history of alston...
Alston Moor was occupied by the Romans who worked opencast lead mines here. Whitley Castle, just outside Alston, was not only a garrison fort on the Maiden Way from Kirkby Thore (near Appleby) to Carvoran (on Hadrian's Wall), but also guarded the mineral deposits of the area. Early settlers on Alston Moor scratched a living by raising a few sheep, cattle, pigs and chickens and growing hardy crops (potatoes, oats and turnips). Over time, parts of the barren moorland were converted into productive farmland through drainage and the application of lime and copious quantities of manure.
But farming alone wasn't enough to survive on and many householders supplemented their income through mining. Life on these upland hills was unremittingly hard and many tombstones tell of premature deaths, poverty and a high infant mortality rate.
Alston Moor is honeycombed with old mine workings. Lead, silver and zinc were mined from c. 1350, with copper, barytes and fluorspar also extracted. In the early days, miners would follow an ore vein by sinking bell pits at intervals. These vertical shafts opened into a chamber where the ore was mined, but once the roof became unsafe the pit was abandoned and another opened up further down the ore vein.
A common method of prospecting for minerals was by hushing. A dam would be constructed at the head of a valley and once sufficient water had accumulated, the dam was breached to release a torrent of water that would tear down the valley, stripping away the surface soil and exposing mineral veins. A valley could be repeatedly dammed and hushed, creating an overdeepened notch on the fellside - one of the best known being Dowgang Hush, near Nenthead (easily viewed from the road to Garrigill).
The harsh conditions and difficult access engendered a strong community spirit, underpinned by Non-Conformist beliefs. John Wesley preached at Alston's market cross in 1748 and 1770 and there are numerous Methodist, Quaker and Congregational chapels dotted all over Alston Moor. The difficulties of access created close-knit, self-sufficient communities bonded by the common interests of mining, farming and religion.
In 1753 the Quaker-owned London Lead Company took over the mining rights and began to expand production. The underground workings were extended, the smelt mill was developed and more efficient working practices were introduced. The company had a socially responsible attitude to their workforce and in 1828, designed and built Nenthead, the first purpose built industrial village in England, with housing and a wide range of welfare facilities including compulsory schooling for children and Britain's first free-lending library. Land was provided for smallholdings and miners were encouraged to cultivate these plots to supplement their diet. These small field enclosures remain as distinctive features of the area.
Nenthead became the main centre of lead mining in the North Pennines - some 300,000 tons of lead were extracted from the mines in the area. Water was essential to many of the processes, whether crushing stone, sorting the lead ore from the ‘gangue' (waste rock) or powering bellows, leading to the construction of water races and reservoirs to feed the waterwheels. Pockets of woodlands were also planted to provide timber for pit props. Ponies were used extensively to pull loaded wagons out of the mines and to transport ‘pigs' of refined lead away from Alston Moor. An eyewitness account of 1859 records:
‘the village of Nenthead ... makes no secret of its vocation, for huge mounds of refuse, tramways, wagons, heap of ore, implements scattered about and a sturdy population proclaim that it lives by the mines.'
In the mid-19th century, the population of Alston Moor was five times what it is now. However, by the 1880s, overseas competition and the falling price of lead set in a permanent decline (although zinc mining continued for a while longer), with many miners seeking a new life in North America. The lead mines eventually closed in the early 1960s, but the legacy of mining life on Alston Moor can be seen at Nenthead Mine Heritage Centre.
In 1852, the Alston branch of the Carlisle to Newcastle railway opened and prospered for around 120 years, carrying lead ore, coal and other minerals from the mines. The line closed in 1976, and parts of the track are now occupied by the narrow-gauge railway of the South Tynedale Railway.
Pack-ponies were the main means of transport until John Macadam ‘metalled' the old packhorse route over Hartside and into Teesdale in the early 19th century. The new road was engineered with a constant gradient to make it easier for horse-drawn coaches to ascend. Now known as the A689 trunk road, the route was recently listed by the Automobile Association as one of the ten best drives in the world.
Did you know?
Lead used to be weighed in bings and fothers. A bing was equal to about 400 kg and a fother was just over a tonne. Hudgill Burn mine near Nenthead, once the richest lead mine in the country, brought out 12,000 bings in one year.
