined up with any other levels before the mines were finally abandoned (Tyler 1995,166). Today both adit and spoilheap are hidden by a conifer plantation although trees on top of the platform have recently been removed.
The spoilheap has spread down the slope and is about l0m high. At its summit is a finger-shaped platform with an even surface measuring 16.6m by 6.8m. The Ordnance Survey 1st Edition 25-inch map of 1868 shows that the material from the mine was brought out on a railway across the spoilheap.
At the north-west end of the spoilheap are the remains of a mineshop built into the hillside and now largely cleared of spoil, which is the latest of several guardhouses at the mine that were designed to prevent thieves gaining access to the mine and to allow miners to be searched for stolen graphite on leaving the mine. A photograph of Robson’s Level taken c.1888 (reproduced Tyler 1995, 173) shows a two storey guardhouse with a slate covered, gabled roof. The physical remains correspond well with this photograph and also with the Ordnance Survey 1st Edition 25-inch; this shows a rectangular roofed building covering the mine entrance and a three-sided, probably unroofed structure abutting its southern corner. The three-sided structure, open at the front, measures 6.lm by 2.8m internally, within walls 0.8m wide and 0.85m high. The main part of the building consists of a rectangular structure 3.8m wide, now earth filled, revetted internally by a series of parallel walls; this may have been the foundation for the upper part of the guardhouse.
The adit entrance has been cleared and the portal partly shored up recently; despite this it is still collapsing inwards. The adit is 1.5m wide, its sides displaying remains of stone walling up to 0.9m high. Above the adit entrance is a shallow ditch, up to 2m wide, where the adit has collapsed inwards slightly.
Twenty metres north of the adit is a scoop (2) into the slope, 3.8m by 2.4m, which is the remains of a water blast shaft constructed to aid ventilation of Robson’s level before its intended connection to other mine levels. The iron water tube still survives; it passes through the centre of the hollow and can be seen entering the adit on a photograph published by Tyler (1995, 174). Tyler (1995, 167) states that although the water for the blast shaft was supplied by Newhouse Gill at first, a leat was dug to bring a more reliable supply from Sourinilk Gill. No trace of the leat was found close to the blast shaft but this is not surprising since the ground is heavily covered with brash from the plantation. There is no indication of where the leat crossed the stone wall that separates Sourmilk Gill from the blast shaft.
A further 200m north, up the fellside, is Gilbert’s Stage (3) below which is the most prominent of all the spoilheaps. This adit was driven in 1798 and when it reached the Grand Pipe in 1800 the guardhouse was built around the entrance (Tyler,1995,125). The documentary evidence for the mine house is particularly plentiful; two annotated small scale plans of both floors survive as well as a sketch of the exterior, all made by John Farey who began a survey of the mine in 1818 (Dorchester RO; D/BKL, Cumberland (uncatalogued)). Other documentary sources suggest that, to increase security, all graphite extracted from the mine- from whatever level- - was brought to the surface at Gilbert’s stage (Tyler 1995, 126,135), which may account for the large size of the spoilheap; it is spread 73m down the slope and is 42m across at its widest point. Water run-off down the slope has also caused some of the deads from the bottom of the spoilheap to move downhill. About halfway down the western side of the spoilheap is part of a drystone revetment wall which was presumably an attempt to hold the spoil back.
The platform at the top of the spoilheap is 10.9m by 7.lm but its front has become quite eroded by water seeping from the mine. In the centre of the platform the erosion has exposed red staining which is probably the rusted remains of a railway shown on Farey’s plans of 1821. A few short sections of iron rail are scattered further down the spoilheap. On the north-eastern side of the spoilheap is a drain taking water from the mine, which is 0.8m wide and 0.4m high.
It appears that due to the underlying bedrock, the ground floor was largely built to provide a foundation for the main upper floor, although there was room for a smithy at the front of the building, on the south-west side of the adit. The upper storey consisted of six rooms of varying sizes (Tyler 1995, 198).
The surviving walls of the north-eastern side of the building are 0.7m wide and have maximum external height of 2.lm; the interior is 3.lm by 5.6m. The walls are bonded with mortar and in the northern corner of the room some wall plaster survives. The maximum internal height of the walls is 1.2m, at the back of the building where the walls are protected by a hewn rock face; most of the room, however, is largely filled with debris. During the course of the survey the southern corner of this room fell away, exposing a layer of graphite dust 0.3m thick, which confirms the note on Farey’s plan that this was the upper storey wad-picking room.
