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Alston Moor
civil parish:-   Alston Moor (formerly Cumberland)
county:-   Cumbria
locality type:-   area
coordinates:-   NY73454281 (etc etc) 
1Km square:-   NY7342
10Km square:-   NY74

evidence:-   old map:- OS County Series (Cmd 42 1) 
placename:-  Alston Moor
source data:-   Maps, County Series maps of Great Britain, scales 6 and 25 inches to 1 mile, published by the Ordnance Survey, Southampton, Hampshire, from about 1863 to 1948.

evidence:-   old map:- Cooper 1808
placename:-  Aldston Moor
source data:-   Map, uncoloured engraving, Cumberland, scale about 10.5 miles to 1 inch, drawn and engraved by Cooper, published by R Phillips, Bridge Street, Blackfriars, London, 1808.
image  click to enlarge
COP3.jpg
"Aldston Moor"
area 
item:-  JandMN : 86
Image © see bottom of page

evidence:-   old text:- Gents Mag
item:-  lead minemine
source data:-   Magazine, The Gentleman's Magazine or Monthly Intelligencer or Historical Chronicle, published by Edward Cave under the pseudonym Sylvanus Urban, and by other publishers, London, monthly from 1731 to 1922.
image G852B396, button  goto source
Gentleman's Magazine 1852 part 2 p.396 
antiquarian meeting:-  "..."
"Mr. Thomas Sopwith, of Newcastle, read a paper on the Lead Mines of the North of England, arranging his notices under the separate heads of a description of the districts in which the principal mines are situated, of notices of the various charters under which lead mines were worked in the early periods of English history, and the gradual stages by which successive improvements were introduced. The Romans occupied the lead mines at Alston Moor, and one of the most perfect of their stations now remaining is at Whitley, three miles north of Alston. There could be no doubt that they exercised, during their occupation of our mining districts for three or four centuries, the knowledge which they possessed of the metallurgic arts. Caesar, indeed, expressly mentioned as one of his reasons for invading Britain, the assistance which the inhabitants rendered to the Gauls from their treasures. The terms upon which mining operations were permitted by the lords of the soil at various periods form a curious class of records. In 1426 Henry VI. granted to John Duke of Bedford "all mines of gold and silver within his kingdom of England for ten years, paying the tenth part to the holy church, to the king the fifteenth, and to the lord of the soil the twentieth part." One of the prominent features illustrated by Mr. Sopwith was the former abundance of wood in the mountainous districts, which are now almost treeless, and the rapid removal of which was owing to the vast quantities of fuel required by the miners. The several rates of duty under which the mines were held, and other conditions, were noticed, and a general view was taken of the introduction of successive improvements connected with the lead mines of Northumberland and the adjacent counties. The paper was illustrated by diagrams, showing the produce of the mines at different periods, and by tables of detailed statements relating to mining statistics. Mr. Sopwith adverted, in conclusion, to the paucity of mining records of past times, and the value of them in connexion with mining interests."
"..."

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