The Dolaucothi Gold Mines I: The Surface Evidence

P. R. Lewis; G. D. B. Jones

doi:10.1017/S0003581500053786

The Dolaucothi Gold Mines I: The Surface Evidence

Published online by Cambridge University Press: 29 November 2011

P. R. Lewis and

G. D. B. Jones

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Summary

The first-fruits of the programme of research organised under the auspices of the Dolaucothi Research Committee are presented here in a survey of the surviving surface remains from the Roman gold mine in South Wales. The mine-workings are comprehensively describedfor the first time with particular reference to the complex aqueduct system that still survives relatively intact above the main workings. In addition to the aqueduct derived from the River Cothi, a second has been tracedfrom the headwaters of the River Annell. The inter-relation of the aqueducts and their derivatives offers, it is suggested, a way to chart the over-all development of the mines. The stage is now setfor a programme of underground survey in the mine area proper and excavation on a large scale in the associated settlement nearby.

Type: Research Article
Information: The Antiquaries Journal , Volume 49 , Issue 2 , September 1969 , pp. 244 - 272

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S0003581500053786 [Opens in a new window]
Copyright: Copyright © The Society of Antiquaries of London 1969

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References

^{page 244 note 1} Forbes, R. J., Studies in Ancient Technology (Leiden, 1963), vii, 149 ff. (hereafter Forbes)Google Scholar.

^{page 244 note 2} Davies, O., Roman Mines in Europe (Oxford, 1935), 1 ff. (hereafter Davies i)Google Scholar.

^{page 244 note 3} Pittioni, R., Rep. London Inst. Arch. (1951), 16–48 (hereafter Pittioni)Google Scholar.

^{page 244 note 4} O'Neill, H., Metals and Materials, i (1967), 182 ff. (hereafter O'Neill)Google Scholar.

^{page 244 note 5} Ritchie, B., The Times, 5th June 1967 (Business News, p. 4)Google Scholar.

^{page 244 note 6} Anon., ‘Geological Exploration of Saudi Arabia’, Engineering and Mining Journal, April 1966, 89 ffGoogle Scholar.

^{page 244 note 7} Maclaren, M., Gold, its Geological Occurrence and Geographical Distribution (London, 1908), 128 (hereafter Maclaren)Google Scholar.

^{page 247 note 1} The Royal Commission on Ancient and Historical Monuments in Wales, and Monmouthshire, , An Inventory of the Ancient Monuments in Carmarthenshire (London, 1917), 24 ff.Google Scholar(by R. C. Bosanquet); hereafter Inventory. Haverfield's, F. account in Transactions of the Carmarthenshire Ant. Soc. ii, 14Google Scholar is virtually identical with Bosanquet's account.

^{page 247 note 2} Smyth, W. W., Mem. Geol. Survey, i (1846), 480 ff. (hereafter Smyth)Google Scholar.

^{page 247 note 3} Williams, E., Cambrian Register, ii (1818), 31Google Scholar; MuTchkon, R., The Silurian System (London, 1839), 366Google Scholar; Knight, H. H., Arch. Camb. ii (1855), 199 ffGoogle Scholar.

^{page 247 note 4} O. Davies, ibid, xci (1936), 51 ff. (hereafter Davies ii).

^{page 247 note 5} Nelson, T. R. H., Mine and Quarry Engineering, January 1944, 3 ff.Google Scholar(hereafter Nelson i); T. R. H. Nelson, ibid., February 1944, 33 ff (hereafter Nelson ii); T. R. H. Nelson, ibid., March 1944, 55 ff. (hereafter Nelson iii).

^{page 247 note 6} Nash-Williams, V. E., Bull. Board of Celtic Studies, xiv (1952), 79 ff. (hereafter Nash-Williams.)Google Scholar

^{page 247 note 7} G. D. B. Jones, I. J. Blakey and E. C. F. MacPherson, ibid, xix (i960), 71 ff. (hereafter Jones).

^{page 247 note 8} Boon, G. C. and Williams, C., Journal of Roman Studies, lvi (1966), 122 ff. (hereafter Boon)CrossRef Google Scholar.

^{page 247 note 9} Richmond, I. A., Roman Britain (London, 1963), 157Google Scholar; idem (withOgilvie, R.), Tacitus, Agricola (Oxford, 1967), 314.Google ScholarFrere, S. S., Britannia (London, 1967), 283Google Scholar.

