Lead Mines in Somerset The earliest known ingot or 'pig' of lead was found in 1883 ploughed up in a  field near Blagdon. It was noticed by a lead shot manufacturer, Mr Williams , of  Bristol, and given to the British Museum. It was certainly made at Charterhouse  and dated to AD49. Mendip also claims the Heaviest Roman 'pig' recorded in the country. It was  found at Charterhouse in 1873 and weighed 223lbs. (The usual weight of 'pigs'  varies between 150 to 200lbs). There is a long gap between Roman occupation and the recorded evidence of  mine working on the Mendips in 12th Century - due to a lack of  records - as lead was certainly in demand. The earliest written information  about Mendip lead minning is in 1189. Between Richard I (who had just become  King) and the Bishop of Bath, allowing future Bishops to dig for lead on their  Mendip lands. In 1543 Leland, the Historian, referred to the four divided Lordships. It is  not know when the mining laws were introduced but they were recorded by  16th Century. Any man could become a miner within any of the Lordships or Liberties administered by the four 'Royal Lords of Mendip'. These were:                        The Bishop                           The Lord of Harptree                           Lord of Chewton                           Lord of Charterhouse The Lord or his mining agent, the Lead Reeve, granted the license  and the miner could then dig on the common  enclosed waste land in the liberty wherever he liked, so long as he didn't  interfere with another mans working. The miner dug a hole to his waist and then stood in it.  He then threw the digging tool or hacked in both directions in line with the  lead vein. The places where it fell became the extent of his claim. The 'Lords  Royal' issued a license to mine and then claimed 'lot-lead' ( 10%)  of any ore  produced on their land. Because  hacks varied so much there was a special tool kept called a 'Law Hack'.( There  was a recognised way to throw it making each claim fair!) The excavation was  called a 'gruff' or 'groove'. Each'gruff'  was worked by solitary miners or their families, who sold their  ore direct. Each miner had to take his ore to the smelting buildings owned by  the Lord Royal. This ensured correct deduction of the 'Lot-lead'. Until the end of lead mining on Mendip the miners continued to use their old  methods except about 1684 when they used gunpowder instead of fire to split the  rocks. In 1825 the industry, already dying, was given its final blow when duty on  imported lead was greatly lowered and by about 1850 lead mining on Mendip had  practically finished. The most extensive ruins of the smelting are of St Cuthberts lead works,  Northwest at Hunters lodge, Priddy. The works closed down in 1908.