Wetton in 1817

Description from A Topographical History of Staffordshire by William Pitt (1817)

WETTON.

Wetton is a parish situated to the west of Butterton, and adjoining to Alstonefield. This parish is remarkable for Thor's-house, a cavern in a rock which extends into a hill the distance of 44 yards, and is about 30 feet high in the middle. The roof is supported by a large and rough natural pillar, and the cave is divided into several partitions or rooms with rock-work, which has the appearance of human figures.

According to tradition, the Druids performed their sanguinary rites in this cavern, and sacrificed human victims enclosed in wicker-work, on the altar of their idol Thor; but there is no historical document in existence to prove the fact, and the story probably originated in the warm and inventive imagination of some fanciful rustic, or hair-brained poet. Dr. Darwin, whom nobody will suspect of credulity, has contrived to conjure up a host of demons in illustration of the supposed enormities of the Druids, but to sober reason the whole appears an absurd fiction.

Ecton-hill is in this parish, near the village of Warnslow. This hill is remarkable for its productive mines of lead and copper, and is upon the estate of the Duke of Devonshire. It was first wrought by the Earl of Devonshire, in the seventeenth century, and afterwards by Sir Richard Fleetwood, and some Dutchmen. But it proved unprofitable, and copper from Sweden was imported at a lower price than it could be produced here.

In 1720, the hill was again examined by a Cornish miner, a company was established, a lease of the mine obtained from the Duke of Devonshire, and £13,000 expended before any returns could be realized. Some of the company then sold their shares at a great loss, but the remainder persevered in their researches, and on sinking a shaft of two hundred yards deep they discovered a rich vein of copper ore, which repaid their expenditure, and enabled them to acquire considerable profits before the expiration of their lease. It then reverted to the lord of the manor, and in the year 1789 it produced from eight to ten thousand pounds, clear of all expenses. It is asserted that the ore annually obtained in the Ecton mines is productive of one hundred and ninety tons of pure copper! How far this statement is accurate has not been ascertained, but such a produce is in itself an ample revenue.

Ecton-hill is about 230 yards high, and the diameter of its base half a mile. The entrance to the mine is at the base, near the bank of the Manifold. From this spot a passage is made 400 yards in length, and about six feet high, into the centre of the hill, strongly walled on each side. In the centre there is a large cavity, by which there is a passage to the summit of the hill, with a lodgment of timber for receiving the raised ore. From this place it is conveyed on small four-wheel carriages, which run in grooves, by boys of twelve or fourteen years of age.

The immense mass of copper ore with which this hill abounds, does not lie in regular strata, but is found in a perpendicular direction, widening towards the lower end. About seventy miners are constantly employed here, night and day, and relieved every six hours by a fresh set, so that the total number of men is nearly 300, besides a considerable number of boys.

When the copper ore is brought from the mine to the bank of the river, it is broken by hammers, and divided by girls into three sorts. It is then washed under the superintendancc of an experienced miner, and exposed to sale in the open air. On the opposite side of the hill there is a rich lead mine, the veins of which extend nearly to the copper ore, and a very considerable population is employed and maintained in these works.

The parish of Wetton contains 102 houses, 102 families; 282 males, 311 females: total of inhabitants 593. The village of Wetton is considerable, and contains about forty houses. A few of the inhabitants are employed in weaving cotton.

The Church is a small ancient fabric, in a ruinous state: the tower is of stone, and contains three bells. Money which had been collected for building a new church at Wetton, was deposited for security in the hands of Mr. Thomas Gould, of Ashbourne, who unfortunately became bankrupt.

Over the entrance to the church there is a very curious old arch, with emblems engraved on stone, representing the Lamb and Cross, with a Dove underneath, opposed to the figure of a Dragon, over which Christ appears triumphant. The church is dedicated to St. Margaret: it is a curacy, and the Rev. William Matthew Ward is the present curate.