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As well as supplying the needs of people in
Britain, this system of farming produced a surplus of wheat and wool for
export, especially during the fourth century. Another export of considerable
size and value was the silver and lead from the Mendip mines, which, as has
been mentioned, was rapidly developed by the Romans. Their operations extended
over a considerable area between Priddy and Blackdown, but were mainly
concentrated on the Charterhouse district. Most traces of their workings have
been obliterated by miners in succeeding centuries, and the surviving evidence
of their operations is in the form of 'pigs' of lead which have been
discovered by archaeologists near the mining areas. These pigs are cast blocks
weighing approximately 194 lbs each, and measuring 24 ins long and 6 ins wide,
tapering to a surface area of 20 ins by 3 ¼ ins and 44 ins deep. Inscriptions
on the lead reveal information concerning the date, the silver content and the
name of the area from which the lead was mined. The silver, for use as
coinage, was of greater value than the lead which was used for making
water-pipes or, in the form of pewter, an alloy of tin and lead, was
manufactured into table ware at Camerton and Lansdown, both near Bath.
The Romans seem also to have worked the
deposits of iron at Syndercombe and elsewhere on the Brendon Hills, but the
evidence is not conclusive as so much has been destroyed by later workings.
Mention is made by a Roman writer of the use of Somerset coal upon the altar
of Sul Minerva at Bath, and evidence has also been found in Somerset villa
sites of coal from outcrop workings which have long ago been destroyed by
later mining. There were pottery kilns at Shepton Mallet and near Congresbury.
In two areas, the Polden Hills and at Whitchurch near Bristol, the discovery
of earthenware moulds for making counterfeit coins shows enterprise that can
scarcely be commended.
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