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1614, the said William Whitmore and Jonas Verdon, sold and
conveyed unto Sir Wilfred Lawson, of Isle, Knight, and several
others therein named to the number of thirty-six, chiefly
inhabitants of Borrowdale, 'all the said manor of Borrowdale,
with the appurtenances of what nature or kind soever,
excepted and reserved unto the said William
Whitmore and Jonas Verdon, their heirs and assigns, all those
wad-holes, and wad, commonly called black-cawke, within the
commons of Seatoller, or elsewhere within the commons and wastes
of the manor of Borrowdale aforesaid, with liberty to dig, work,
and carry the same, and other their appurtenances whatsoever.' In
consequence of which reservation the wad or black-lead mine has
been ever since held distinct from other royalties of the said
manor, one moiety thereof now belongs to Henry Bankes, Esq. the
other half being subdivided into several shares.
This mine is situated about nine miles from Keswick, near the
head of the valley of Borrowdale, in the steep side of a
mountain, facing towards the south-east, and has been opened at
different places where the wad had probably appeared on the
surface: the rock in which it occurs is called by Mr. Bakewell, a
grey felspar porphry (sic); near the mine it becomes of a darker
colour, as containing more iron, the joints being lined with a
ferruginous clayey matter: it is intersected in various
directions by strings, or small rake veins, containing in some
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