[List-Cumbria] Carlisle Patriot, 05 Oct 1822 - Black-lead Mine in Borrowdale (2)

[Petra Mitchinson]

Saturday 05 Oct 1822   (p. 4, col. 3-4)

 

BLACK-LEAD MINE IN BORROWDALE. 

(From the Lonsdale Magazine.) 

 

[continued] 

 

Bishop NICHOLSON, who visited the mine in 1710, says, in a letter to Dr. WOODWARD, that, "on opening the old level in that year
great discouragements appeared for no search having been made in thirty-two years, they found that some pilfering interlopers had
carried it on till they had lost it in the rock; but after a few days trial a new belly was happily discovered before the forehead
of the Old Man, which proved so rich, that in less than twenty-four hours they had filled several sacks with fine and clean washed
mineral." An old level, which was re-opened in 1769, was found to have been driven through this very hard rock, without the help of
gunpowder, and a kind of pipe vein which had produced a great quantity of wad, having been pursued to the depth of one hundred yards
and upwards, much inconvenience was experienced in working it; to obviate which, in 1798, an adit, or level, was begun in the side
of the hill, which at the length of 220 yards communicates with the bottom of the former sinking, since which time the workings have
been carried on internally thro' various ramifications; a survey of which has lately been made by Mr. FAREY. Through this principal
level the water now passes off, and the produce and rubbish is brought out upon a rail way in a small waggon; and over its mouth a
house is built, where, when the mine is open, the overseers dwell, and the workmen are undressed and examined as they pass through
it on leaving their work. 

 

The great value of this mineral, and the facilities afforded for disposing of it in the state in which it is taken from the mine,
being strong temptations to thieving, great precaution is taken to keep the workmen from pilfering, which has sometimes been
scarcely sufficient; and even those appointed to overlook them have not always escaped suspicion; yet, it is but justice to the
present manager, Mr. Wm. DIXON, to state, that for upwards of fifty years that he has been employed, he has always sustained an
unimpeachable character. 

 

To prevent the depredations of intruders, it has sometimes been necessary to keep a strong guard upon the place; and for its better
protection, an Act of Parliament was passed, 25th Geo. 2d. cap. 10th, by which an unlawful entering of any mine, or wadhole of wad,
or black-cawke, commonly called black-lead, or unlawfully taking, or carrying away any wad, &c. from thence, as also the buying or
receiving the same, knowing it to be unlawfully taken, is made felony. In the preamble to this Act, it is stated to be "necessary
for divers useful purposes, and more particularly in the casting of bomb shells, round shot, and cannon balls;" however, its use in
cleaning and glossing cast iron work, such as stoves, grates, &c. is now well known to every housemaid. 

 

Being capable of enduring a great heat without fusing, or cracking, it is used in the manufacture of crucibles; and its excellence
in diminishing friction in wooden screws, and other machinery, makes it become an ingredient in several anti-attrition compositions;
but effects have been formerly attributed to it in dying and medicine which were perhaps only imaginary. Yet its principal use is in
pencils, for which Keswick has long been famed; and in their manufactory great improvements have lately been made; but, though in
the vicinity of the mine, the pencil-makers are obliged to purchase all their black-lead in London, as the proprietors will not
permit any to be sold until it has first been lodged in their own warehouse. It has generally been used without any previous
preparation, being only cut with a saw to the scantlings required, and thus enclosed in a suitable casing of cedar wood; but as it
varies greatly in quality, both as to purity and hardness, considerable skill is requisite in the choosing and assorting it,
according to the different purposes for which the pencil is intended; and being generally too soft for some purposes, a method of
hardening it had long been a desideratum, and this has at length been accomplished, by which means it may be enabled to bear a much
finer and more durable point, but its colour will be somewhat deteriorated. 

 

Great quantities of pencils are now made of a composition, formed of the saw dust and pieces of black-lead, too small to be used in
the common way, which being ground to an impalpable powder, is then mixed with something to cause it to co-here; for this purpose
different substances are employed, some of them make a very inferior kind of pencil; but others under proper management, and being
consolidated by a strong pressure, make a pencil to answer for some purposes (especially when the writing is intended to be
permanent) full as well as the best black-lead. 

 

The specific gravity of the best wad, or black-lead, is, to that of water, as two to one nearly: the coarser kind is heavier in
proportion, as it contains more stony matter. It comes from the mine in pieces of irregular form, and of various sizes, requiring no
process to prepare it for the market, further than freeing the pieces from any stoney or extraneous matter which may adhere to them;
it is then assorted according to the different degrees of purity and size, and thus packed in casks to be sent off to the warehouse
in London, where it is exposed to sale only on the first Monday in every month. 

 

In the year 1803, after a tedious search, one of the largest bellies was fallen in with, which produced five hundred casks, weighing
about one hundred and a quarter each, and worth thirty shillings a pound, or upwards; besides a greater quantity of inferior sorts;
and since that time several smaller sops have been met with, but at present it is very unproductive. 

 

By an account published in 1804, the stock then on hand was valued at £54,000; and the annual consumption was stated to be about
£3500; since that time the consumption must have greatly increased; and this mine, which 200 years ago was valued at fifteen
shillings and four-pence, was, during the operation of the late property tax, estimated at £2,500 a-year.—Keswick, July 23, 1822.
JONA. OTLEY 

 

 

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