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WEARDALE
Wildlife includes an important population of Black Grouse along with the more usual upland birds. Sea-trout and salmon run the River Wear. Adders are sometimes encountered on the moors. The flora is not as remarkable as that of neighbouring Teesdale, but in season is beautiful enough: some species-rich meadows remain, and the wood cranesbill (Geranium sylvaticum) and meadow cranesbill (G. pratense) are easy to spot in summer while the mountain pansy (Viola lutea) is a characteristic plant of the shorter grass round the upper dale. The tiny but beautiful spring sandwort (Minuartia verna) may be seen around old lead workings, enabled by its high tolerance of lead to colonise ground where contamination inhibits other species. History: Past occupation or activity by man is attested by evidence such as the Heatheryburn Bronze Age collection of gold and other objects, now in the British Museum; altars placed by Roman officers who took hunting trips out from forts in present-day County Durham; and the use from Norman times onwards of "Frosterley Marble", a black fossiliferous layer of limestone occurring near that village, as an ornamental material in Durham Cathedral and many other churches and public buildings.
The dale's principal settlements include the small towns of Stanhope and Wolsingham These appear to have existed as Anglo-Saxon settlements before 1066 and the Norman Conquest. The Normans extended farming in this part of the dale, and later in the Middle Ages the upper dale was cleared for "vaccaries" - farms for pasturing cattle. The Bishops of Durham owned the mineral rights: the Church retained these throughout the effective life of the lead industry, miners and companies being lessees.
In the c18 John Wesley visited the dale on a number of occasions and
the valley became a Methodist stronghold. High House Chapel near
Ireshopeburn has been claimed to be the Methodist chapel with the longest
history of continuous use in the world, and contains the Weardale Museum
(not to be confused with the Lead Mining Museum at Killhope) which
includes a room devoted to Methodist and Wesley memorabilia. The Weardale Museum is the home of the Weardale Tapestry depicting life in the Wear Valley through the ages. www.weardalemuseum.co.uk/ As a youth between the World Wars the poet W.H. Auden walked amid the wild countryside and the relics of the lead mining industry in and around Weardale and found these a lifelong source of inspiration. One place he visited, Rookhope is also the setting of a ballad called "The Rookhope Ryde" which describes in some detail how in 1569 Weardale men drove out a party of cattle-raiders who had come down from the Roman Wall area . Among contemporary works, Helen Cannam's "The Last Ballad" is a lively historical novel set in the dale in the early 1800s. Lead Mining: Weardale was historically important for lead mining
and there is a lead mining museum incorporating the preserved Park Level
Mine at Killhope (pronounced "Killup").
The first documented evidence of mining in the Northern Pennines dates from the 12th century, and records the presence of silver mines in the areas of what are now Alston Moor, just west of Weardale, and Northumberland. Weardale was at this time a forested area and belonged to the Bishops of Durham, who used part of it as a hunting preserve. The villages of Eastgate and Westgate mark the former Eastern and Western entrances to this forest preserve. Lead mining in Weardale reached its greatest levels during the 18th and 19th centuries, when the London Lead and Beaumont Companies dominated mining throughout the region. During the 1880’s the declining prices for lead forced both companies to give up their leases in the area, though the Weardale Lead Company continued lead mining and smelting until 1931. 28 separate lead smelting operations were active in the region during the height of mining in the 19th century, but by 1919 the last major commercial mine had closed.
A major by-product of lead-mining was various crystals including the decorative coloured fluorspar, for which no industrial use was known till the later 1800s. Thereafter it was used in part of the steel-making process and also in the manufacture of non-stick frying pans, CFCs for aerosols, and other products. It is not a precious stone but fine samples are prized by collectors. http://www.ukminingventures.com/
The Blackdene Mine is located just north of the River Wear, between the
villages of St. John's Chapel and Ireshopeburn. Lead mining on many of
numerous veins in this area dates back to at least the early 15th century.
.Not only lead, silver and fluorspar were extracted from Weardale. Large amounts of ironstone were taken especially from the Rookhope area during the Industrial Revolution to supply ironworks at Consett and other sites in County Durham. Local deposits of other minerals were also found on occasion.
Lime Kilns Agricultural improvements of the time were widely adopted, especially the use of lime to improve the soils. To this end many lime kilns and associated quarries, were built across the North Pennines. Limekilns are often constructed into a hillside so that they can be filled or charged by tipping a mixture of limestone and a combustible material such as coal, charcoal or wood into the chamber through a hole in the top, which also serves as a flue. The finished quicklime could then be extracted from the open arch at the base of the kiln. Limekilns of Roman and later date are well known in almost any areas where suitable stone for making quicklime occurs naturally. Places of Interest
www.forestry.gov.uk/hamsterleyforest
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