THE ANNUAL EXCURSION. 235 



the stone from the enormous pit, and preparing it for use. The 

 machinery of various kinds was seen vigorously at work, lifting 

 and conveying, cutting and planing, splitting and sizing. Some 

 very interesting fossils were also shewn. A.fterwards the 

 company were invited to partake of refreshments, and specially 

 appreciated the kindness of their entertainers, after the cold 

 ride of the morning. 



The following concise account of the quarries was prepared 

 by Mr. C. Bainbridge Rendle for the occasion : — 



The old Delabole Slate Quarries, which have this day been 

 visited by you — the members of the two learned societies, 

 the Royal Institution of Cornwall and the Boyal Cornwall 

 Polytechnic Society — have an especial claim to interest the 

 antiquary as being probably among the oldest slate quarries 

 in Grreat Britain still in active operation, for while it is said 

 that the quarries of Lord Penrhyn, in North Wales, were first 

 worked in the time of Queen Elizabeth, there are many old 

 mural tablets in the neighbouring churchyards, of honest 

 Delabole slate dating back to an earlier period in the 16th 

 century, and Carew, writing in the year 1602, of the Delabole 

 roofing slate, describes it thus : — " In substance thinne, in colour 

 faire, waight light, in lasting strong, and generally carrieth so 

 good regard as (beside the supply for home provision), great 

 store is yearly conveyed by shipping both to other parts of this 

 realm and also beyond the seas into Brittannie andNetherland." 

 Borlase, writing in 1758 of the slate from these quarries, says: 

 "that for its lightness and enduring of weather it is generally 

 preferred to any slates in Great Britain," and describes the 

 great quarry as at this time 300 yards long and 100 yards wide 

 and 80 yards deep, observing " that all the slate is carried with 

 no small danger on men's backs, which are guarded from the 

 weight by a leather cushion." This system of wurking was 

 still in vogue in the early part of this century, until the improved 

 haulage of a one-horse whim and windlass superseded this 

 primitive mode, and this again gave place to steam power, 

 which was introduced about forty-five years since. 



In those days these quarries belonged to several owners, who 

 worked their beds of slate rock as deeply as they were able, 

 and as they worked out one part, tilled it in with rubble, or 



