entitled to produce their own coins. Our word coin comes from the practice of cutting off a corner (a coign) to test an ingot’s purity. Those found to be pure were stamped with the Royal arms and after 1338 with those of the Duchy of Cornwall. Much of this tin went to London where, combined with lead it was made into pewter utensils. Pewter is not poisonous but lead is as it affects the brain. Some silver had been produced and by 1885 more than 80 tonnes of arsenic had been used in medicines. A deposit of radioactive pitchblende, an ore of uranium, occurs near Buckfastleigh but was never mined commercially. Iron ore was extracted from
limestone rocks which surround our town. One type called micaceous haematite looks and acts like graphite and was used in paint making and as an additive to oil. One of the last metal mines in Devon, the Kelly Mine, closed in 1969 but has been reopened as a visitor
attraction. It produced large quantities of this mineral and can be visited just north of Bovey Tracey. All the other mines in Devon have long since closed and nature has reclaimed the once scarred landscape, hiding most traces of our industrial past.
ASHBURTON STOVE & FLUE
Woodburning and multifuel stoves, chimney lining and chimney systems supplied and fitted. Stoves repaired and refurbished.
The old engine shed Chuley Road Ashburton Devon
TQ13 7DH
Contact Stephen or Jonathan on
01364 654355 e– mail
ash.steel@
hotmail.co.uk
All stoves supplied and fitted by us are either HETAS or CE approved.
37
MINING
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