Hi again,
Here are one or two Web extracts :

The Levett family is if Norman descent and one of the oldest in Sussex. (Hollington).
Ancient english deeds refer to many lands across Sussex as 'Levetts', indicating family possession of broad swathes of Sussex countryside. (Catsfield Levett, 3 miles from the Hastings battlefield).
The family were Clergy and ironmasters.

Were they iron ore mine owners too?
D.Send.

H.Cleere & D.Crossley "The iron industry of the Weald", 2nd ed, Cardiff, 1995, covers the industry from prehistoric times; the Levett family seem only to be mentioned from the C16 onward; the term "Levitts" does not appear to be noted. This is based on a check of the index only.

Taking note of the above, I suggest you contact the Wealden Iron Research Group with your enquiry.

Hi,
The de Ferrers possessed important markets at Tutbury and Bere Ferrers which serviced the local mining industries after the mines became royal.
Is there any evidence for this with the Levetts, Baskervilles or Curzons in the Pennines, the Weald, the forest of Dean or Wales?
Many thanks for the useful links provided so far!
D.Send.

Hi,
Lead & iron ware have been found at Sheffield on the former estates of Henry de Ferrers.
Were there lead or iron mines in the area?

There was also gypsum mined at Chellaston, property of henry de Ferrers. Was this used for foundry-work?

There is also a record of local people hiding in coal mines when William the Conqueror's army came to Tutbury. Coal was used by ironworks as of the 13thC at least... Did the de Ferrers run the coal mines?

Any information concerning the De Ferrers descendants, mining & metallurgy interests me.

D.Send.

I'm not aware of any coal mines in the vicinity of Tutbury?

Be aware that in past times, "coal" meant "charcoal" and "colliers" were charcoal burners. Hence there is a Colliers Wood near Wimbledon, but no coal mines.

Lead would have come from the mines in the Peak District; given the large amounts of timber used for the bole smelting process there was a tendency to take the ore to the fuel rather than the other way around; for this reason you tend to find bole sites on the moors west of Sheffield/Chesterfield where there were plentiful supplies in the valleys and windy hilltops to site the furnaces.

Iron was certainly smelted around Sheffield in medieval times, there's a lot of slag from bloomery furnaces in Wharncliffe Woods and other sites.

As for gypsum, this would not have been used for foundry work in this period - cast iron did not come into use in this country until the late 15th century, IIRC. It would have been mined/quarried in its ornamental form, alabaster before this date.

Coal was not really used in ironworks until the 18th century, it was used for smithing as an alternative to charcoal but not for smelting until the Darbys perfected the use of coke in a blast furnace. I'm not sure about coal mining around Tutbury without checking a geological map but there certainly aren't significant deposits in the area.

---

Hi Larker,
Thanks for your reply.
The coal mines statement originates from :
www.helenlee.co.uk/tutbury/concise5.html
It could be that the search engine has linked two unlinked references...? This is the bane of web searching...no access to sources...
Regards,
D.Send.

Have a look at
http://mapapps2.bgs.ac.uk/coalauthority/home.html 
You will need to zoom in to the Tutbury area and then select the appropriate data layers when they cease to be greyed out (in the box on the right hand side of the map).
The nearest coal fields appear to be Cannock Chase to the south, the Swadlincote area east of Burton-on-Trent, to the Nottinghamshire / Derbyshire coalfield to the north east and the Churnet Valley to the north west.

Hi Larker,
Thanks for your reply.
The coal mines statement originates from :
www.helenlee.co.uk/tutbury/concise5.html
It could be that the search engine has linked two unlinked references...? This is the bane of web searching...no access to sources...
Regards,
D.Send.

Having looked at that statement I'd treat it with a great deal of caution - an unreferenced assertion on a website is not a reliable source of information....

---

Read in a different way, the reference could be to the Celts living in Needwood forest, did this forest stretch to the coalfield?

---

The coal mines statement originates from :
www.helenlee.co.uk/tutbury/concise5.html
It could be that the search engine has linked two unlinked references...? This is the bane of web searching...no access to sources...

The reference there, though from a history of Tutbury, only refers to coal mines in Needwood Forest. Like all of the old forests Needwood used to be a lot bigger, seemingly stretching right down to the fringes of the CA reporting area.

So possibly the reference is correct in itself, but just doesn't refer to Tutbury. I suspect it's included as a good story ;D

[edit: pipped to the post by exspelio!]

Hi,
www-users.aston.ac.uk/~poynerdr/st_misc.htm :
... these early workings would have been shallow operations from prototype opencast coal sites, bell pits, inclined tunnels (footrails) and shallow shafts.

Although there may be no explicit references, I assume that coal was quarried in the time of Henry de Ferrers... the opposite would take quite some explaining...

But the previously mentioned source would suggest that some reference exists.
Regards,
D.Send.

Hi Folks,
Here is the web reference to an Anglo-Norman 'de Ferrers' having lead mines :

"The Dictionary of National Biography, Volumes 1-20,22 Record for Robert de Ferrers shows that in 1130 Robert de Ferrers was found as leasing the lead mines in Wirksworth.