^{page 247 note 10} Carmarthenshire, Sheet XVII, i (second ed. 1906).

^{page 247 note 11} Nash-Williams, facing p. 79; Jones, 84.

^{page 249 note 1} Jones, 75.

^{page 250 note 1} This and other terms are defined in Higham, S., An Introduction to Metalliferous Mining (London, 1951), in ff. cf. App. I, p. 268Google Scholar.

^{page 250 note 2} Nelson i, 4.

^{page 250 note 3} Davies i, 160. The cave and gallery at Llanymynech is far smaller and the chambers are rock-hewn. The caves at Dolaucothi could be old stopes but their frequency at adit entrances, except for those in Area IV, implies their use for habitation or processing.

^{page 250 note 4} Nelson i, 8 ff.

^{page 250 note 5} Id. i, 10.

^{page 250 note 6} Ministry of Fuel and Power; Catalogue No. 12/560.

^{page 250 note 7} Nelson i, figs. 1–5; Nelson ii, figs. 8, 9.

^{page 251 note 1} Id. i, 6, fig. 2. A 100-foot drift north of the shaft is shown but this is stated to be east in the text. In any case, this working was soon abandoned.

^{page 251 note 2} At least two shown on the O.S. 25-in. map are now buried.

^{page 251 note 3} Inventory, 33 (no. 116).

^{page 251 note 4} Nelson i, 5.

^{page 251 note 5} Id. i, 8, fig. 5.

^{page 251 note 6} Boon, 123, n. 24.

^{page 251 note 7} Smyth, 481.

^{page 251 note 8} Davies i, 24.

^{page 252 note 1} Nelson iii, 57.

^{page 252 note 2} Davies i, 19.

^{page 252 note 3} Inventory, 27 (no. 113).

^{page 252 note 4} Boon, 122, n. 6.

^{page 252 note 5} Nelson iii, 58, plate.

^{page 253 note 1} Smyth, 480.

^{page 253 note 2} Fenton, R., Tour in Wales (London, 1917), 76Google Scholar.

^{page 253 note 3} This feature appears in general to have gone unnoticed, except perhaps by Davies i, 15 5.

^{page 253 note 4} A possible explanation is that the reservoirs might be regarded as settling pools for the fine effluvium from the final washing of the extraction process. This method was noticed in 1836 by Charles Darwin during exploration of Chile (Journal during the Voyage of H.M.S. Beagle around the World, 193 ff.). The principle is simple; after enough effluvium has been deposited in a tank or reservoir it is collected, heaped and left for several years, during which period the sulphides are oxidised and the sludge sets to a hard rocky mass producing a further yield of gold on re-treatment. The process is repeatable with diminishing returns. Such a method would be particularly applicable to Dolaucothi, where the principal lodes mined by the Romans are of high sulphidic content. The length of time involved could be shortened by roasting the sludge in its dried powder form; the effect would be to speed up the oxidation process by the increase in reaction temperature. Precisely this process seems to be implied by an important passage in Pliny, Nat. Hist, xxxiii, 68 ff.

^{page 253 note 5} Conducted by Mr. D. G. Coombs in collaboration with the authors with the help of volunteers from Manchester University.

^{page 254 note 1} Jones, op. cit.

^{page 256 note 1} Manning, W. H., Antiquity, xlii (1968), 301Google Scholar.

^{page 258 note 1} G. D. B. Jones and P. R. Lewis, Antiquity, forthcoming.

^{page 258 note 2} Inventory, 28 (No. 113).

^{page 259 note 1} Williams, E., Cambrian Register, iii (1818), 47Google Scholar.

^{page 259 note 2} Jones, G. D. B. and Lewis, P. R., Antiquity, forthcomingGoogle Scholar.

^{page 260 note 1} Jones, 75.

^{page 260 note 2} Inventory, 30 (no. 113).

^{page 260 note 3} J. F. Jones, Esq., unpublished material; cf. Boon, 122, n. 7.

^{page 260 note 4} Inventory, 36 (no. 124).

^{page 260 note 5} Frere, S. S., Britannia (London, 1967), 285Google Scholar.

^{page 260 note 6} That is the pattern of dip, strike, and faulting of the strata.

^{page 261 note 1} Jones, O. T., ‘The Upper Towy Drainage System’, Quart. J. Geol. Soc. lxxx (1924), 568CrossRef Google Scholar(hereafter O. T. Jones).

