Roman/Ancient Mines! Request for sites· Page 2

caver1
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4 years ago

A hoard of Roman coins was found in a shaft at Engine Vein, Alderly Edge. This suggests the mines were open during this period. Bronze age workings are also recorded from there.
The mines at Ecton may also have been active. The PDMHS have an ingot of lead in the museum from the Peak dated to the Roman period

BertyBasset
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4 years ago

#22

Coflein has parts of Bwlch y Plwm as being possibly Roman, most likely top of the hill, and indeed there is a Roman Level. And Bick states that an old smelting hearth and large lump of lead was discovered on the hill in 1850.

Speaking of which, it's a bit odd that 'Old Copper Mines of NW' has such a fleeting mention of BYP due to it being lead and not copper. Surely it has a greater affinity to the Snowdonia copper mines than to the mid and north Wales lead mining areas.

staffordshirechina
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4 years ago

#23

"pwhole" wrote:
What baffles me is that in some mines in Spain the Romans had installed vertical-lift systems of interlinked water-wheels powered by slaves the drain their mines upwards, and yet in Derbyshire it seems they were barely capable of working an opencut in open countryside.

In Spain they were after precious metals to fund Rome. The quantities mined were huge. There are smelting slag tips containing millions of tons from the Roman period.
I suspect the richer mines deserved the best technology?
Also, the host rock in Spain is softer than Derbyshire limestone.

droid
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4 years ago

#24

Charterhouse on Mendip has scant Roman lead workings, along with traces of contemporary buildings.

Down and beyond
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4 years ago

#25

Grins graves is said to be over 5000 years old might be of interest.

https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/places/grimes-graves-prehistoric-flint-mine/

From the land of the pillar and stall

poosticker83
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4 years ago

#26

Roman Lead ingots were discovered by nighthawking metal detectorists on a little known roman fort site in the Derwent valley, NW Durham. The ancient lead/silver mines of the Muggleswick area (healeyfield/silvertongues/etc )lie close by, but, no evidence has ever surfaced of roman activity in the known mines. The ingots were tested and they were definately from the local area, how local however, could not be determined.

Damned if you do, and damned if you don''''''''t.

gingerarchaeology
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4 years ago

#27

Thank you everyone for replying!
I will be going through this, this weekend as there are a number of new sites you have mentioned. If there is anything else then please continue to add it here or PM me.

Palaeolithic Archaeologist & Port Expert

CMKeighley
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4 years ago

#28

There was at least one Roman ingot of lead found on Greenhow Hill, Yorkshire where there are known lead mines but no evidence of any of Roman working. Two Roman ingots of lead were found at Brough near Hull, these were of Derbyshire origin. At least one was on display in one of the Hull Museums a few years ago.

CMKeighley
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4 years ago

#29

There was at least one Roman ingot of lead found on Greenhow Hill, Yorkshire where there are known lead mines but no evidence of any of Roman working. Two Roman ingots of lead were found at Brough near Hull, these were of Derbyshire origin. At least one was on display in one of the Hull Museums a few years ago. It seems likely to me that Roman lead workings would have been from the surface along veins and later working would have destroyed or covered any evidence. Good luck with your project.

pringledude
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4 years ago

#30

Not sure if this is of use but it's an interesting read nonetheless:

https://willswales1.wordpress.com/lost-roman-pigs/

I go mine exploring as it's easier than doing housework...

pwhole
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4 years ago

#31

"staffordshirechina" wrote:

In Spain they were after precious metals to fund Rome. The quantities mined were huge. There are smelting slag tips containing millions of tons from the Roman period.
I suspect the richer mines deserved the best technology?
Also, the host rock in Spain is softer than Derbyshire limestone.

I hadn't thought about the rock hardness, but that would indeed make a massive difference in implementation. And I guess the climate helped a little ;)

I remembered where I'd read all about this - Lynn Willies' excellent article on Rio Tinto in the PDMHS Bulletin from 1997:

https://pdmhs.co.uk/MiningHistory/Bulletin%2013-3%20-%20Roman%20Mining%20at%20Rio%20Tinto,%20Huelva,%20Spain.pdf

staffordshirechina
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4 years ago

#32

Yes, Rio Tinto was (is?) quite a place. It's a shame that the stuff we explored in 1981 has now been quarried away. Even when we we exploring, we had to evacuate each day whilst the quarry did their blasting.
PDMHS were invited to help with the exploration because of a connection with the British Museum created when we recovered the Wills Founder engine and pumps and built the Matlock Bath Museum.
We were told that there were a large number of shafts that needed exploring and could we do it?
We travelled all the way to Rio Tinto pulling a petrol winch and headgear with all our shaft gear.
Unfortunately, the BM's folk didn't know the difference between a shaft and a level...
The winch spent the whole month parked up and was never used!

unity99
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4 years ago

#33

One of the mines at Draethen in south Wales was found to have shards of roman pottery and evidence of counterfeiting roman coins. Details in Caving Report 15, Bristol Exploration club

https://bec-cave.org.uk/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=555:caving-report-15-roman-mine-draethen-glamorganshire&catid=58&lang=en&Itemid=558

johnwin
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4 years ago

#34

There's also Long Rake on Halkyn Mountain, a series of open cuts said to be Roman.