MINING IN A MEDIEVAL LANDSCAPE
THE ROYAL SILVER MINES OF THE TAMAR VALLEY
By Stephen Rippon, Peter Claughton & Chris Smart
This book explores an industry that was of profound importance both in terms of the local economy and the history of mining in the U.K.: the late-medieval royal silver mines at Bere Ferres in the Tamar Valley on the Cornwall/Devon border.
Just to the north of Bere Ferrers lies Bere Alston, probably the first purpose-built mining in Britain, along with the remarkable engineering feat that was the ten mile long leat supplying the water to power the pumps that drained the mines.
The Bere Ferrers silver mines employed up to 400 men in the area, mining on a scale and at depths not previously possible, and changed forever the way that mining was carried out in medieval Britain.
This book is a pioneering study of the history and archaeology of the fascinating and little-known part of Cornwall's industrial heritage.
Softcover, new--published 2009, 7x10, 207 pages, black & white photos, illustrations, maps, $29.00