^{page 261 note 2} H. Drew and I. L. Slater, ibid, lxvi (1910), 402 ff.

^{page 261 note 3} Hughes, 277 ff.

^{page 261 note 4} Unpublished geological survey referred to in The Future of Non-ferrous Mining in Great Britain and Ireland (London, 1959), 183Google Scholar(hereafter Hughes).

^{page 261 note 5} Nelson i, 8 ff.

^{page 261 note 6} Pliny, , Nat. Hist, xxxiii, 68–78Google Scholar.

^{page 262 note 1} Pittioni, 16

^{page 262 note 2} Nelson i, 4.

^{page 262 note 3} Davies i, 20.

^{page 262 note 4} Id. ii, 53.

^{page 262 note 5} Nelson i, 7.

^{page 262 note 6} Inadequate discussions are given in Davies i, 21 ff., Forbes, 201 ff.

^{page 262 note 7} Davies i, 21.

^{page 263 note 1} Hushing, or the use of a discontinuous flow of water, must be distinguished from hydraulic sluicing, the use of a continuous flow. Davies i, 18, Forbes, 203; both use the term incorrectly.

^{page 263 note 2} Boon, 122, n. 6, followed by Manning, W. H., Antiquity, xlii (1968), 301Google Scholar.

^{page 263 note 3} Maclaren, 87 ff.

^{page 263 note 4} Id., 88.

^{page 263 note 5} O. T. Jones, 568 ff.

^{page 263 note 6} Davies i, 102.

^{page 263 note 7} To be published by the authors in JRS xl (1970). The photograph shows the state in September 1967.

^{page 264 note 1} Pliny, , Nat. Hist. xxxiii, 68–78Google Scholar.

^{page 264 note 2} Jones, 77.

^{page 265 note 1} Fox, C. S., The Geology of Water Supply (London, 1949), pl. XVIII and xix facing p. 119 (hereafter Fox)Google Scholar.

^{page 267 note 1} Inventory, No. 113, fig. 31.

^{page 267 note 2} For example, seal cutting known to have been carried on close to the upper adits from the information in the Inventory, No. 113, p. 26.

^{page 269 note 1} Strabo, 199; cf. Tacitus, Agrlcola, 12.

^{page 269 note 2} Maclaren, 1 ff.

^{page 269 note 3} Inventory, No. 113.

^{page 269 note 4} Smyth, 480.

^{page 269 note 5} Davies ii, 51 ff.

^{page 270 note 1} Hogg, A. H. A. and King, D. J. C., Arch. Camb. cxii (1963), 93 ff.Google Scholar; hereafter Hogg and King.

^{page 270 note 2} Ordnance Survey, Map of Monastic Britain (2nd ed.), 1964.

^{page 270 note 3} O'Neill, 182.

^{page 270 note 4} Marked at SN 632328 on the Ordnance Survey 1:25,000 map.

^{page 270 note 5} Raistrick, A. and Jennings, B., A History ofLead Mining in the Pennines (London, 1965), 1 ff (hereafter Raistrick)Google Scholar.

^{page 270 note 6} Maclaren, 128.

^{page 270 note 7} Personal information from Mr. Clough who is in contact with Mrs. Bliss, the wife of a former owner of the mine.

^{page 270 note 8} Ministry of Fuel and Power: Catalogue No. 12/560.

^{page 270 note 9} See p. 261, n. 4.

^{page 270 note 10} Kindly made available by Mr. Griffith, the Trust's Agent.

^{page 270 note 11} Inventory, 33 (no. 115).

^{page 270 note 12} Davies ii, 51 ff. The objects are now in the National Museum of Wales.

^{page 270 note 13} Nash-Williams, 82, object 3; Inventory, 26 (no. 113).

^{page 270 note 14} Am. J. Arch, lxxi (1967)Google Scholar.

^{page 270 note 15} Pittioni, R., Quantitative Methods in Archaeology (Viking Fund Publications, no. 28, 1960), 21 ff.Google Scholar; Coghlan, H. H., Royal Anthropological Institute Occasional Paper No. 17 (1963), 1 ffGoogle Scholar.

^{page 270 note 16} For Irish material, for instance, seeHartmann, A., Celticum xii, 27 ffGoogle Scholar.

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The Dolaucothi Gold Mines I: The Surface Evidence

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