Abstract
The metal mining landscape of the northern Pennines is unique, containing a relatively large concentration of mines dating back possibly to the Roman period. Little attention, however, has been given to understanding how the metal mining industry has altered the natural landscape. This paper sets out to address this by using palaeoenvironmental techniques to reconstruct the vegetational landscape and atmospheric pollution history surrounding the metal mines of the upper Rookhope valley, Weardale and Moorhouse National Nature Reserve in Teesdale. Results from pollen analysis suggest that small, temporary woodland clearance occurred during the Neolithic and Bronze Age, followed by more substantial clearances during the Iron Age and Romano-British period. Metal mining had little impact on vegetation, in particular woodland, until Medieval times. Evidence of higher lead concentrations and a permanent reduction in arboreal pollen percentages in the pollen diagrams correlate with the growth of the lead mining industry from the eleventh century AD onwards as documented in historical records.
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