I moved up to Northumberland five years ago after retiring from my role as Archivist at Addenbrooke’s Hospital in Cambridge. Once settled, I had hoped to volunteer in one of the local archives, but then COVID happened.
In 2002, I heard about the National Lottery Open Days, which seemed a great opportunity to visit and learn more about properties in Newcastle and Northumberland. So, I booked slots to visit The Common Room and a few other buildings in Newcastle.
After a fascinating tour of the building, we were shown into the reading room and met Jen, the Librarian. Jen talked about the library and the archives collection, mentioning that she had volunteers who helped but was always looking for more. It wasn’t until then that I thought about the possibility of volunteering again. I had a word with Jen and mentioned my qualifications and experience, asking if she thought I would be suitable for volunteering at The Common Room. A couple of weeks later, I started working on a collection of material donated by the widow of a past President of NEIMME, John Crompton.
My knowledge of the Northeast was limited to holidays to visit family over the last 20 years, and I wanted to know more about the local and social history of the area. From the information Jen told me about John and his collection, I thought this would be a perfect place to start.
The collection contains a vast and varied amount of material about mining in the UK. The main part of the material relates to The Greenwich Hospital’s Northern Estates. These estates include confiscated land and property that had belonged to the Earl of Derwentwater but were given to Greenwich Hospital after he was executed following his part in the Jacobite uprising of 1715. There is also material and photographs of mines in other areas of the country, including Scotland, Wales, the Southwest, and the Lake District.
The Greenwich Hospital material relates to mining of lead and zinc in the North Pennines area around Alston Moor. This part of the collection holds correspondence between Sir Lindsay Wood (a son of Nicholas Wood, the first President of NEIMME), who was the mining engineer for Greenwich Hospital, and Vieille Montagne Zinc Co., who worked some of the mines, and The Director of Greenwich Hospital.
One letter from Sir Lindsay to The Director (JCT/1/4/2/7) discusses a survey and report of Cashwell Mines. At the end of the letter, he mentions Nenthead Mines being held by Vieille Montagne Zinc Co.
Another letter (JCT/1/3/1/12) from Sir Lindsay Wood to John Davidson concerns the washing floors at Ayle Burn Mines and a new grant to the Vieille Montagne Zinc Co. The letter also has a small plan of the mine attached. The collection includes two other letters relating to the workings of the mine.
Additionally, JCT/2/5/1 is a list of tenants and the state of land cultivation at Coalcleugh, Northumberland, dated 1883. It lists tenants’ names, what is being grown, the size of the area, and annual rent, along with a map.
There is also correspondence from other companies who worked mines in the area, including The British Steel Corporation, and a group of letters (JTC/2/7/1/-5) from the Coldberry Lead Co. Ltd (formerly the New London Lead Co.).
John had an interest in potholing and mine exploration, and later excavation, around the Nenthead mines. From this, he collected documents, books, artefacts, and took many photographs of his work with the North Pennines Exploration Group (NORPEX).
Many of the photographs have information on the reverse or attached to them. Examples include:
- Blagill Mine JTC/2/1/34pt
- JCT/2/1/20/54-55 Rampgill start of reclamation (Aug 1998-1999)
- Unknown locations 1-2
However, many more have no information on them at all.
The collection also holds many slides and maps and a vast library of books which were also donated to NEIMME and are now held in The Wood Hall.
To conclude, because of listing John’s collection, I have visited the Alston area, including the Nenthead Mining Museum, which was fascinating. The people at the museum were informative, and they have on display some of the material John collected over the years. The only thing I did not do on my visit was take up the offer of a trip into one of the mines!
-Hilary
Volunteer, The Common Room
