Report – John Dickinson to Thomas Wailes – 12 May 1821

A report on the prospects for all the veins on Alston Moor were written by the Moormaster, John Dickinson (1755-1833 who was appointed Moormaster in 1790), and his son Thomas, who was Clerk of the Ore Deliveries and later succeeded his father as Moormaster. It incorporate a copy of an earlier report compiled in 1778 by Joseph Hilton, the Moormaster at the time. Both reports, from 1778 and from 1821, were compiled for the mineral rights owner, the Greenwich Hospital.  Thomas Wailes and Robert William Brandling (1775-1848) were the Receivers for the Greenwich Hospital northern estates and lead mines.    Joseph Forster (d.1821) was Brandling’s predecessor as Receiver.  The reports give insights into the understanding and thinking about mineral deposits and geology shown by mining engineers in 1778 and 1821.   Some of the theories about which veins would be productive are wildly wrong (particularly those of Hilton) but nevertheless it is abundantly clear that by 1778 there was an excellent understanding of the stratigraphy of the whole manor.


The report is too long for inclusion in the database so this is a stub record to indicate its presence. The combined report for 1778 and 1821 can be downloaded as a PDF from the Miscellaneous Archives page within ‘Documents and sources’ section of this website (file ‘Wigan D DZA 264 Hilton and Dickinson reports’). The original document is amongst papers relating to James Mulcaster in the care of Wigan Archives Service.