The adit is a maximum of 1.0m wide and up to 1.0m high; the interior of the mine is still accessible from here. Adjacent to the adit, at the front of the guardhouse, the base of the stone staircase survives; it is composed of single slabs of stone 0.9m wide.
In the south-west half of the building part of the smithy survives. Internally it measures about 2.6m wide although no dividing wall is visible on the south-west side. Internally the wall is 0.6m high and externally 1.2m; the position of a window at the front of the smithy is clearly visible.
Farey’s plan notes a peat house on the south-western side of the building but this no
longer survives. Neither is there any trace of a privy which adjoined the north-eastern side of the building.
About 80m uphill from Gilbert’s Stage is another spoilheap (4). Although it extends downslope for 33m it is of no great depth, most of the material having spread out because of the steep gradient of the natural slope. The platform at the top measures 4.4m by 3.lm; on it is a corner of walling that only survives to foundation level. It is possible that this is the site of the Old Mens’ East Level which is marked as a small adit on Farey’s 1821 map but it may also be where old deads from the adjacent Old Mens’ Stage (5) were moved downhill and resorted during a lean spell at the mine.
The Old Mens’ Stage, as its name suggests, is one of the earlier workings; it was driven in 1619 to gain access to the Grand Pipe and to help drain it. Photographs taken by Tyler (1995, 78-9) show that it is a hand-driven narrow ‘coffin level’. In 1769, in order to re-open the level, a mine house was built around the adit with a yard to contain the spoil. Farey’s plan shows the site of the mine house and the yard wall which are described as ‘now removed’ strongly suggesting that the mine house was dismantled in order to re-use the stone. Tyler (1995, 121) asserts that the stone was used to build Harrison s mine house in 1791. If this was the case considerable effort must have been expended taking the relatively poor quality, undressed, stone uphill, especially when according to Farey’s plan the remains of an old mine house (date unknown) may have existed as little as 20m away.
The top of the platform has largely been covered with spoil from the spoilheap above
it but a small terrace, 1.5m wide, survives. At the south-western edge of the platform
are the remains of a small rectangular building which measures 4.2m by 2.4m internally. The rear of the structure was formed, or possibly sheltered by, a quarried rock outcrop which has stopped spoil from spreading onto it. At the front of the building is some rough drystone walling that is 0.7m high externally. This may be the remains of the Old Mens’ Stage peat house for it was still standing in 1821 according to Farey’s plan; it may not have been worth the effort to take stone from a crudely built store for use elsewhere. Protruding from the bottom of the spoilheap above the Old Mens’ platform is a single dressed stone, 0.8m wide and 0.5m deep. Behind it is a slight ridge of spoil suggesting a buried wall; possibly another building survives beneath the rubble.
The spoilheap itself is partly turf-covered although where visible the deads are large. It is 38m long and is interrupted approximately two-thirds down its slope by a turf-covered terrace. This may be the remains of a track across the spoilheap to join the track above the top of (4) rather than the partially covered remains of an earlier spoilheap.
Forty metres west of Old Mens’ Stage is an adit and its accompanying spoilheap cut into the side of Newhouse Gill (6). The spoilheap is partly turf-covered and is composed of material of differing sizes. The platform is 3.5m in diameter and only 8.0m high; the relatively small size suggests that this was simply a trial adit which did not discover any deposits of graphite. Its date is unknown but it does not appear on Farey’s plan and also it utilises the side of the stream in the same manner as Gill’s Stage further upstream which is dated to 1832; this suggests a date around the early to mid--nineteenth century.
The adit is reached by a small track along the side of the gill. The tunnel is arch
shaped and measures 2.0m wide and approxiamtely in height although the bottom of it is water-filled
Farey’s Stage (7) was driven in 1819 (Tyler 1995, 144) thus giving an existing internal level an exit to the surface. According to Tyler (1995, 111) when the Old Men’s Level was re-opened in 1769 it was necessary to send men to re-locate the adit because it was covered in spoil. If this was the case, it raises the question of whether Farey’s spoilheap covers an earlier adit of which there is no documentary record.
The top of the platform is a maximum of 15.7m by 11.4m but the front of it is badly eroded. Among the deads in the spoilheap are a number of stones with shot holes drilled into them. From the mouth of the adit, running across the centre of the platform, there is a gradually broadening channel, about 4.5m wide and up to 0.5m deep which is probably the old course of a railway. The rock-cut adit entrance, 2.5m wide, is at an angle to the spoilheap; perhaps it continues the line of the adit beyond the Grand Pipe. Internally the adit is 1.7m high and 0.8m wide.
