ABSTRACT

The Alston Moor area is criss-crossed with numerous veins of lead ore, some of which carry high values of silver. The origin of mining in the area is not known: the earliest documentary reference dates from the earliest surviving Pipe Roll by which time the mines were known as 'the silver mines of Carlisle' and were worked largely for silver for the royal mints. It appears that later medieval mining was largely for lead, though the Crown retained control due to the silver output. Inevitably the lead veins were worked repeatedly over the centuries and Browngill was no exception. Finds of early coins suggest that it was one of the 'silver mines of Carlisle' but it is not possible to say which of the surviving features date from this period of exploitation. At Browngill, and along the rake, is an impressive, series of bell pits, rake workings, open-cut excavations and spoil heaps of hand washing debris.