In Whitehaven Record Office are various documents relating to some enterprising attempts by the Pennington family to exploit the mineral wealth under Muncaster in the 18th century. Mining was a key source of income for the Penningtons, particularly on their estates at Pennington and Little Langdale.

[D/Pen/Box 46/Bundle 110-121/item 111]: 21 Nov 1702: articles of agreement between Sir William Pennington, Bart., of Muncaster, and Randulph Ashenhurst Esq. of Manchester: W.P. grants a lease for 21 years from Candlemas next "of all those his Coal, Culm, & Kennal-Mines, to be found, w'thin the Mannors or Lordshipps of Muncaster, & Drigg cum Carleton" to R.A. and "Such Sufficient Co-partners, as the sd. Sr. Wm. Pennington & Edwd. Fleetwoode of Penworthame in Lancashire Esq., shall judge & allow, to be able & substenccal persons, to Undertake & Manage such an Enterprise". R.A. to pay 7d per Tunn of coal/culm/kennall raised (at 10 country measure bushells, or 30 Winchester bushells, to the Tunn). R.A. & partners to begin searching for coal by May Day next- to spend on the work at least £20 in the first year of the lease; £30 in the second, and £50 each subsequent year- but "upon their Dislike of the sd. Worke to have Liberty to Throw up their Lease, at any Years End, upon Three Months Notice to be given in Writeing." Also notes that Mr Hugh Warren shall have liberty to join R.A.'s partnership for a fourth share. Parties bound to each other in the sum of £50. Signed on the right side by R.A. on the left by Jos. Pennington; Hen. Holmes; Eliz. Pennington; Eliz. Bradshaigh; Margeret Pennington; Jos. Herbert

N.B. This folder also includes records relating to the quarry at Drigg Cross, south-east of Seascale, which was within the Penningtons' manor of Drigg.


D/Lec/46/folder 41-49 contains a small sheet of paper bearing the following information from 1713:
"An Acct. of What Cat-Scopes is gott and measured up in Muncaster Deer Parke Belonging to Sr. Willm. Pennington Bart. vallued at 3s pr Tunn" ["Catscopes" is a Cumbrian dialect term, apparently introduced by the 16th century German miners who came to work in the area, for "stromatoporoids", nodules of iron-rich rock found in shales, mudstones etc., which formed as a result of the growth processes of ancient algae. Elsewhere in England the terms "Cat's heads" and "Cat skulls" are used.]
The Muncaster output was measured in hundreds (as cwt below), quarters & pounds (both always 0).

Geology of the Muncaster Park area, based on the 1st edition of the Geological Survey

30 Mar 1713: 400cwt
27 May 1713: 400cwt
13 Nov 1713: 400cwt
31 Mar 1714: 360cwt

10 Jun 1714: received from Stephen Crossfeild for the above, £11/14/0
(signed Wm. Pennington)

13 Aug 1714: 400cwt

7 Feb 1714/15: received from Stephen Crossfeild for the above, £3
(signed Wm. Pennington)

10 Dec 1715: 400cwt
19 Jul 1716: 400cwt

27 Jan 1716/17: received from Stephen Crossfeild for the above, £5/8/0
(signed Wm. Pennington)

16 Jun 1718: 220cwt

12 Jan 1718/19: received from Stephen Crosfeild for the above, £1/13/0
(signed Wm. Pennington)

So far, that's the last I have heard of the 1718-9 enterprise.

[ref. D/Pen/Box 46/Bundle 90-99/item 96]: 2 Nov 1756: Agreement of Arthur Mullinex & Henry Conway with Sir John Pennington, Bart. "about getting or trying for Iron Ore in Muncaster parke", A.M. & H.C. will "regularly Sink a Shaft at the Iron Oar pit in Muncaster Deer park at the rate of three pounds a fathom from the bottom of the sd. pit as the same now is at the day of the date hereof; for the number of five fathoms deep, the sd. shaft to be five feet & a half long and four feet & a half Broad, # having wood & all other utensils allow'd by the sd. Sir John Pennington for carrying on the sd. work". Witness, Jos. xxx [illegible]

[same folder, unnumbered item]: 22 Dec 1756: Receipt from A.M. & H.C.: £15 received from Sir J.P. for sinking pit according to above agreement. Witness, Isaac Cuppage.

[same folder, unnumbered item]: 11 Mar 1757: Receipt from A.M. & H.C.: £20 received from Sir J.P. "for Sinking a Pit for Iron Oar Five Fathoms Deep in Muncaster Deer Park, according to our last agreement with the sd. Sir John Pennington". Witness, John Moscrop

For the sequel to the Mullinex story in 1759-60, see the Commerce section. All you need to know here is that the revival didn't last long.

Sir John Pennington did not, of course, give up his attempts to exploit the mineral wealth of his Eskdale properties.
D/Lec/46/folder 41-49; unfortunately disintegrating: 27 Jan 1768: A letter to Sir John (at his Yorkshire seat of Warter) from Henry Hale of Kirby Hill near Richmond in Yorkshire reports that the week previously he had been sent a small box of "oar" samples from Muncaster Hall with a request from Hannah [possibly Hannah Hales, whose career at Muncaster I hope to investigate further] to have it tested. The next day, Hale therefore sent it to Mr Swetnam, a refiner for the Derbyshire mining company who lived in the nearby village of Middleton Tyas. Sadly, just one day later, Swetnam reported that the shining particles in the rock were not metal but sulphur, which had simply evaporated when tested in the crucible, leaving nothing but dross. Hale, who had come to the same conclusion after his own inspection, advised that it was probably "sparr" which tended to be found alongside the true ore veins, so he suggested digging a trench to check.
Hale also revealed a little trade secret: put a few drops of Aqua Fortis [nitric acid] on a lump of ore, then wipe the blade of a knife across it- the colour of the ore metal, if any, will show on the blade. He regretted that Hannah had not sent samples of ore found elsewhere on Sir John's Eskdale property, mentioning in particular Berker Gill [sic] and the gill in the vicinity of Waberthwaite Wood. He had seen samples from these locations at Muncaster Hall, and suspected that at least one contained copper, but as Sir John was absent, had not felt at liberty to take any for testing. He advised that any quantity above an ounce would be sufficient for the assayer. The remainder of the letter concerned Mr Hale's problems with gout.