Just above Farey’s Stage is the top of the Grand Pipe (8), also known as Bill’s Shaft, where traditionally the graphite was first discovered after a storm uprooted an ash tree growing there. The first definite reference to it being worked is in 1594, later than the
Upper Wadhole.
The hole at the top of the pipe is an irregular shape, approximately 8m by 3m at its widest points. Directly below it is a small spoilheap, the top of which is about 7m wide. On the western side of this is what appears to be the remains of a separate smaller spoilheap, on top of which is a roughly rectangular depression 4.2m by 2.6m and 0.4m deep. It is possible that this is where winding gear stood before the Grand Pipe could be accessed from the Old Mens’ Level.
Gill’s Stage (9), like the New Level trial (6), is cut into rock outcrop in the side of Newhouse Gill. The spoilheap is therefore a short distance from where the main adit
comes to the surface along a trackway 2.4m wide, curving around the slope, that is cut out of the rock. The top of the spoilheap is 6.6m by 7.2m; most of the waste material
in it is small but there are some large boulders with shot holes in them in the bottom of the gill.
There are two adits, the first of which is situated 13m from the spoilheap. This may be a trial, referred to by Tyler (1995, 157), made a few years before Gill’s was begun in 1832. Its entrance is 1.6m high and 0.6m wide but the interior immediately broadens out into a cavern that does not extend far beyond the entrance. The second, main adit is a further 7m away from the spoilheap and is clear of debris. Its entrance is 1.3m wide and 1.6m high.
About 30m to the east of Gill’s stage is another, unidentified spoilheap (10) which is relatively small and partly turf-covered. The platform, measuring 9.7m by 3.9m, has a number of stone walls extending from its north-western edge. At the rear of the platform is length of revetment wall, 6m long and 1.3m high. From the south-western edge of the platform a track runs in direction of Gill’s Stage and is also partly revetted. On the north-western tip of the platform are the corners of two buildings standing side by side. The one furthest from the spoilheap measures 7.lm by 3.2m. The walls are 0.6m wide and survive to a maximum height of 1.4m. The corner of the other building is also 3.2m wide. There are two, maybe three wall ends (not surveyed) protruding from the spoilheap above but whether they are part of the same structure is uncertain.
The spoilheap is probably later than 1821; it is not shown on Farey’s plan although the crag just to the north of it, Usher’s Knot, is shown. The spoilheap also overlies the miners’ path shown on the same plan. It may be that as the spoil from Gill’s stage grew it was taken a little further away from the adit and processed there.
Just below the fell wall is Harrison’s Level and minehouse. The adit was cut in 1791 and the guardhouse built to cover the entrance. The sketch and plan drawn by Farey show a two storey building divided into six rooms of equal size, built partly upon a revetted terrace which the adit exits through. The present remains comprise two rectangular rooms on either side of the central adit; there is no trace of dividing walls and it is likely that only the upper storey had six rooms. One corner of the south-western half of the structure is rounded suggesting that it underwent alteration after Farey’s plan was made but apart from this the two sets of evidence match well.
The north-eastern chamber measures 7.4m by 3.8m internally, within walls 0.6m wide and 0.8m high. The south-western room is 4.8m wide but the length is unclear because of the amount of rubble at the front of the building. The adit is no longer open but the entrance is 1.2m wide at the front of the building and 1.2m high.
The revetted terrace in front of the guardhouse survives intermittently; at its best it is 0.8m high but elsewhere it has collapsed into a stony scarp. The yard wall survives to its full length on the north-east side although it is in a very collapsed state; elsewhere the spoilheap has burst through the wall and destroyed it. The single entrance into the yard, 0.8m wide, is clearly visible. The top of the spoilheap is 4.9m by 7.6m.
There are two other adits in the side of Newhouse Gill; one of these is Jopson’s Level
(12) which is cut into a step in the stream bed and was presumably only workable in
high summer. There is some discrepancy in the records as to its origins; Tyler (1995, 96) states that Jopson’s Level was dug some time after 1750 by William Hetherington, a mine steward.
Previous to his employment at the mine, Hetherington had driven an illegal adit into the mine, pretending that he was searching for copper. Boon (1976, 124) also relates the story of Hetherington’s illegal exploits, noting that the land he had driven the ‘copper’ level on was owned by Daniel Jopson. He also sets the date for Hetherington’s appointment as mine steward as 1754.
