Lead Law

In the autumn of 1993 a new farm pond was created in a low lying boggy area of this 16th-century mining site. As the spoil heaps around the pond weathered during the last year, they were regularly walked and material recovered from the surface. This includes sherds of medieval pottery, medieval shoes and pieces of textile, also bone, slag and ore. The pottery suggests a 13th to 14thcentury date.

All the material is being deposited in the conservation laboratory of the National Museum. Material is still being recovered.

S Oakes 1994.

NT15SW 32 145 533

See also NT15SW 26.

The mining remains at Lead Law were planned by the RCAHMS during October 1994. They include a large number of small shallow pits surrounded by a rim of spoil, a group of larger pits and spoil dumps more akin to quarrying, and a narrow, steep-sided channel suggestive of a drift mine or adit. The pits and quarries lie on two main E-W alignments, the northern being the more intensive. The larger pits and quarries are depicted on the first edition of the OS 6-inch map (Peeblesshire, 1853, sheet v) and the site is named Siller Holes; a plantation is shown as extending across the site, and tree holes can still be seen. A pond is also depicted in the NW corner of the field; this pond has recently been enlarged, and from the spoil of this operation, sherds of medieval pottery and organic material have been recovered.

Visited by RCAHMS (ARW), 14 October 1994.

RCAHMS surveyed Siller Holes in October 1994 at a scale of 1:1250. The resultant plan was redrawn in ink.

Visibility: This is an upstanding earthwork or monument.

Information from Scottish Borders Council