Transactions of the Cumberland & Westmorland Antiquarian & Archaeological Society 78 (series 2)

NY 221095. Flakes and some roughouts were found at four sites in the Scafell Pike area. Petrological examination indicated tuffs with some common features between samples; however, variability between sections from similar areas is considerable.

Some confusion between two separate large finds from the vicinity of the site is sorted out. The first, 167 coins from Newbiggin Hall, was buried very early in the 180s on Maiden Way. The 1838 Troutbeck Bridge hoard of coins and a wide variety of ornaments (now dispersed) remains difficult to explain with its wide date range (Republican to AD 337) and its heterogeneous nature.

The presence of Viking burials, the place-name derived from eccles, the important pre-Norman church two miles away at Brigham, the topography of the ancient parish of Brigham, the record of ?early Christian rock-cut graves, and certain features in the adjacent parish of Blindbothel, all provide indications of a possible major centre of Christian worship and secular lordship in the area.

Documents ranging from 16th to 19th centuries, particularly some detailed expense accounts for 1782-3, provide useful data on the operational problems and economic difficulties of running a pair of corn mills. First mentioned in 1578, the mills required heavy repairs in 1627 and complete rebuilding in 1775; documents continue to 1854.