However, according to annotations on Farey’s plan, Jopson’s Level was an illegal mine level dug-- ostensibly for copper-- which was discovered by William Hetherington in 1750 while driving a separate shaft. The duplication of the two stories suggests that
Farey may confused some of the details.
The other adit (13) is in the side of the stream just below Gill’s stage and is where Thompson’s pipe reaches the surface. The entrance hole is 1.2m in diameter and is in a very awkward position since there is a drop of 1.6m to the stream bed and there is no track approaching it from the hillside. Presumably it was reached from another mine entrance.
About 9m downstream from Thompson’s pipe is a well-built revetment wall across the stream. The wall is 2.6m high and is holding back a large volume of material. The purpose of the wall is unclear but it may have been to protect a trial in the base of the stream below it, which has since become covered.
On the western side of Newhouse Gill is an adit (14) cut into the slope. Most of the entrance has collapsed but some of the interior remains visible through a small hole. Tyler (1995 91, 192) seems to identify this as the remains of William Hetherington’s ‘copper’ level, dug c. 1750 but the confusion over the history of the level makes this identification uncertain.
The remains on Seatoller Common are characterised by numerous small trials as opposed to the major levels dug on the lower slopes. An exception is the site of the Upper Wadhole, where Gorton’s and Woodman’s pipes came to the surface, and which is now marked by a large crater (15). The Upper Wadhole was already deep enough to be recorded as flooded when visited by the Commissioners of the Mines Royal in 1555 and was probably where the graphite was first discovered; it was re-worked repeatedly during the mine’s history.
The Wadhole is 40m by 29m at its widest points and has a large amount of rock outcrop exposed in its sides. At its base, in the centre are some unidentifiable scarps, less than 0.3m high.
Directly below the Upper Wadhole is a large spoilheap (16), which is overlain by a series of much smaller spoilheaps along the side of the Wadhole. The platform is 20m long and 5.2m wide and is 14.lm high. The north-western edge of the spoilheap, adjacent to the gill, is interrupted by a small triangular platform, 2.4m wide maximum. At one side of the smaller platform is an L-shaped section of wall, 3.3m by 1.8m and 0.2m high; any other part of the structure it belonged to has been obscured by tumble. Part of the side of the gill besides the building has been revetted.
Partly overlying the main spoilheap (16) is an another (17), with a top measuring 3.2m by 7.0m. It is 6.2m high and is composed of material of different sizes. Directly above this is a turf-covered finger dump (18) 2.7m long on top and 4.6m high composed of finely crushed material. Overlying this is a low platform (19) 2.lm wide and 1.5m high. There are much larger pieces of waste, about 0.5m across, in the spoilheap above (20) which is 4.4m high.
At the north-western edge of the Wadhole is another spoilheap (21) the main slope of which is interrupted by two minor platforms although its top is 4.8m wide. The spoil has come from an adit measuring 3.0m wide and 1.0m deep with the remains of a stone lining at its mouth. On the eastern side of the adit are the remains of a stone hut up to 0.6m high and not less than 1.4m by 0.9m. The spoilheap and adit partly underlie a later spoilheap (22), 3.4m high and 7.9m wide on top. The spoil from this has apparently come from an adit which survives as a large hollow with a funnel entrance (23) cut into the side of the slope, between 1.7m and 0.65m deep, and 9.7m wide overall. A gully (24), 1.8m wide and 0.7m deep, leads into the Upper Wadhole; it may be the remains of another adit, the spoil from which has been thrown down the slope below. However the gully seems to follow the course of a larger, natural channel and may be evidence of hushing.
An isolated adit and spoilheap (25) are situated on smoother ground to the north-east of the ridge of outcrop. The spoilheap, which is mostly turf-covered is 3.4in wide and 3.7m high and the adit is 4.0m wide and a maximum of 0.9m deep.
The start of an area of intense mining activity is marked by the large spoilheap of Common Stage (26) which was driven in 1811, according to Tyler (1995, 132) with little success. The spoilheap is of irregular shape; at its widest point it is 14.8m wide and it is about 24m long. At the front of the spoilheap the waste material is small (less than 0.15m across) but at the back the deads are up to 0.5m across. The adit, which is straight, measures 1.4m wide and 0.9m high at its mouth where a section of revetment wall survives on either side. On the western side of the adit are the remains of a square stone hut measuring 2.lm by 1.95m internally. The drystone walls are 0.6m thick and survive to a height of 1.lm. There is a single entrance from the adit, 1.2m wide. Parallel with the adit and adjacent to the building is an open rectangular hollow 2.5m wide and 0.8m deep. Its interior is partly stony; it is uncertain whether it represents the remains of another adit or the site of an earlier building.
