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Forest Heritage Scotland webpage - Kirroughtree Lade
Date 2009
Event ID 588223
Category Descriptive Accounts
Type Publication Account
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/588223
The website text produced for Kirroughtree webpages on the Forest Heritage Scotland website (www.forestheritagescotland.com).
Introduction: From lade to lead
During the 18th century, there was a lead mine at Blackcraig, one of the many in the parish of Minnigaff. The mine has now gone, but in Kirroughtree Forest you can still find the remains of a lade. This was a man-made water channel, which powered the operations at Blackcraig.
The first discovery of lead in the parish of Minnigaff happened by accident. In 1763, a soldier was working on the construction of the military road from Carlisle to Portpatrick when he struck lead!
A few years earlier, an Englishman called Cuthbert Readshaw was looking to start up a lead mine in the south of Scotland. In 1755, he contacted merchants William Carruthers and George Clerk to get advice on how to do this.
They joined forces to form a mining company in 1758. Narrowing down their search to Minnigaff, it was not until the soldier's discovery that an opportunity presented itself.
People Story: The mine manager's record
From 1778 until 1787, the Blackcraig mine's manager, William Mure, sent reports to one of the partners, George Clerk. These records provide an insight in to the running of the mine.
By the 1770s, the mine was in full operation. This site was easily accessible, close to the coast and the military road. The mine could obtain supplies without difficulty and transport lead to London to sell.
This was excellent for business, as good communications gave it an advantage over other Scottish lead mines located in more remote areas, such as Corrantee and Tyndrum.
By 1780, 44 men worked at Blackcraig mines; this included 25 miners and 7 men who smelted the ore to remove impurities from the lead. Business was going well.
The company sold lead in bars. Buyers would then turn the lead into a product, for example, lead piping. In 1780, however, the company built a shot mill in nearby Creetown to make their own product to sell - lead gun shot.
In 1783, the shot mill made a profit of £249; the mine, however, started to make a loss. Cost-cutting measures and the rising price of lead, however, kept it going for a while longer.
There were plans to build a better smelting furnace, designed by Robert Scott, but it is unlikely that this happened. At some point in the 1790s, Craigtown Mining Company stopped mining operations.
Patrick Heron was the owner of this land. In 1764, he gave the company a thirty-eight year lease to mine his land. The Craigtown Mining Company was then officially established.
In the 1770s, Blackcraig mine was in full operation, but by the 1790s production was already dropping off.
In the mid 19th century, mining began again, this time for lead and zinc. It finally went out of use during World War I.
Discover more about mining activity and Kirroughtree lade itself in our "Evidence" story.
Evidence Story: Evidence on the ground
The mining lease allowed the Craigtown Mining Company to mine anywhere on the land. It also allowed them to construct any buildings necessary to the mining operations. You can discover some of the evidence of their activity while exploring the Kirroughtree Lade trail.
There were two mines at Blackcraig. West Blackcraig was located just south of the military road; East Blackcraig was to the north, where Kirroughtree Forest is today.
Once mined the galena ore was dressed. Water was a vital part of the process; needed to power crushing equipment and to wash away any waste material. This left the ore clean and ready for smelting, which also needed water to power the bellows for the smelting furnace.
The mining company built a lade to bring the water for this process. This man-made channel transported water from Loch Bruntis, at the top of the hill, down to the mining operations. Today, on the trail, you can trace sections of this lade.
You can discover also the remains of a small reservoir; now empty. The water was collected and stored here. A sluice gate would allow the miners to control the flow of water as needed.
Elsewhere on the trail, you will discover an adit. This was an old entrance to one of the lead mines; now closed up for safety reasons. Look out also for trial pits, dug to search for lead in the early days of the mine and never filled in.
