HISTORY OF STAFFORDSHIRE. 241 



conjure up a host of demons in illustration of the supposed enor- 

 mities of the Druids, but to sober reason the whole appears an ab- 

 surd fiction. 



Ecton-hill is in this parish, near the village of Warnslow. This 

 hill is remarkable for its productive mines of lead and copper, and 

 is upon the estate of the Duke of Devonshire. It was first wrought 

 by the Earl of Devonshire, in the seventeenth century, and after- 

 wards by Sir Richard Fleetwood, and some Dutchmen. But it 

 proved unprofitable, arid copper from Sweden was imported at a 

 lower price than it could be produced here. 



In 1720, the hill was again examined by a Cornish miner, a 

 company was established, a lease of the mine obtained from the 

 Duke of Devonshire, and 0613,000. expended before any returns 

 could be realized. Some of the company then sold their shares at 

 a great loss, but the remainder persevered in their researches, and 

 on sinking a shaft of two hundred yards deep they discovered a 

 rich vein of copper ore, which repaid their expenditure, and enabled 

 them to acquire considerable profits before the expiration of their 

 lease. It then reverted to the lord of the manor, and in the year 

 1789 it produced from eight to ten thousand pounds, clear of all 

 expences. 



It is asserted that the ore annnally obtained in the Ecton mines 

 is productive of one hundred and ninety tons of pure copper ! How 

 far this statement is accurate has not been ascertained, but such a 

 produce is in itself an ample revenue. 



Ecton-hill is about 230 yards high, and the diameter of its base 

 half a mile. The entrance to the mine is at the base, near the bank 

 of the Manifold. From this spot a passage is made 400 yards in 

 length, and about six feet high, into the centre of the hill, strongly 

 walled on each side. In the centre there is a large cavity, by 

 which there is a passage to the summit of the hill, with a lodgment 

 of timber for receiving the raised ore. From this place it is con- 

 veyed on small four-wheel carriages, which run in grooves, by boys 

 of twelve or fourteen years of age. 



The immense mass of copper ore with which this hill abounds, 

 does not lie in regular strata, but is found in a perpendicular direc- 

 tion, widening towards the lower end. About seventy miners are 

 constantly employed here, night and day, and relieved every six 

 hours by a fresh set, so that the total number of men is nearly 300, 

 besides a considerable number of boys. 



When the copper ore is brought from the mine to the bank of the 



9H 