On the north side of Common Stage is a small trial adit (27) 2.9m wide and 0.85m deep which partly underlies another spoilheap. On the north-western side of the adit is a bank of upcast 0.4m high. The spoilheap is small, 3.0m wide on top and 2.6m high, which suggests a short adit, possibly for drainage purposes.
Also overlain by the same spoilheap as (27) is another very uneven turf-covered spoilheap (28) 4.9m high overall and with three platforms, at different levels, between 7.8m and 4.lm wide. The spoil has come from a curved adit (29) 3.2m wide and a maximum of 1.0m deep, which is still partly open showing a water -filled interior. The adit has a shallow side trench on its northern side, 2.0m wide and 0.4m deep. A number of other adits display a curving or angular shape which is probably the collapsed course of the adit as it winds through the rock.
The circular spoilheap which overlies (27) and (28) (30) is 8.8in wide and 2.5m wide.
Its adit is irregular in shape and measures a maximum of 4.8in wide and 1.2m deep.
There is a small bridge of material blocking off the upper part of the adit where it
changes direction. A ridge of stones near the entrance may be the remains of a stone
revetment wall about 2.0m in length.
On the north-eastern side of the adit are a group of four trial trenches (31). The longest trench is angled and measures 3.0m wide and 0.5m deep. Its edges are quite sharp and well-defined suggesting it is relatively late. The pit at the southern end of the trench is 3.0m by 4.2m and 0.9m deep. The other two short trenches are not more than 0.5m deep.
Adit (32) is slightly angled and contains many medium sized stones. It is 3.lm wide and 0.8m deep. Its spoilheap is turf-covered and measures 4.8m wide on top and is 4.15m high. Its relationship to the adit (26) below it is unclear.
Cut into the natural slope is a trial adit (33), 3.6m wide and 1.15m deep, with a tiny platform of spoil 2.3in wide and 1.2m high. Immediately north-west of this is a larger spoilheap (34) 5.0m wide on top and 3.6in high. There is a slight ditch around its north-western perimeter which has probably been caused by water draining from the accompanying adit. The adit is 3.lm wide and 0.9m deep and is partly overlain by the later spoilheap (35) of an adit following the same course. This spoilheap is 9.7m across and 3.9m high. The adit is 3.9m wide at the front and urn deep. At its north-western end a hollow in the side of the adit suggests that the ground has collapsed over a turn westwards. However, the straight course appears to continue briefly as a shallow trench. On the north-eastern side of the adit are the possible remains of a building; there is a rectangular hollow, 2.Om wide and 0.7m deep filled with rubble with the remains of a wall on the south-western side. Beside the western side of the spoilheap is a separate circular scoop into the slope 3.lm by 2.7m and a maximum of 1.2m deep. It has a lip of spoil at its front 2.7m wide overall.
A relatively large spoilheap (36) extends from the top of the natural slope; it is composed of large stones and is 10.6m wide across the top and 3.5m high. Although the adit is straight its sides are poorly preserved; it is about 4m wide and 1.2m deep. There are four small surface trenches around these workings, which may have been dug to determine the position of the adit. The largest of these is a linear trench on the north-east side of the spoilheap. It is 8.6m long and 2.lm wide and although it is not more than 0.3m deep its sides are very sharply defined. There are three shorter trenches on the south-western side of the adit which are not more than 1m wide and 0.6m deep. A more substantial trench, possibly a trial adit, (37) is 2.7in wide and 0.89m deep.
Thirty metres south of the trial trenches is a circular shaft (38) with a crescent of spoil around its eastern half. The shaft is 4.3m in diameter and 1.4m deep. The spoil is a maximum of 5m wide and 1.0m high. Immediately to the north of this is an adit (39) that is 3.4rn wide and has very regular sides. There is no spoil from it although it is of considerable length so it is possible that it was tipped down the shaft.
