The small wood engraving, here introduced, will show an easy method of securing corn and hay-ricks in wet seasons; the plan has been adopted by many farmers, and is universally approved by those who have purchased these rick covers. Much valuable hay was injured in the summer of 1828 for want of them, and many farmers afterwards regretted they were not provided with such security. CHAPTER V. Manufactures: trades and occupations: commerce with other counties and with London: general exports: conveyance of goods and passengers. Wagons, vans, stage coaches: roads, canals, rail-ways. THE manufactories of Derbyshire are numerous and various. We have already observed, that this county, notwithstanding its central situation, its abundance of coal-mines and its inexhaustible stores of minerals, seems to have been slow in entering into the competition of artificial production with the neighbouring districts. It has, indeed, been frequently noticed that the inhabitants of places where the raw materials of manufacture are abundant, seldom engage themselves in any species of manufacture beyond that which may be requisite to give the raw material a marketable value. The dressing and smelting of ore were probably the first arts known and practised in Derbyshire; and these were certainly in use long before the Roman invasion. The Phoenicians, and after them the travelling merchants of Gaul, frequented this island for the sake of its metals; and they did not confine their commerce to the remote peninsular projection of Cornwall, we may be assured, but carried their intercourse into the very heart of the country, and obtained from Derbyshire, lead and probably other minerals. The word Tor, is a common name for a mountain in the north of this county, and it is a word of Phoenician derivation; and the meaning of many of the terms still in use among the miners, can only be traced to an Asiatic source, which seems to go far in proving, that the mineral treasures of the county were, at a very early period, wrought either by a colony of foreigners from the east, or under their direction. The miners anciently possessed extraordinary power and privileges, probably derived from these settlers from the east. They claimed a right of cutting wood and timber for the purposes of mining and smelting the ore, not only from the wastes and forests within the mining district, but from any of the neighbouring woods. The miners of what is called the King's Field have asserted this privilege within the last fifty years, and timber has been seized and carried away from Needwood forest, in Staffordshire, for the use of the mines in Matlock; but these practises are now extinct. In early periods, the ore was smelted at the tops or western brows of the Tors or high hills, by fires made of wood, and blown by the wind only; piles of stones were set loosely round them, and perhaps arches were formed underneath them, to favour and increase the action of the wind upon the fire. These ancient hearths were called boles, manifestly from an eastern word signifying a lump of metal,* and from these boles many of the highest hills in and near the lead-districts derived their names. The sites of these ancient boles are easily found from the sterility of the spots, and by the want of almost all herbage, except that diminutive plant the campanula rotundifolia, which is peculiar to spots where lead either naturally abounds or is thrown up into mine hillocks. These very ancient boles or wind-hearths were succeeded by slag-mills, which resembled a blacksmith's forge on a large scale, blown by bellows of a great size, which were worked by men or by water. Some of these slag-mills may be still seen, in Bonsall Dale, Baslow, Ashover and various other places. The restrictions of the old mining regulations prevented improvements. The crown claimed the right of smelting all the lead ore found in the King's Field, and took toll or duty for it; and so burthensome were these exactions, that the mines were neglected, until a composition was made and the Crown agreed to accept sixpence duty on every load of nine dishes of ore, and From the same root is formed the Greek ẞwλos, a lump of earth, metal, or stone. to permit smelting to be practised in private furnaces. This sum continues to be paid to the barmaster at the time of measuring the ore. Similar restrictions continued in force on the manors of the Duke of Rutland, and an old slag-mill or hearth remained at Great Rowsley long after such furnaces had been disused elsewhere. In speaking of the lead mines and their produce, we have already mentioned the introduction of cupolas or low arched reverberatory furnaces.*— The ore, when dressed for sale in the Low Peak hundred, is measured by the dish of fourteen pints, or by the load, which consists of nine dishes. The pint contains forty-eight cubic inches. In the High Peak, sixteen pints are reckoned to the dish. When the lead is weighed, which is frequently the case when purchased by the smelter, a dish is estimated at 58 lbs. and the long hundred weight of 120 lbs. is used. At the beginning of the sixteenth century, it was not uncommon for the possessors of mines to contract with government or with general dealers for the produce. The fourth Farl Talbot had great interest in the mines of Derbyshire, and the following extract from the Talbot Papers, Vol. I. fol. 19, will show the price of lead in the year 1517. Allen, an agent of the Earl, in a letter to his lordship, says, "I have made a bargain wt Sir John Cut, master of the Ordnance in the Tower, for XXX fodrs of lead,‡ to be delyv' at London betwix this and Bartholometide at iiii lb ii s viii d the fodr' yf yor Lordship be so content, or ellis hit is no bargain."