Reasons for Designation
The mining of graphite was similar in technology to that of other non-ferrous
minerals, except that the scattered and irregular nature of the mineral pipes
necessitated an unusual amount of driving of levels and shafts through very
hard country rock. Ore processing was limited to the removal of any adhering
stone and sorting of lumps by size. Due to the commercial value of graphite
this was performed in a guarded room in the mine guardhouse during the 19th
century.
Graphite in its pure form is carbon, less highly structured than diamond and
composed of weakly bonded atomic layers. It is greasy to the touch which is
due to tiny flakes or platelets rubbing off. These retain their crystalline
structure and impart a metallic lustre to the deposit. Pure graphite can be
machined, cut with a knife and sharpened to a point.
The working of graphite deposits is thought to have been well established by
the mid-13th century in central Europe. Over the next four centuries deposits
were being exploited in New England, the East Indies, Spain, Mexico and many
other places, but nowhere in the world have such large quantities of graphite
of the purity of that mined at Borrowdale ever been found. For many years
after its first discovery Borrowdale graphite was used for marking sheep, but
gradually its properties began to be recognised and for a short period it
found favour as a medicine for easing the pain of colic, gallstones and
strangury when ground and mixed with wine or ale. Its main functions, however,
saw it being used as an industrial lubricant, as a lubricant on ship's
rigging, as a separating layer between iron moulds and castings, for polishing
and protecting ironware, for glazing earthenware pots, and for the manufacture
of pencils. The Borrowdale graphite mine increased in importance as demand
grew, and the price of high quality graphite increasing from 18 pounds per ton
in 1646 to 3920 pounds in 1804. This price rise led to considerable problems
of theft,thus in 1752 an Act of Parliament was passed making unlawful entry
into a graphite mine a crime. In about 1800 guardhouses began to be
constructed over the entrance to mines and access into the level or shaft was
by a trap door in the floor of the guardhouse. Graphite dressers worked in the
guardhouse watched by a steward with two loaded blunderbusses and all miners
were searched after work. From the early 17th century onwards the mine was
deliberately worked for short periods only, at intervals of several years, in
order to maintain the high price of the material of which it was a monopoly
supplier. Exhaustion of the mining deposits led to abandonment of the mine
towards the end of the 19th century.
Borrowdale graphite mine is unique in being the sole representative of the
graphite mining industry in England. Documentary sources indicate that it was
worked periodically from the mid-16th to the late 19th centuries and the
mine's longevity raises the potential for comparisons of native and Germanic
mining technologies either side of 1607. Additionally the guardhouses have no
known parallels in other mining industries and thus illustrate the lengths the
mine owners went to in order to protect their monopoly.
Details
The monument includes Borrowdale graphite mines together with the remains of
all associated features including a grinding mill, sawpit, guardhouses, spoil
heaps, trackways and three boundary stones. It is located at the south western
end of Borrowdale valley, above the hamlet of Seathwaite, on the north western
side of the valley. The remains extend from the bottom of the valley to the
top of the fellside and onto the moorland plateau of Seathwaite Common.
The earliest date when graphite - also known as wad, plumbago, black-lead and
calkstone - began to be mined here is unknown, however, there is indirect
evidence to show that graphite was being extracted at the beginning of the
16th century and possibly even at the beginning of the 15th century. The
earliest documentary sources for mining here are dated 1540-1 and refer to the
profit from a mine of calkstone. After a visit by Commissioners of the Company
of Mines Royal in 1555 the mining rights were leased out to a succession of
different people including, in 1607, the Hochstetter brothers, German mining
experts whose family had been involved in the Keswick copper mines for a
number of years. In 1613 James I sold land in Borrowdale including the mines.
The mines then became two separate entities consisting of the Upper and
Lower Wadholes. From the outset the mines were worked sporadically; after a
large find of graphite the mine would be closed for a number of years in order
to keep the market price high. Such was the profit to be made from graphite
that armed attacks on the mine by robbers became a problem which resulted, in
1752, of the pasing of an act in Parliament making the stealing of graphite a
felony. Expansion of the mines continued throughout the 18th and the first
half of the 19th centuries but as the graphite gradually became worked out
extraction declined and the mines were eventually abandoned in 1891.
The remains are described in spatial order from the valley floor upwards.
At NY23341226 there are the earthwork remains of a grinding mill built in 1887
to grind the graphite in order to produce pencil lead. These remains consist
of a building platform which has been partially cut out of the natural slope.
Stonework representing the eastern corner of the mill still survives as does
part of the mill's concrete floor flagging. Adjacent is the mill's wheelpit
with a cobble revetment wall on the side flanking the mill. A tail race runs
40m from the wheelpit to the River Derwent. Photographs taken shortly after
the mill was built show a smithy adjacent to the mill. A relatively flat
area west of the mill is considered to have been the site of this structure.
