Monument record MDR7514 - Lead smelt mill, Linacre Wood, Lower Linacre Reservoir Dam, Brampton
Type and Period (4)
- SMELT MILL (documented 1596 to 1613, Elizabethan to Jacobean - 1596 AD to 1613 AD (throughout))
- DAM (Post Medieval - 1540 AD to 1900 AD)
- TAIL RACE (Post Medieval - 1540 AD to 1900 AD)
- WHEEL PIT (Post Medieval - 1540 AD to 1900 AD)
Protected Status/Designation
Full Description
Brampton: Linacre Over, SK33907245. The first firm reference to Linacre Over Mill is when James and Gilbert Linacre leased the Over lead-mill to Thomas Burton of Cartledge for five years in 1596. As James Linacre had been accused in 1584 of infringing Humfrey's lead-smelting patent, one of the Linacre smelting-mills is likely to have been in use before then. In 1604 a lease of Over Mill was renewed by Gilbert Linacre to Roger Newton and William Stafford, both of Bakewell, for 21 years. The final reference to the mill is from 1613 when Richard Wild of Great Longstone was bound to deliver three pieces of lead to Robert White at Linacre Mill. The site is marked by a dam crossing the valley in the wood east of the modern reservoir dam; it is cut by the stream at the northern end. The position of the wheel-pit is clear towards the southern end, aligned with a channel across the dam and with the tail-race, whose exit to the stream is obvious. There are scatters of bricks and roofing stones on either side of the wheel-pit, and dumps of slag to the north-east. (1)
Scheduled. Early example of an ore hearth lead smelt mill, surviving as earthworks in woodland on the south side of Linacre Brook. At the west end is an earthwork dam - 3m high - running north-south across the valley floor. An overflow spillway is visible at the south end. The smelt mill wheelpit is visible as a hollow east of the southern end of the dam. The site of the smelt mill itself survives as an area of flat ground immediately north of the wheelpit, with a scatter of building debris. Slag tips extend east from the building platform, on the north side of a tail race (4m wide, 2m deep) running east from the wheelpit to Linacre Brook. The site was first documented in 1596 and last documented in 1613. (2)
The Over Lead Milne is mentioned in documents of 1596 and 1602. It was still operating in 1613 but does not appear to be shown on William Senior's map of Linacre drawn in 1630, so presumably had gone out of use by this time. Surviving features were sketch plotted in 1994 as part of a wider archaeological assessment of the area around Linacre Reservoir. (3)
Site monitoring was carried out in 2002. A number of mature trees and young samplings grow on the earthworks and mill which may cause some structural damage, other than that the site seems stable. (4)
Sources/Archives (4)
- <1> SDR19452 Article in serial: Crossley, D & Kiernan, D. 1992. 'The lead-smelting mills of Derbyshire', Derbyshire Archaeological Journal. Vol. 112, pp 6-47.
- <2> SDR18161 Scheduling record: English Heritage. 1996. Scheduling Notification. 24980. Cat. No.: 378.
- <3> SDR19884 Unpublished document: Garton, D & Brown, J. 1995. An Archaeological Assessment of the Land-holding around Linacre Reservoir.
- <4> SDR23472 Unpublished document: McGuire, S & Hughes, J (HAS). 2002. Hunter Archaeological Society scheduled ancient monument monitoring: Lead Smelt Mill in Linacre Wood.
Map
Location
| Grid reference | Centred SK 3399 7248 (67m by 63m) (Centre) |
|---|---|
| Civil Parish | BRAMPTON, NORTH EAST DERBYSHIRE, DERBYSHIRE |
Related Monuments/Buildings (0)
Related Events/Activities (2)
- EDR2290
- EDR3957
Please contact the HER for details.
External Links (0)
Record last edited
Jun 1 2015 11:13AM