-The present price of lead is about £18. per ton. A list of the lead mines will be found in the Chapter upon the Subterranean Geography of the County, and it will suffice to remark in this place, that there are about two thousand two hundred and eighty miners employed in getting ore. The Messrs. Alsop of Lea Wood, are the greatest smelters in Derbyshire: their cupolas produce on an average about thirty tons per week. Messrs. Milnes of Ashover, Richard Hurt, esq. of Wirksworth, John Barker, esq. of Hilltop near Bakewell, Jer. Royse and Co. of Castleton, and Mr. Furnace of Stony Middleton, are also very considerable smelters.-The lead mills, for the manufacture of white and red lead, of Messrs. Walker and Co. of Messrs. Cox, Poyser and Co. and of Mr. Charles Holbrook, situate in Derby and its immediate neighbourhood, are extensive.—Leaden pipes are manufactured by Messrs. Cox and Co. of any given bore or length, at their works in the Morledge, Derby, where these gentlemen have a shot tower, which is an interesting object. This is a circular building, fifty yards in height. The formation of the shot is an ingenious process. This shot is called patent shot, to distinguish it from the common sort. The metal, in a state of fusion, is poured from a boiler at the op of the tower, and falls through sieves of different meshes into a reservoir of water below. This tower suffered considerably by fire, about four years ago, but was shortly after repaired. An excellent imitation of white lead, applicable to most of the purposes for which that article is used, was introduced by that skilful and unfortunate chemist, Mr. Duesbury, about thirty years ago. It is obtained from a precipitate of cauk or barytes, and is now manufactured at Via Gellia in Bonsall Dale and at Derby by Messrs. Goodale, and also at Derby by Mr. R. Frost, and by Messrs. Dalton and Drewry. Cauk is found in lead mines throughout the county, and the price of it at the pits, in its raw state, is from 8s. to 12s. per ton. At very early periods the ironstone of this county was known, and in various places coal-furnaces were erected for smelting it. The first mode of getting this mineral was by open casts or works, but when the bassets or exposed beds of ore were exhausted, recourse was had to excavations, which are frequently made in the form of a cone or bell, from three to ten feet deep, and spreading in its descent over many yards. When the ironstone bed is covered by a solid stratum, the ore is worked in the regular way of mining. The ironstone beds at Codnor Park near Heanor, those at Morley Park near Heage, and those at Somercotes in Alfreton, Chesterfield and Staveley, are the most valuable in the county. The old coal furnaces continued in use until within the last fifty years, but iron is now made in tall furnaces only, heated with the coke of pit-coal, and blown by cylinder bellows worked by steam-engines. When the fusion of the ironstone commences, the smelted metal passes through layers of coke and limestone, and collecting at the bottom of the See Chap. II. page 67. + See page 67. A fodder was about 2000 lbs. in London. furnace, is let out into beds of sand, moulded to the forms required. A pig of iron is three feet and a half in length, and weighs one hundred pounds. Before the introduction of coke for the smelting of iron, the number of blast-furnaces was four, and their aggregate produce was eight hundred tons of pig-iron annually. In 1788, one charcoal blast-furnace only remained; and seven furnaces, in which coke was consumed, had been established. The total annual produce of pig-iron had risen to four thousand five hundred tons. In 1796, the blast furnaces were ten, and their annual produce had increased to seven thousand six hundred and fifty tons. In 1806, the number of furnaces was eleven, and their estimated annual produce ten thousand tons. In 1825, fourteen furnaces were in blast within this county, yielding about nineteen thousand one hundred tons of pig-iron. In 1827, the number of blast-furnaces was fifteen, and their produce may be stated at twenty thousand eight hundred tons. The number of blast-furnaces in work, has been recently reduced to fourteen, and the pig-iron manufactured from them, within the present year (1829) will probably not exceed twenty thousand tons. The total number of blast-furnaces in Derbyshire is nineteen, five of which were out of blast in the beginning of 1829. The celebrated Butterley Company possesses numerous and extensive works. At Butterley, there are furnaces, a foundery and steam-engine manufactory: at Codnor there are furnaces, a foundery and bar-iron works: at these places, together with the Ormond, Portland and Heanor collieries, and the ironstone mines connected therewith, the Crich limestone quarries and lime-works, and the Codnor Park lime-works, there are at present nearly fifteen hundred men employed. This number necessarily varies with the state of trade. Half are employed in the mines and the rest in the iron works and other manufactories. There are now (March, 1829) two furnaces in blast at Butterley and two at Codnor Park, producing on an average thirty-five tons of pig-iron per week at each furnace.—The wages paid to the different classes of men vary considerably. The following may be about the average. Ironstone-getters, 12s. to 14s. per week: colliers 15s. to 20s. In each of these two classes a great number of boys are employed, whose wages vary from 48. to 12s. per week, according to their ages. Labourers 12s. per week: furnace men 17s. 6d. to 21s.: moulders 18s. to 21s.: smiths 18s. to 21s.: carpenters 16s. to 20s.: model-makers 18s. to 24s.: engine fitters, turners and other mechanics, about 16s. to 24s.: quarry men 12s. to 15s. The massive and magnificent castings executed at Butterley have been numerous, and have bestowed a celebrity upon the enterprising and skilful proprietors, which, being shared by the county, renders the iron-works of Derbyshire the subject of admiration to distant nations. Among these works are the following:-The Vauxhall iron bridge: a cast-iron bridge to cross the river Gompta, at Lucknow, in the East Indies, for His Highness the Nabob of Oude: the iron roof for the Rump-quay, West India docks: bridges and other works for the West India docks: the cast-iron colonnade in front of the Opera House, London: the iron bridges for the harbour of Dublin, and iron roofs for the king's warehouses in that city: the iron bridge for Leith harbour: the iron bridges, lock-gates, and other works for the Caledonian canal: a considerable part of the cast iron works for his majesty's dock-yard and storehouses at Sheerness.