At NY23411230 are the earthwork remains of a sawpit depicted on a map of 1891.
The remains consist of a rectangular platform measuring 8.8m by 11.5m cut
into the slope and revetted at the front by stone walling. Both ends of the
sawpit are edged by large boulders and a rock outcrop. Another section of
revetment wall lies a short distance north of the sawpit.
Robson's Level is situated at NY23301238 and is the latest level driven in the
mine. It was started in 1845 as a drainage adit but did not join up with any
other levels before the mines were abandoned. The spoilheap has a
finger-shaped platform on its summit and a map of 1868 shows that material
from the mine was brought out by railway. At the north west end of the
spoilheap are the remains of a stone-built mineshop or guardhouse. This was
the last of several permanently-manned guardhouses at the mine which were
constructed to prevent thieves gaining access to the mine and to allow miners
to be searched upon leaving the mine. A photograph taken in about 1888 shows
the guardhouse to have been a two-storey stone-built construction with a
slate-covered gabled roof. The building covered the mine entrance and had a
three-sided unroofed structure abutting its southern corner. A short distance
north of the adit are the remains of a water blast shaft constructed to aid
ventilation of Robson's Level.
Gilbert's Stage is located at NY23301260. This adit has the largest spoil heap
of all the graphite mines here. The adit was driven in 1798 and two years
later a two-storey guardhouse was built around its entrance. Documentary
sources indicate that in an attempt to increase security all graphite from
whatever level was brought to the surface at Gilbert's Level, thus accounting
for the large spoilheap. On the summit of the spoilheap there is exposed red
staining considered to be the rusted remains of a railway depicted on a plan
of 1821. The surviving walls of the guardhouse still stand up to 2.1m high and
there are traces of a smithy at the front of the building on the south west
side of the adit.
At NY23241265 there is a spoil heap on the summit of which is a corner of
walling which survives to foundation level only. This spoilheap is thought to
have been associated with Old Men's East Level, an adit marked on the plan of
1821 but now largely covered by spoil from above.
At NY23211266 are the remains of Old Men's Level, one of the earliest workings
driven in 1619. It consists of a spoil heap now largely covered with spoil
from a higher level. Fragmentary remains of a peat storage house still
survive. Forty metres to the west is New Level trial adit and spoilheap cut
into the side of Newhouse Gill and considered to date to around the early to
mid-19th century.
At NY23171269 is Farey's Stage, an adit driven in 1819. The substantial spoil
heap has an eroded central channel which represents the course of an old
railway. Just above Farey's Stage is Bill's Shaft, documented as being worked
in 1594. There are two adjacent small spoilheaps, one of which has a
rectangular depression thought to mark the location of winding gear used to
hoist ore up the shaft.
At NY23101272 is Gill's Stage adit and spoilheap. The main adit is cut into
rock outcrop in the side of Newhouse Gill, a trial adit lies nearby. About 30m
to the east there is an unidentified spoilheap which has a number of stone
walls extending from its edge and traces of two buildings.
At NY23101276 is Harrison's Level and minehouse. The adit was cut in 1791 and
the guardhouse built to cover the entrance. Plans show the structure to have
been two-storey with six rooms. The present remains consist of two rooms
either side of the central adit. A revetted terrace in front of the guardhouse
survives intermittently as does a yard wall which has been partly destroyed by
an adjacent spoilheap. Nearby in Newhouse Gill are other workings consisting
of Jopson's Level, an adit cut into the stream bed about the middle of the
18th century, Thompson's Pipe, an adit cut into the side of the gill just
below Gill's Stage, and an unnamed adit cut into the slope of the west side of
the gill.
The remains on Seatoller Common are characterised by a mass of small trials as
opposed to the major levels dug on the lower slopes. An exception is the large
crater of Upper Wadhole at NY23041282, thought to be the spot where graphite
was first discovered and later recorded as flooded in 1555. Upper Wadhole was
worked repeatedly throughout the mine's history and is surrounded by a complex
of spoilheaps and trails. The workings continue in a north westerly direction
for a further 350m and include Common Stage, driven in 1811, Moor's Stage and
Higher Stage, each surrounded by an array of shafts, trials, adits,
prospecting trenches and spoilheaps.
In 1752 five boundary stones were erected to warn trespassers and three of
these are included within the scheduling. One has been placed in the track
leading to Robson's Level and is a modern replica of the original which was
destroyed by vandals, another replica is close to the sawpit, while an
original slate slab 0.75m high stands above the track leading from Gilbert's
Stage.
All modern walls, fencepost, gateposts and the surface of the walker's path
along the side of the River Derwent are excluded from the scheduling,
althought the ground beneath all these features is included.
MAP EXTRACT
The site of the monument is shown on the attached map extract.