How long did this family stay in mining in the area?

Regards,
D. Send

Hi,
After 1066, Henry de Ferrers worked an ironstone in Normandy called 'GRISON', for the first time, building churches with it, as well as possibly using it as ore.
It is possibly a word derived from the old english mining word 'GREISEN', from anglo-saxon Greissen > to split.
Greisen also gives english GRIT, GRIST , (Welsh and Breton grist > christ !)
Could this be a term from the Forest of Dean iron mines?
English monks certainly influenced Norman thought. Anyone have any information on this?
D.Send

I'm far from convinced by that etymology, given the French for grey is "gris" - applying Occam's razor makes that far more likely to by the origin of "Grison".

---

Hi,
French GRIS means grey, but the GRISON breccia is always dark red-brown. The breccia iron-oxide cement also exist in the from of grit or gravel.
English GREISEN is ponounced GRISON in french.
Saxon GREIS, GREISS; GREISSEN and derivatives means to split and also has the sense of grit or gravel. French GRES (sandstone) has also the same root. So does the english word GRIST too.
Grison was only used as ore until 1066, when its solid fractions were thereater used as a building stone, mainly for building Norman churches, where none had existed previously.
This was precisely the moment when Henry de Ferrers, an ironmaster Baron became aquainted with english mining techniques. And when English monks such as Orderic Vital were sent to Normandy.
In the de Ferrers mining area of Normandy, there was no other hard building stone available, and buildings were made from timber, wattle and daub, with some flint.
The Anglo-Normans built the fortified town of Verneuil mainly using grison, so the coincidence is very revealing.
GREISENS are common in Devon, where the village of Birland (Bere Ferrers) was a major mining centre.
Devon & Cornwall miners spoke anglo-saxon and kernow dialect...
Miners frequently travelled between Bohemia, the Harz and Devon, exchanging vocabulary as techniques improved, as they were considered freemen, with their own systems to regulate their trade.

Hi,
French GRIS means grey, but the GRISON breccia is always dark red-brown. The breccia iron-oxide cement also exist in the from of grit or gravel.
English GREISEN is ponounced GRISON in french.
Saxon GREIS, GREISS; GREISSEN and derivatives means to split and also has the sense of grit or gravel. French GRES (sandstone) has also the same root. So does the english word GRIST too.
Grison was only used as ore until 1066, when its solid fractions were thereater used as a building stone, mainly for building Norman churches, where none had existed previously.
This was precisely the moment when Henry de Ferrers, an ironmaster Baron became aquainted with english mining techniques. And when English monks such as Orderic Vital were sent to Normandy.
In the de Ferrers mining area of Normandy, there was no other hard building stone available, and buildings were made from timber, wattle and daub, with some flint.
The Anglo-Normans built the fortified town of Verneuil mainly using grison, so the coincidence is very revealing.
GREISENS are common in Devon, where the village of Birland (Bere Ferrers) was a major mining centre.
Devon & Cornwall miners spoke anglo-saxon and kernow dialect...
Miners frequently travelled between Bohemia, the Harz and Devon, exchanging vocabulary as techniques improved, as they were considered freemen, with their own systems to regulate their trade.

Ive never heard if bere ferrers referred to as a major mining center.... In fact most of the mines are in Bere Alston if in not mistaken?

Hi,
Bere Ferrers had important silver & lead mines which were taken under Royal control. Attempts to reopen them failed when the main lode, which runs under the tamar estuary was flooded by seawater. Bere Alston became an important Borough market and mining town, but mining in medieval times was mainly at Bere Ferrers.
A de Ferrers also controlled derbyshire silver-lead mines, so the family had much influence. More silver had to be imported from Saxony to supply the economy...
Meanwhile the de Ferrière (de Ferrers) family increased its control on Norman iron mining...
Look up 'Henry de Ferrers' on Wikipedia for general information.
D.Send.

Hi,
Bere Ferrers had important silver & lead mines which were taken under Royal control. Attempts to reopen them failed when the main lode, which runs under the tamar estuary was flooded by seawater. Bere Alston became an important Borough market and mining town, but mining in medieval times was mainly at Bere Ferrers.
A de Ferrers also controlled derbyshire silver-lead mines, so the family had much influence. More silver had to be imported from Saxony to supply the economy...
Meanwhile the de Ferrière (de Ferrers) family increased its control on Norman iron mining...
Look up 'Henry de Ferrers' on Wikipedia for general information.
D.Send.

Hi D (David?)

I am intrigued, I believe the mines taken over by the crown were Wh Genys (Jenny), Ward mine, Butspill mine/Tamar Valley, all of which are on the bere peninsula, just outside of Bere Alston....

Bere Alston is the major settlement within the parish and manor of Bere Ferrers and is closely associated with the opening up of the mines in the late thirteenth century. Although not mentioned by name until the 1330s, it was probably the site of the Wednesday market granted by charter in 1295.

So although it is in the parish of Bere Ferrers, the mines are actually situated closer to Bere Alston.

I think periods are getting confused, South Tamar wasnt flooded until 1856?

Jamie