— During the war, iron shot was made at the Butterley works for the king's service. At the same manufactory was made the whole of the large main of pipes to supply the city of Edinburgh with water; as well as numerous pipes for the great water-work companies and gas companies in England, and those of the water-works at the Cape of Good Hope. Besides many steam engines for collieries, factories, mills, &c. several powerful ones were made at Butterley, for draining the fens at Misterton, near Gainsborough, by which the perfect drainage of more than 50,000 acres of land has been effected. The steam engines applied to vessels for the purposes of navigation which have been executed at these works are numerous. And a vast number of steam engines, sugar mills and machinery has been sent by the Butterley Company to the West Indies, the Mauritius and other colonial states. The Butterley Company employs twenty-six steam engines from one hundred and sixty to eight horses' power: the aggregate power amounting to more than that of seven hundred horses. The Alfreton Iron Works are situate within the hamlet of Riddings, in the Parish of Alfreton. They consist of two blast furnaces for the manufacture of pig-iron, and an extensive foundery for the conversion of a part of this produce into castings. During the late war, these works were employed almost exclusively in furnishing cannon-shot and shells for the service of government; of which three thousand one hundred tons have been sent to the royal arsenal at Woolwich in the space of one year. Similar castings continue to be occasionally supplied from these works for the board of ordnance, and for the East India Company. Now, however, the principal part of the produce of these works, not disposed of as pig-iron, is cast into retorts and pipes for gas works; pipes for water works; castings for machinery; bridges and the general purposes of architecture. The retorts made at Alfreton have obtained considerable celebrity on account of their durability. Three collieries are connected with this establishment; which, besides supplying the iron works, contribute largely towards the general consumption of coal in the midland counties. Eleven steam-engines are in use on the different departments of the works, and from six to seven thousand yards of rail-road. The number of men employed is about five hundred. Three hundred and fifty of these are connected with the ironstone works and collieries, and the remainder with the blast furnaces and founderies. The earnings of the labourers vary from 1s. 8d. to 2s. 4d. per day; of the mechanics, founders and furnace men, from 3s. to 5s.; of the colliers and ironstone getters, from 2s. 6d. to 4s. 6d. according to the nature of the work and the ability and experience of the individual. Our limits will not allow us to describe more particularly these important establishments. Our intention is rather to enumerate the prominent objects of interests which this county contains, than to anticipate the researches of the intelligent enquirer. It will suffice therefore to mention, in this place, that the Brampton and Chesterfield founderies are more eminent for the useful and tasteful articles of domestic convenience, than for more ponderous castings, as are those at Derby, Dronfield, Millford and Rennishaw. The foundery of Messrs. Weatherhead, Glover and Co. in Derby, has been distinguished not only for the elegance of the domestic castings, but for the superiority of its architectural works and ornamental vases. The gothic church-windows and columns executed at this foundery have been esteemed perfect specimens of this art, and are proofs of the capability of its being applied to the loftiest designs of the builder. The churches and chapels in which these elegant gothic window-frames, &c. have been affixed, are those of Portsea, in Hampshire; Bordesley, near Birmingham; Walsall, Burton and West Bromwich, in Staffordshire; Kidderminster, in Worcestershire; Ashton-under-Lyne and Oldham, in Lancashire; and the new church (St. John's) in Derby. At this foundery were made the elegant cast iron temples, in the gardens of the Earl of Shrewsbury, at Alton Abbey. The Derwent foundery in Derby (of which Mr. Gibson is the proprietor) has long been in high repute for the domestic and engine castings there manufactured. Besides the founderies already mentioned, there are in this county nine iron forges, where are made wrought iron bars, rods, sheet plates, &c.; and at Derby are the iron and copper works of Messrs. Bingham, Humpston and Co. These mills were established in 1734, for preparing iron for various uses, and for the purpose of smelting, rolling and preparing copper for sheathing vessels, and sheet iron and tin. There is also the wrought-iron steam engine boiler manufactory of Mr. Harrison, St. Mary's bridge, Derby; at this manufactory boilers are made from one to one hundred horses' power, steam kitchens, and every other description of wrought-iron boilers, brewing and bleaching pans, gasometers, hot-air stoves or cocles for heating mansions, &c. roasting and steaming apparatus, and every kind of lock and smith's work. Mr. Harrison made a wrought-iron tank for the Nottingham gas company, forty-two feet in diameter and eighteen feet six inches deep, that held 193,082 gallons of water, and estimating the pressure on the bot D d |