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Copper vein at Keswick, built c1570
© Courtesy of Ian Tyler
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Keswick's German miners |
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Objections from above
A longwork 80ft deep copper vein which German miners worked from the surface at Keswick
© Courtesy of Ian Tyler |
The activities of the German miners also attracted objections from land owners. The mines needed wood to use as fuel, and much of the woodland surrounding Keswick was owned by Lady Katherine Radcliffe. She was extremely uncooperative in her dealings with the miners, charging extortionate prices for wood. In a letter of 1567, George Nedham, one of the share-holders in the Company of Mines Royal, complained about Lady Radcliffe’s behaviour to the queen, describing her as “marvellous unreasonable”.
Thomas Percy, Earl of Northumberland, also disapproved of the German miners’ exploits in Cumbria. In October 1856 he stopped the miners from working on Newlands, land that belonged to him. He was overruled by the queen on the grounds that the mine had uncovered gold, making it Crown property. These objections to the miners were rooted in financial grievances. The majority of profit from these mines went to the queen; she received 90% of all gold and silver found and royalties on copper. These miners were enabling the queen to exploit the land, with little benefit to the landowners.
Words: Ian Tyler
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