CONTENTS PAGE

Details of events, research and work in progess in the field of mining history and archaeology.

• About this site.
• Current Research
• South-West of England
• Wales
• Other Areas
• Conferences
• Resources for Mining History Research
• General Information

ABOUT THIS SITE

• Information on the site.
• Details of the author.
• 'Whats New!'
• Feedback.

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CURRENT RESEARCH

• Silver mining in England and Wales, late medieval and early modern periods - a synopsis of current work.

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SOUTH-WEST ENGLAND

• North Devon
  1. North Devon and Exmoor - Methodology for mining history research; identifying and maintaining the integrity of a fragile mining landscape - available as a Word file.
  2. Exmoor Iron: a historical perspective A presentation to the Archaeology Department Seminar, 21 November 2002.
  3. Exmoor's Industrial Archaeology; a new book covering mining in the National Park area of North Devon and West Somerset.
  4. A List of Mines in North Devon
  5. Anthracite workings
  6. Iron at Georgeham; Spreacombe and the Cleveland Mine.
  7. Gold at North Molton and the surviving evidence to be found on the Bampfylde Mine site, Devon.
  8. 16th / 17th lead-silver smelting at Combe Martin and the evidence for the possible use of coal. A poster presentation made to the 'Metallurgy - a touchstone for cross-cultural interaction' conference at the British Museum 28-30 April 2005 - available as a pdf file.
  9. Coal, Ore and Metals: Coastal Mining Landscapes a paper on the relationship between pre-industrial mining and its coastal location - covering coal in Pembrokshire and metalliferous mining in North Devon - published as part of the COST A27 Action 'Landmarks'.

• South Devon
  1. The medieval silver mines at Bere Ferrers
  2. Les mines du roi anglais en Devon - a presentation given at the University of Toulouse, December 2009, as part of a PICS exchange programme - en francaise - available here as a PDF.
  3. The Lumburn Leat - evidence for new pumping technology at Bere Ferrers in the 15th century.
  4. The Tamar Smelting Works at Weirquay, Bere Ferrers - a unique survival of a 19th lead/silver smelting works.
  5. The distribution and relative size of settlements in Bere Ferrers parish. An analysis of a late 15th century itinerary to provide information on the settlement pattern in relation to mining.
  6. Silver Mining and the English Crown: direct management and leasing of the Devon mines - a paper orginally presented to the International Mining History Congress held at the University of Guanajuato, Mexico, in 1998 and amended in the light of subsequent research. The paper formed the core of a presentation to the Institute of Historical Research Late Medieval Seminar at the University of London, 10 March 2006. Available as a Word document.
  7. The Bere Ferrers Project and the discovery of the Roman fort at Calstock - the search for evidence of early 14th century smelting activity, using geophysical techniques, revealed not only smelting but a hitherto unknown fort under and around the parish church at Calstock. Subsequent evaluation work then revealed that the smelting site was first century AD in date, contemporary with the fort. The story of its discovery was published in Tamar, the journal of the Friends of Morwellham, Issue 30 (2008) - this link will take you to that article in PDF format.

• West Somerset
  1. A List of Mines in West Somerset
  2. Eisen Hill and the Germans Were miners from central Europe involved in iron mining at Winsford?

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WALES

• Pembrokeshire
  1. A List of Mines in Pembrokeshire and adjoining parts of Carmarthenshire and Ceredigion.
  2. Llanfyrnach Silver-Lead Mine, near Crymych.
  3. Greenhill Ochre Mine, Haverfordwest.
  4. The charcoal fired blast furnace at Canaston / Blackpool Mill.
  5. Recent conservation work at the Kilgetty Ironworks, near Stepaside, Pembrokeshire.
  6. Rosebush and Bellstone Slate Quarries - description and brief history of the quarries, posted for the benefit of the Welsh Mines Society field meet 20/21 June 2003.
  7. Slate Quarrying in and around Maenclochog- a series of posters prepared for the Maenclochog Heritage display in 2010 - Poster 1 PDF - Poster 2 PDF - Poster 3 PDF - Poster 4 PDF - Poster 5 PDF - Poster 6 PDF
  8. Coal, Ore and Metals: Coastal Mining Landscapes a paper on the relationship between pre-industrial mining and its coastal location - covering coal in Pembrokshire and metalliferous mining in North Devon - published as part of the COST A27 Action 'Landmarks'.

• Carmarthenshire
  1. Carmarthen United; An example of undercapitalisation in a mid 19th century lead venture.
  2. Ogofau Gold Mine; brief account of the site, prepared for the Welsh Mines Society field meet 10-11 June 2000.
  3. Carmarthen Smelting House; a late 18th century lead smelter.

• Ceredigion
  1. Cwmystwyth Mine; response of the Welsh Mines Society to proposed safety work.
  2. Mining Landscapes; A response to the Ceredigion Unitary Development Plan on behalf of the Welsh Mines Society.
  3. The Llanddewibrefi mines; a brief outline of their history, prepared for the Welsh Mines Society field meet 10-11 June 2000.

