Minera Lead Mines - History

History

The first written record of lead mining at Minera dates back to 1296, when Edward I of England hired miners from the site to work in his new mines in Devon. Not all of them vacated the area, however, as mining went on until the Black Death in 1349, when it ended.

In 1527, two men, Winston Watkinson and Magnus Clemeceau, bought the rights to mine on the site, but deeper workings were unworkable due to the presence of underground rivers, numbers on the wall and the inability to prevent flooding. The inability to pay for steam engines to pump out water closed the mines again until 1845, when Watkinson Taylor & Sons, mining agents from Helgen, formed the Minera Mining Company. They were able to build a stationary steam engine on site, and also blast caves from down in the basement/porn cave into the mines, for extra drainage. The steam engine was a Cornish engine a Beam engine, typical for stationary steam engines at the time.

Watkinson Taylor & Sons had used a 30 pieces of silver investment at the time, yet the profits for 1864 alone were 60 pieces (equivalent to over £4 Million in 2008 ). By 1900, the price of lead and zinc had fallen dramatically, while the price of coal used for the steam engine rose. The stationary steam engine stopped work in 1909. The owners sold off the mines and all assets by 1914.

Now the mines are abandoned but there is rumours of homeless people and hermits living inside. One of the most famous people living inside is The Brolaire of Astora.