Administration and Governance of Lead Mining

The area of Derbyshire under royal control was known as the King's Field, with two separately administered divisions, the High and Low Peaks, each further divided into liberties, based on parishes. At different times there were liberties based on both Hopton and Carsington, as well as other parishes in Derbyshire. The industry was organised in such a way that many of the miners could work independently.

By the seventeenth century the local holder of the mineral rights was also the barmaster, who ran the industry, helped by deputies responsible for the liberties, and by the miner’s juries of the Barmote Court. The lead industry is long gone, but its traditions are still maintained—the barmaster and the jury still meet in the Barmote Hall in Wirksworth.

The deputy barmasters whom the chief barmaster appointed were experienced local men. Their duties required them to be able to read, write and keep account of granting and removing title to mines and of ore production and the duties levied on it. Some of them were yeoman farmer/miners and others local gentlemen. The deputy barmasters actually ran the system. It was they who initiated much of the business of the Court. It was they, in administering the rules, who determined whether a miner should have a particular mine or whether another should lose one.

In conjunction with the jury of twenty-four sitting at the Barmote Courts, the deputy barmasters adjudicated in disputes and enforced compliance with the customs of the mines. Their duties extended to acting as the coroner in the case of fatal accidents, where a specially summoned jury of twelve or thirteen local miners decided the cause of death.

In addition to helping the barmasters to carry out their duties the twenty-four jurors brought practical experience to bear when the Barmote Court was adjudicating in disputes and trials. The main requirement of the jurymen was that they should be knowledgeable in mining matters and they included both working miners and, when it was thought necessary, local gentry.