INDUSTRIES 



a cost of 6s. a fathom, with an additional 6d. for 

 some extra. Finchale too owned a mine at 

 Lumley in 1348-9, and in their inventory for 

 1354 figure two coal-picks and two wedges of 

 iron [yegesferris)}^ Their most important venture 

 however was at Softley. This repaid them well 

 from about 1362 right on into the next century, 

 yielding a steady annual rent of ^d ly. 4</. 

 The Vavasours possessed a mine at Cockfield 

 before 1375, and a colliery was being worked at 

 Evenwood^'* in 1383-4, and probably earlier. 



The amount of material available for the his- 

 tory of the Durham coal-mines during the fif- 

 teenth century is so abundant that a rigorous 

 selection is necessary, and all that can be done 

 here is to supplement with a few particulars, 

 hitherto unpublished, the valuable account fur- 

 nished by Mr. R. L. Galloway in his Annah of 

 Coal Mining. That writer emphasizes the im- 

 portance of the lease of South Durham mines, 

 described as the 'mines of coal and of iron ore 

 under the coal ' in ' Raby, Caldehirst, Hertkeld, 

 Hethereclough, otherwise Tollawe and Wol- 

 lawes,' and in the barony of Evenwood, first 

 granted to Ralf de Eure, and renewed in 1424 to 

 William de Eure for a term of nine years at a 

 rent of ^112 135. i^d. per annum,^^ and later 

 still renewed to him and other parties on many 

 occasions with certain variations and intermis- 

 sions. In all probability this lease '° put an end 

 to the profitable working of the Finchale mine at 

 Softley and affected adversely other mining specu- 

 lations on a small scale in southern Durham. 



From the chief forester's account '^ for the 

 years 1-2 Bishop Neville (about 1440) we obtain 

 a clear idea of the considerable part played by the 

 episcopal coal-mines in the economy of the Pala- 

 tinate. As to the farm of ^^ 1 1 2 1 3^. \d. due 

 from the mines of Raby, Caldehirst, and Hethere- 

 clough, the account makes no return, because 

 this was rendered by Thomas Buk,'^ appruator 

 earundem miner arum. He does however return 

 a sum of 405. received from the lessees of coal- 

 mines at Chester with ' Les Scamelyng.' Nothing 

 was forthcoming from the farm of the coal- 

 mine of Cholden, which usually amounted to 

 £b 135. 4(/., because it was in the lord's hands 



" Priory of Finchale (Surtees See. vi), xxxi. 



"^ Galloway, op. cit. i, 54. 



''^ Dur. Curs. No. 38, m. 20 d. 



'" Galloway, op. cit. 72. 



" Eccl. Com. Mins. Accts. 190030. From the 

 patent as chief forester granted in 1377 to Thomas 

 Lumley, knt., we understand that amongst his duties 

 were ' auxi que par la suvieu de nostre seneschall de 

 Duresme pour le temps esteant le dit monsieur Thomas 

 lesse les groues desmynes du charbons et les forces en 

 tout lieus dans sa dite garde,' and that he should 

 render account thereof; Dur. Curs. No. 145. 



^* He had been appointed to the ' bankmanship ' of 

 the coal mines of Raliiield and Harecrosfield by Bishop 

 Neville soon after his accession to the see ; Dur. Curs. 

 No. 42, m. 5. 



in default of a tenant. But from a coal-mine at 

 Ryton 26s. 8d. was received, no doubt the value 

 of a licence to work the mineral there with which 

 the rector of Ryton was in some way connected. 

 No return was made of the farm of the Whick- 

 ham mines, usually ^^26 1 35. ^d., because that 

 pertained to the accounts of the constable of 

 Durham. Nothing was returned from Even- 

 wood, 'quia nullus puteus ibidem existit.' From 

 Robert Hall, lessee of a mine at Ivestone, which 

 was wont to return 385. ^^d., and a new mine 

 near Newbigging and Ivestone, which should 

 return 13J. ^.d., a sum of 26s. 8d. was received. 

 The mine at Kimblesworth, which used to 

 produce 20s. a year, was utterly ruined [omnino 

 vastatur) and yielded nothing. Nothing again 

 had been received from the mine at Stanleyburn 

 in Chester ward, which used to pay 2s. 6d. a year. 

 Nor from the mine at Burnhousden, which used to 

 pay 3J. ^.d., but now in default of a tenant in the 

 lord's hands. Similarly the coal-mine of Middle- 

 wood with the quarry of ' Bakstaneford ' lay 

 * waste ' in the lord's hand, as also the coal-mines 

 of Frankeleyn, Benfeldsyd, and Conkeburn. The 

 Gateshead mines produced a farm of ;^66 1 35. 4.d., 

 but they were not included in the chief forester's 

 account since they were managed by a special 

 officer (appruator), William Askeby. At Wolley- 

 hill mine, which used to return 26s. 8(3'., there 

 was no lessee, and in consequence it was in the 

 lord's hands. But 20s. had been received of 

 Thomas Claxton in respect to a new coal-mine 

 opened up at Camehill. 



From this account it is clear that the mines of 

 Whickham and Gateshead in the north, and the 

 mines of Raby (Raly?), Hethereclough, and Calde- 

 hirst in the south of the county were immensely 

 more valuable than any others, and it is probable 

 that the success of their working and the great- 

 ness of their output daunted mining speculators. 

 This may account for the number of mines in 

 the hands of the bishop for which apparently no 

 tenants could be found. The religious houses, 

 however, and doubtless private landowners, still 

 worked coal-pits for their own use whenever 

 they could profitably do so, a good example being 

 the mine of Moorhouse Close, which about 

 1457-8 yielded the monks of Finchale ;^I0 a 

 year, besides eighty chaldrons of coal supplied to 

 the monastery. This mine was worked by them 

 right up to the date of the dissolution of their 

 house, and deserves special remembrance in the 

 history of the coal-mines of Durham, as it is here 

 that we first hear of coal being got under the 

 level of free drainage,'' since in 1486-7 the 

 monks spent £() i^s. 6d. on the new ordinance 

 of the pump, which was no doubt worked by 

 horse-power. 



'' Galloway, op. cit. i, 71. Much later, in 1544, 

 £10 was the contract price ' pro factura uniusle horse 

 pompe pro extracione aque de puteis de Raynton ' ; 

 Dur. Acct. R. 722. 



323 