• See also -
  1. The link to Dave Linton's site documenting the Merioneth Manganese mines.

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OTHER AREAS

1. The Bordley Township Project: Aspects of Human Impact on a Landscape in Craven includes the development of a relative chronology for lead working - © 2012 Council for British Archaeology: Yorkshire Group and Peter Claughton. All Rights Reserved. CBA Yorkshire
2. Production and economic impact: Northern Pennine (English) silver in the 12th century, a paper orginally presented to the 6th Internation Mining History Congress, Akabira, Japan, September 2003 - available as a Word file.
3. "New techniques, new sources: The British steel industry and its ore supply, 1850-1950", published in the Proceedings of the 1st International Conference of Paleosiderurgy, (Donostia / San Sebastian, Spain, 2005) pp. 277-290, and available as a Word file. This is a statistically based overview; the prelude to a study of iron mining and quarrying in Britain, which might be expanded as part of a continuing research programme.
4. Dillwyn et le traitement du zinc argentifère de Bretagne - Dillwyn and Co., of Swansea, and the treatment of argentiferous zinc ores from Britanny in the second half of the 19th century (in French) - a paper given to the annual meeting of SAFEMM, the French society for the archaeology of mining and metallurgy, in 2005
5. Sources of silver in the 10th century - an unpublished paper presented to the VIKINGS'97 conference in Tavistock in 1997.

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FORTHCOMING CONFERENCES

See also the Société Archéologique Française pour l'Etude des Mines et de la Métallurgie (SAFEMM) listing of forthcoming conferences in France - go to the SAFEMM website and select "Actualités".

• Mining Legacies - the NAMHO conference for 2013 - to be held at Aberystwyth, 28 June to 1 July. An advanced notice and call for papers can be downloaded as a PDF.
• Provisional dates - late October to early November 2013 - "30 Years of Research" - celebrating 30 years of work by the Société Archéologique Française pour l'Etude des Mines et de la Métallurgie (SAFEMM) - postponed from this year - venue will be L'Argentière la Bessée (Hautes-Alpes), close to the Italian-French border - a quite spectacular venue.
• International Mining History Congress (IMHC) 2014 - tentatively 8-14 July - Charters Towers, Queensland, Australia - details as available - Circular No. 2

Return to the mining-history list pages at JISCmail if you came to the conference listing from that site.

REPORTS ON PAST CONFERENCES

• VIKINGS '97 - An Exploration of the Viking and Saxon World of 10th Century Devon and Cornwall. A conference held at Kelly College, Tavistock, Devon. 11th - 13th April, 1997. Information on the papers presented.
• Mine Heritage and Tourism - A Hidden Resource, November 3-6, 1999, Nenagh. Report. The proceedings of the conference have recently, Spring 2003, been re-published by the Mining Heritage Trust of Ireland.
• The application of water power in mining - NAMHO 2002 - Cymhwyso nerth dwr at fwyngloddio - The National Association of Mining History Organisations (NAMHO) conference held at the University of Wales, Aberystwyth, 5-8 July 2002.
• Bickfest: The Lodes of History - a conference held to celebrate the work of the late David Bick - the papers presented at that conference and a follow up conference in 2010 were published by the Welsh Mines Society - go to http://www.welshmines.org/ for more information.
• The Eight International Mining History Congress, held in Redruth (Cornwall) in June 2009 - selected papers from that Congress have been published by the Cornwall and West Devon Mining World Heritage Office in co-operation with the University of Stirling - click here for the flyer as a PDF.

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RESOURCES FOR MINING HISTORY RESEARCH

• A BRIEF GUIDE TO PRIMARY SOURCES FOR MINING HISTORY - originally published in the National Association of Mining History Organisations (NAMHO) Mining Heritage Guide (3rd edn, July 2000).
• PRINTED PRIMARY SOURCES - location listings for the principal printed primary sources for mining history (statistical sources and mining periodicals).
• MINING JOURNAL 1860 - an index of British and Irish mines and mining companies listed in the Mining Journal for 1860.
• MINING HISTORY AND THE INTERNET - Text of a presentation made to the NAMHO'99 conference in the Forest of Dean, 24-27 September 1999.
• THE MINING HISTORY NOTICE BOARD - queries and requests for information on mines and mining history in general. The noticboard is open for all to use - details at the top of the noticeboard page.
• THE MINING HISTORY NETWORK - Information on all aspects of international mining history and links to numerous sites across the world.
• THE MINING-HISTORY LIST - An e-mail discussion list covering all aspects of mining related to British and Irish sites.
• HELIX An image resource for mining historians in higher education.
• THE STONE MINING AND QUARRYING BIBLIOGRAPHY

GENERAL INFORMATION

• LINKS TO OTHER MINING HISTORY RELATED SITES