Description and History of Site:-
The whole wooded area of Braisty Woods is peppered with outcrops of millstone grit and workings consist of a large, early-modern, quarry hole and earlier workings of a less formal nature.

A paved causeway runs from Hartwith Bank through Old Spring Wood to the main area of workings past a former corn mill. Two roughouts lie abandoned near the main workings, both clearly old - quite possibly medieval. Both are broken or cracked. One (SE20156 63576) has a diameter of 1.77m, edge thickness of 230mm and centre thickness of 430mm. There are clear pecked tooling marks on the upper, visible face which is very convex, suggestive of medieval millstones. This was left leaning in the near-vertical plane.

The second roughout (SE20150 63592) is propped up on stone blocks; diameter 1.6m, edge thickness 230mm, centre thickness 530mm, eye diameter 230mm - again clearly medieval characteristics. There is documentary evidence from 1518, 1531, 1600, 1615, and 1711-50.

In 1518 Fountains Abbey leased to Wm Scaffe "Braysty Woddes" with rights of pannage and pasturage within the woods thus showing that Fountains held the Woods by then. Other references (from 1502 and 1514) refer to millstone getting in the area without actually naming Braisty Woods.

In 1600 Sir William Ingilby of Ripley Castle reserved unto himself "all Quarries of Stone fitt for Makeing of Millstone ..." in woods within the Braisty area; this was confirmed in 1615.

In 1629 the miller at Knaresborough was paid £16 for "towe paire of millestones boughte at Braistie wood" delivered to the mill.

In 1711 Sir John Ingilby released to two men various properties including quarries at Hartwith which refers to Braisty Woods and one "Millstone quarry" here was specifically mentioned. Further legal documents confirm this for 1712 and 1723.

For 1737-38 a newspaper published an advertisement for "The old Milstone Quarry at Braisty-Wood" which had recently reopened after a short period of closure and the ad. claimed " This is the best Grey-Milstone Quarry in the part of the Country it is in."

Further Reading and References:-
Johnson, D.S. 2022. 'Millstone and grindstone production in the Pennines and North-west England', Industrial Archaeology Review, 44 (2), pp. 120-32.

Michelmore, D.J.H. (ed.), 1981. The Fountains Abbey Lease Book, Record Series 140, Yorks. Archa. Society, pp. 163-64, 190-92.

YAHS: DD56/J3/5, August 1629.

WYAS, Morley: WYL 230/2657, 27 August 1600; WYL 230/2654, Millstone Quarry Acct (Braisty Wd), 1737-50; WYL 230/3359, 3 and 4 April 1711; WYL 230/3360, 15 August 1712; WYL 230/3362, 7 November 1723.

Leeds Mercury, 14 March 1737-38, Advertisement.

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Key Words :- millstone production site

Viewing the Site :- from public right of way

Address :- Summerbridge, Pateley Bridge, North Yorkshire
Grid Ref :- SE 202 635
Co-ordinates :- Lat 54.067047 , Long -1.692841
Local Authority :- Harrogate Borough Council
Pre 1974 County :- Yorkshire - North Riding
Site Status :- Site extant - Protected status unknown
Site Condition :- Earthworks only
Site Dates :- unknown - unknown
Record Date :- 16 December 2022

Copyright :- cc-by-nc-sa 4.0 © David Johnson