Situated in the slack between the two ridges of rock are two other main adits (40, 41). The spoilheap of (40) is 18.5m at its widest and 2.4m high. There is a later deposit of spoil overlying the main platform which is 5.5m wide and 0.4m high. The adit is only slightly curved; it measures 4.2m wide and is 1m deep. The interior of the adit is still visible through a hole at the end. At the foot of the natural slope, beside the front of the adit is a square stone hut consisting of two parallel walls butting against the rock outcrop. Internally it measures 1.1m by 2.15m and the walls survive to a maximum height of 1.5m.
The edge of the other spoilheap, which is 17.7m by 13.1m across the top and 2.6rn high, lies beneath (41). A further deposit of spoil has been left on either side of the platform but these are not more than 0.3m deep. Its accompanying adit is angled and measures 5.0m wide and is 1.1m deep. On the south-west side of the front of the adit is a small bank of spoil, 3.0m wide and 0.5m high.
Tyler (1995, 149) has identified (40) as Moors Stage driven in 1830 and (41) as Higher Stage driven in 1829; clearly this identification is in conflict with the archaeological evidence which shows that the spoilheap of (41) was deposited later than (40). Theoretically it is possible that (41) was driven first but continued being worked after work at (40) had ceased. However, this is also at odds with Tyler’s presentation of the documentary evidence which suggests the need for a second adit because the first was unsuccessful and had been abandoned.
The line of the workings exploited by (41) is continued by another adit and spoilheap (42). The spoilheap is 7.8m by 11.7m on top and is mostly turf-covered. It is 3.0m high and part of the front has collapsed into the adit below. There is a small mound on the corner of the heap, origin unknown, 7.0m by 4.9m and 0.6m high. The adit is angled but has a very uniform profile and measures 3.7m wide and 1.1m deep. On the north-east side of the adit, where it changes direction, is a triangular hollow, 4.1m across at its widest point and 0.3m deep.
Beyond this point all the adits are aligned south-west- north-east. This seems to reflect the topography rather than the geology since all the adits are driven into the natural slopes, across the contour.
At the foot of the natural slope is a large flat spoilheap (43) 15.2m by 11.3m and 4.3m high. Cut into the base of the slope at the rear of the spoilheap is a circular pit, 5.0m by 3.9m and 1.2m deep. There is a small channel leading from it which suggests that it may be the remains of a collapsed adit rather than a shaft but this identification is uncertain.
Overlying the edge of this spoilheap is another (44) which is 8.2m in diameter on top and 1.6m high. The top is covered with a peaty residue draining from the accompanying adit which is 3.lm wide and 0.9m deep.
Immediately to the north is a shaft (45) 3.7m in diameter and 0.8m deep. There is a lip of upcast around the south-eastern half which is 3.9m wide.
A pair of circular hollows (46) each about 0.8m deep and not more than 3.9m in diameter, which lack any sign of spoil, are probably surface collapse into an adit, possibly (42) which is on roughly the correct alignment.
About 25m to the north-east are two adits, one overlying the other. The underlying adit (47) is 3.4m wide and 0.9m high. The spoilheap is 4.3m wide and 1.0 m high although it is possible some of the spoil has sunk into the marshy ground on which it is deposited. The overlying spoilheap (48) appears to have been deliberately deposited towards the old spoilheap; the top is 6.6m by 4.9m and it is 2.7m high. The adit is rather shapeless; at its mouth it is 3.0m wide but it broadens out to about 5.0m. The sides of the adit appear to have had shallow trenches cut into them in three or four places, both linear and square, which have a crisp appearance. There is an external bank on the south side of the adit, 3.0m wide and 0.5m high.
To the south-west, around the natural slope, is a cluster of pits and spoilheaps. The first of these is a pair (49) of small pits which appear to be little more than hopeful surface digging. The south-easternmost of the two is 2m wide and 0.4m deep; the spoil from the hole is deposited by its side. The other pit is half overlain by a spoilheap and is 2.3m wide and 0.6m deep; it has a small amount of spoil around it suggesting it is the remains of a shaft.
The large irregular spoilheap (50) overlying these features is 10.0m wide at its south-western end and is 0.7m high. The origin of the spoil is uncertain but it presumably came from an earlier adit or shaft, covered by other working in the area. On top of the spoilheap is a small stony ridge of spoil 3.4m wide an 0.4m high.
