According to my book Exploring Historic Dean, the most spectacular and best-preserved scowles are in Noxon Park, near Bream, so yesterday I mapped out a short afternoon stroll and decided to take a look.
Getting close proved to be rather harder than I'd expected as the scowles have been fenced off with barbed wire and the occasional padlocked gate. However, there was plenty of evidence of well-worn tracks on the 'wrong' side so, thanking the forest authorities for their concern but happily taking responsibility for my own health and safety, I either vaulted gates or crawled under fences to get a closer look. It's not the first time that this crazy woman has done so — see Forest Odities #3. Perhaps clambering over Cornish rocks and exploring caves as a teenager has imparted a rebellious streak in me.
Dating evidence is scant but it seems highly likely that these deposits were indeed being mined in the iron age (from around 500 BC) and later became an important source of iron for the Romans.
This scowl was close to the fence and could be photographed in complete safety. Sadly, some idiot had chosen to use it as a rubbish dump. If I caught them I'd be sorely tempted to put a barbed wire fence around them and a padlocked gate!
If you don't relish defying the Health & Safety brigade and are happy to pay £7 for the privilege, there are some really good scowles at Puzzlewood, about 3 miles away from Noxon Park. The tangle of old woodlands around the scowles makes this a magical place and it's been used as a film location for Merlin and episodes of Dr Who. On entry recently we signed an indemnity, promising to keep our adventurous grandchildren to the pathways, then spent the next two hours being just a little bit naughty. What fun!
In Cornwall we call these old surface workings bunnies – a wonderfully descriptive name. There it was copper and tin that attracted the miners of old. The bunnies I know and have attempted to photograph are at Botallack, between Cape Cornwall and Lands End. The much-photographed Crowns engine houses are at the bottom of the cliff.
After that short diversion, I recall that I was supposed to be describing a walk! At the far end of Noxon Park, just as we were emerging from the woodland, we came upon a shooting range. The owner saw me photographing and introduced himself, then we spent a quarter of an hour chatting and putting the world to right. On this day all was quiet, but we learned that it's a popular place with shooting clubs and adventure holiday centres.
It was now time to turn for home, so we thanked him for making us so welcome then took a footpath back through the forest.
This circular walk turned out to be about 4¾ miles long. Unfortunately I forgot to turn off the Simply Walking app when we returned to our car, so it obediently plotted my route all the way back home – 8 miles at a very impressive "walking" pace!
Gosh, you definitely struck gold with the Forest! So much of interest, especially if you like industrial history.
ReplyDeleteLucy
So the scowels at noxan park also hold many entrances to the old iron mind below. As you say the scowels were surfaced mined, going back to the Roman times, later on in the Iron Age they realised that the surface deposits were depleted but iron rock veins went down into the caves that had been opened up by the open cast mining. They went into the caves a began mining the caves for iron ore. The top part of these mines are considered old man’s workings as everything is done by hand. Sleds buckets and crawling around in passages barely big enough to get yourself though! When looking at these working all around you can see pick marks everywhere looking as fresh as the day they were done! Then you you got to the 18th/19th century where the use of mine carts, explosives and more advanced ways of mining started becoming the norm! Today you can still see remains of underground buildings, stables, old winches, mine carts and track and tools and equipment used in those times. As you said the gates with the obvious paths are there with numbers so that cavers and cave divers can do call outs for then they go exploring underground so if the aren’t out at a certain time the call out the cave rescue team. I’m part of a local caving club so I’m lucky to be able to exploit what is underneath our feet😍
ReplyDeleteThank you for your fascinating comment. Since writing this article in 2018 I've explored other more accessible scowles in the Forest, but always been content to stay above ground (except as a visitor to Clearwell Caves). I'll happily leave the caving to you and your friends, though, the way you describe it, I can certainly see the fascination.
ReplyDeleteAngie.