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- Last Updated: Saturday, 28 July 2018 19:23
- Written by Graham Brooks
BINGSTEADS AND BOUSETEAM.
A stead is the term used for storing ore in various stages of dressing before smelting.
Ore that came out of the mine before washing/dressing was termed bouse. If there was more than one set of miners working in the mine then there was a need to keep the undressed ore produced for each partnership seperate till after it had been dressed and the actual quantity of dressed ore can be determined and the partnership can be paid. Therefore a bouseteam/stead was builtwith a seperate bay in which each individual partnerships ore could be stored until there was suffucent to dress it.
Bouse team built into side of waste tip at Coldberry Low Level.
Bouse team and dressing floor by Gregs Hut on side of Cross Fell NY 690 354
Bouse team at Cashburn mine NY 717 368
A row of bouse teams at Bentyfield mine NY 751 425.
Once the ore had been dressed it was measured in bings and moved to the smelt mill ready for smelting into lead. The ores from many different mines were smelted at one mill and again the dressed ores from each mine was kept seperate until it was smelted. Again stored in bingsteads.
In some cases the mineral owners were entittled to a proportion of the dressed ore as part of the rent for the mine. In the case of Alston Moor the mineral owners was Greenwhich Hospital and the constructed their own bingsteads at Hudsgill to receive their share of the dressed ore so that it could be delivered to a smelt mill for smelting.
A general view of the Hudgill bingsteads.
Conserved bingsteads. note the shoots in the back wall that allowed the ore to be tipped in from the road behind and above the bingstead.
The bingsteads here have been restored to show how they were covered in
Small office building presumably for aperson to record the coming and going of the various deliveries of ore.
The bingsteads at Nenthead Smelt mill. After the smelt mill was closed they were used to store coal for the boiler plant for producing compressed air for use in the mines.