In the centre of the group of features are the remains of a spoilheap (51) at least 9.5m in diameter, which partly overlies (50). Overlying one edge of spoilheaps (50 & 51) is a small mound of spoil (52) 11.4m by 6.lm overall and 0.9m high. The spoil is from a shaft at its north-west edge, 4. in by 2.9m and 0.9m deep. The spoilheap from a large adit (53) cut into the slope also overlies spoilheap (50). The platform is 6.7rn in diameter and 1.6m high. The adit is about 3.7m wide and is 1.5m deep. Its interior is covered with several large boulders up to 1m across. There is a small hollow perpendicular to the main adit at one end. Immediately to the north there is a large shaft (54) cut into the base of the slope, which measures 5.8m across and is 1.6m deep. Above the shaft is a deep hollow 3.4m wide and 0.7m deep; this may simply be due to the removal of earth to prevent it being washed into the shaft. There is a ridge of spoil around the lip of the shaft.
There is a single trial pit (55) on the level ground nearby; it is oval in shape, measures 2.4m by 4.3m and is 0.8m deep. A mound of spoil at its southern end is 0.8m high.
There are two more spoilheaps, side by side, which, like some of the others, have been driven into the slope. One of these (56) has a pair of adjoining spoilheaps; their relationship is unclear. The one directly outside the adit is the smaller and less prominent of the two, measuring 6.0m across and 0.6m high. Although it is turf-covered there are some large stones protruding from the front of it. The other platform does not have an even top but has a ridge running around its outer edge. The spoilheap is 8.4m wide and 0.6m high. The adit is 2.9m wide and between 0.6m and 1.0m deep.
Immediately to the north is another spoilheap (57), 8.0m wide and 1.0m high. The adit is 3.8m wide and 0.9m deep. Adjacent to the adit is a circular scoop into the slope, 2.5m in diameter and 0.7m deep, which may have been a trial.
Adit (58) is 4.9m wide and in deep with a small hole at its far end which drops down into the water-filled interior. At the mouth of the adit is a stone, open-fronted hut about 1.2m by 1.9m internally. The walls are of rubble and are 0.8m wide. The spoilheap is 10.0m across on top and 2.9m high.
To the east is an adit, spoil heap and hut (59) of such similar layout that the two are almost certainly of similar dates. The spoilheap is larger measuring 13.lm by 12m and is 2.8m high. The hut, of the same open fronted design, is 1.3m by 1.4m internally and the walls are a maximum of 0.7m high. The adit is 4.3m wide and about 1m wide.
Hushes and Prospecting Trenches
Although the use of hushing was recommended by the Commissioners of the Mines Royal on their first visit to the Seathwaite in 1555, there appears to be almost no evidence of it on the ground (except possibly (24), above). Nor do there seem to be many substantial prospecting trenches.
On Seatoller Common are two angular trenches (60) on either side of a boss of rock. The north-easternmost trench is cut along a ridge of outcrop. It is about 1.7m wide for most of its length and up to 0.3m deep. Although the trench is continuous it appears to have been dug in sections. On the western side of the rock the other trench takes a more angular route and is 1.6m wide and 0.35m deep; there is some upcast along the edge of the trench.
One of the plans made by Farey c.1818 shows a strip of ground extending from a point about 50m east of Old Men’s Level, up the hill onto the moor which is described as the ‘space trenched in 1814 in search of Flote Wad or Gravel Wad’. Although there is no surface evidence of large scale investigations in this area there are three small hollows which may have been dug at this time. One of these (61) is situated just above the track and is a maximum of 5.5m wide. Thirty metres downslope is a U-shaped hollow (62) below which is scattered some spoil. Where the spoil ends is a bowl-shaped hollow (63) 6m wide, with stone in the bottom.
Other Structures
At the bottom of the fell, beside Seathwaite Beck, are the remains of several structures associated with the last years of the mine. A sawpit, (64) depicted on a map of 1891 based on the Ordnance Survey 25-inch (CR0 Carlisle DX/294/24), still survives. The remains consist of a rectangular platform, 8.8m by 11.5m, cut into the slope. The backscarp is 1.2m high and is stone-free while the front of the platform is revetted by rough stone walling 0.7m high. Both ends of the pit are edged by large boulders and outcrop. There is a low hump in the middle of the platform, 0.3m high. Another section of revetment wall on the north of the pit is unaccompanied by any earthworks.
In 1887, in anticipation of success in Robson’s Level the company built a mill to grind the graphite in order to produce pencils. They also built a smithy to equip the new level. A photograph of the two structures taken shortly after their construction shows the smithy to have been a substantial building although nothing survives today. A relatively level area west of the mill is its probable site but it is not certain. The stone from both buildings was probably robbed to be used for buildings in Seathwaite.
