INDUSTRIES 



was 100 marks, though the rent returned by 

 him in 1159 was 100 pounds, a sum paid by 

 his successor, William son of Holdegar, for 

 some years. In 1165 the management of 

 the mine reverted to William son of Erem- 

 bald. This lessee began to show signs of 

 insolvency in 1 172, and the arrears continued 

 to accumulate till they were over 2,000 in 

 1179. Soon after the mine passed to other 

 hands, but the debt was carried on from year 

 to year, according to a well known custom at 

 the Exchequer, in the sheriffs' rolls of Cum- 

 berland and Northumberland for over a cen- 

 tury. Consignments of lead were despatched 

 from this mine by the king's writ to various 

 places; to Windsor in 1167 for the king's 

 house; fifty-five cartloads in 1168 to the 

 sheriff of Northumberland for transport to 

 Caen ; to Grandmont in 1 176 for the use of 

 the abbey ; and 100 cartloads in 1 179 for the 

 building of the church of Clairvaux. Gifts 

 of this sort from the royal mine might be 

 multiplied to any extent. The king gave 

 orders for the supply of silver or lead as 

 occasion required. He had his mint and 

 exchequer at Carlisle, and transacted his busi- 

 ness through his local officers. 1 



The importance of the mine of Alston 

 may be estimated in some measure by the 

 letters of protection issued at various times for 

 the protection of the miners and the liberties 

 conferred upon them as a community. In 

 1222 the king's miners of Cumberland had 

 letters of protection till Henry III. came of 

 age, and in the following year a similar favour 

 was bestowed on the miners of Yorkshire and 

 Northumberland who were regarded as within 

 the bailiwick of the county of Cumberland. 2 



1 In n 64 William the moneyer rendered ac- 

 count of 200 for the mines of Carlisle (Pipe R. 

 Cumb. 10 Hen. II). In quittance of the rent of 

 a house at Carlisle which the justices delivered to 

 Nicholas the assayer for the carrying on of his 

 business (prolabore suo) $s. (ibid. 33 Hen. II). The 

 king ordered bishop Walter in 1231 that he should 

 cause to be made out of the money (de denariis) in 

 his custody viii scutellas argenteas, each dish of four 

 marks weight, and viii salsaria argentea, each of 

 one mark weight, and have them forwarded to York 

 (Close 1 5 Hen. III. m. 2). For the constitution 

 of the mint of Carlisle and the names of the officers 

 in 1242, see Red Book of the Exchequer (Rolls Ser.), 

 iii. 1078. 



' Pat. 6 Hen. III. m. 2 ; ibid. 7 Hen. III. m. 5. 

 There is no doubt that the original mine was in 

 Cumberland. In 1163 William son of Holdegar 

 rendered account for the mine of Carlisle and the 

 mine of Yorkshire (Pipe R. 9 Hen. II.), and in 

 1 1 66 two mines are scheduled under the title of 

 the mine of Carlisle (ibid. 1 2 Hen. II.). It is 

 probable that all the royal mines in the northern 



Several letters ot a similar character were 

 issued during the reign of Henry III. In 

 1234 and 1235 royal mandates signified that 

 the miners of Alston should enjoy the privi- 

 leges and immunities which the miners in 

 times past were accustomed to have, and be 

 allowed to dig and mine without molestation ; 

 merchants were also obliged to repair to the 

 mine with victuals for the sustentation of the 

 miners. 3 



Among the presentments made in 12789 

 before the justices itinerant at their special 

 session in ' Aldenestone,' it was stated that the 

 king should receive each ninth ' disc ' dug up 

 by the miners, and each ' disc ' should contain 

 as much ore as a man could lift from the 

 ground. As to the remaining eight ' discs ' the 

 king should have the fifteenth penny of all 

 the ore sold, but that the king should find at 

 his own expense for the miners a certain man 

 called a ' drivere,' who knew how to separate 

 silver from lead. The jury on being asked 

 the value of the mine replied that it depended 

 on the nature of the ore they found, good or 

 bad, but that there was ore enough of one 

 sort and another to last till the end of time.* 

 The justices of the same assize found that 

 very many evil-doers from Cumberland and 

 elsewhere were harboured by the miners. By 

 all accounts the little community at Alston 

 was composed of a troublesome class of people. 

 As early as 1170 the men of William the 

 moneyer were amerced for a misdemeanor. 5 



The first designation of the liberties en- 

 joyed by the miners of Alston that we have 

 met with is contained in the well known 

 record of 1290 quoted by Coke 6 from the 

 Plea Rolls. From this it would appear that 

 the miners had the privilege of cutting down 

 wood, to whomsoever it belonged, nearest and 

 most convenient to the silver vein they 

 happened to find, and to take as much of such 

 wood as they pleased for the roasting and 

 smelting of the ore. The further liberty was 

 claimed of preventing the owners from cutting 

 wood till the needs of the mines were satisfied. 

 In fact the miners did as they pleased with 

 the woods in the vicinity of Alston on the 



counties at this date were reckoned as within the 

 bailiwick of Cumberland. 



" Pat. 1 8 Hen. III. m. 7 ; ibid. 20 Hen. III. 

 m. 13 ; ibid. 21 Hen. III. m. 10. These three 

 rolls have been printed in full by Hodgson (Hist, of 

 Northumb. vol. iii. pt. 2, p. 467). 



4 Cat. of Doc. Scot. (Scot. Rec. Pub.), ii. 41, 

 quoting the Assize R. of 6-20 Edw. I. 



Pipe R. (Cumb.) 16 Hen. II. 



6 Institutes, ii. 578 ; Nicolson and Burn, Hist, of 

 Westmld. and Cumb. ii. 440 ; Hodgson, Hist, of 

 Northumb. vol. iii. pt. 2, pp. 47-8. 



339 