Fortunately a number of earthworks have survived around the mill (65). The only stonework that survives is in the eastern corner of the building; it is below the surface of the rest of the building platform and may have housed some of the gearing mechanism from the wheel. A rectangular chamber is clearly visible, measuring 1.8m by 4.2m internally, within walls 0.6m wide. The walls are well built of dressed stones and survive up to 0.7m high; in the two walls which are parallel with the wheelpit are
a two structural openings, now rubble-filled. On the south-western side of the stonework is the earth platform which would have provided the foundations for the rest of the front of the building; a slight groove in the surface of the platform probably marks the course of the robbed-out building wall. The platform is 2.3m high and is 5.4m wide and 7.5m long. The platform for the rest of the mill (66) has been cut out of the natural slope; it measures 12.2m by 7.5m and the backscarp is 2.5m high. Part of the concrete flooring still survives here. The rest of the ground is rather marshy which is probably the result of water feeding down the partial remains of a narrow channel (67) into the mill from the nearby stream.
The wheelpit, (68) is 19.7m long and 6.4m wide from top to top and is 1.3m deep below the base of the stone remains of the mill building. There is a rough cobble revetment wall 1.8m long on the side adjacent to the mill. Extending from the wheelpit is a small tailrace (69) 1.8m wide, which flows across the lower side of a flat-topped mound, 1.8m high. What the mound represents is uncertain. If the mound is composed of the spoil from the wheelpit it must have been deposited there for a purpose, otherwise it would have been needlessly blocking the obvious course of the tailrace. Possibly it was intended to lift the tailrace a little above the level of the Derwent when full, in order to prevent backwatering. At least 7 iron pins were fixed into boulders or outcrop on either side of the mill; they are probably where the struts for supporting the wheel and the leat were secured. Beside the north-east corner of the wheelpit is a rectangular depression (70) 5.1m by 3m with a possible entrance 0.6m wide in the southern corner.
Trackways
The track which zig-zags its way up to the top of the fell is clearly visible. It would have been used to transport graphite down the hill using packhorses and appears to have been well maintained, parts being stone-revetted. There is also a short section of track on the west side of Robson’s spoilheap.
Slightly different is the peat track (71) which continues up onto the fell to an area of visible peat cutting. It is wider than the other tracks probably because the peat would have been moved on sleds.
Enclosure Walls and Boundary Markers
The main enclosure wall (72) was built in 1837 (Tyler 1995, 160) but it overlies part of a group of earlier enclosures. The intermittent remains of a single enclosure (73-5) survive between Newhouse Gill and the stream to the south-west. Adjoining the wall (73) as it curves around is a smaller stockpen, 7.5m by 5.3m internally. The opposite corner of the enclosure (74) also survives and part of its course is marked by a stony scarp which is overlain by the mine wall; the enclosure survives best away from the later wall probably because some of the stone was robbed for the new structure. The course of the wall continues along the bank of Seathwaite Beck (75) but is partly obscured by the recently constructed levee and at its south-western end is little more than footings.
An enclosure wall (76) of similar form and presumably of similar date extends up the hillside 50m north-east of Newhouse Gill before turning eastwards and gradually petering out just before the Gill. The wall is irregular and contains some large boulders.
Much further up the slope are the discontinuous remains of another wall (77-8). This wall was the upper boundary of an enclosure known as Dickinson’s Bank and is shown on a plan of the mine made by Hetherington in 1759. On the same map the lower part of this enclosure is shown as thickly wooded; today many old pollarded trees still survive showing that originally the lower part of the mine was a woodland pasture. By 1821, however the wall is described by Farey as ruined.
In 1752 five boundary stones were erected to warn trespassers. Only three of these survive one of which is outside the survey area. A replica (79) of one destroyed by vandals is placed near the track into the lower mine; another replica is close to the sawpit. An original slate slab (80), standing 0.75m high, is above the track leading from Gilbert’s Level and although this too has been partly vandalised it reads Iohn Bankes Efquier 1752.
Washfold
There is a washfold (81) beside one of the channels of Sourmilk Gill. The main enclosure is L-shaped and measures 13.3m by 7.8m. The short side facing the gill is
open. The eastern end of the enclosure is subdivided into a smaller pen a further 2.5m
by 5.0m internally. There is an entrance opposite the dividing wall leading to both
enclosures. On the south-west side of the washfold the remains of the washing dub are
represented by a semi-circle of stones through which the stream still flows (Lax, A, 1995).