ALSTON, or ALSTON-MOOR, a market-town and parish in LEATH
ward, county of CUMBERLAND, 29 miles (E. S. E.) from Carlisle,
and 287 (N. N.W.) from London, containing, with the chapelry
of Garrigill, 5699 inhabitants. The town is situated on the
declivity of a steep hill, in a narrow valley, near the
confluence of the rivers Nent and South Tyne, over each of
which is a neat stone bridge. The houses, which are
irregularly built, are chiefly of stone, roofed with slate,
and the inhabitants are supplied with water conveyed by pipes
from an excellent spring, about halt a mile distant, into four
punts, or cisterns, conveniently placed in different parts of
the town. A subscription library was established in 1821, in
commemoration of the coronation of George IV.; and races are
held on Easter Monday and Tuesday. An excellent new line of
road has lately been made, under the superintendence of Mr. Mc
Adam, from Hexham to Penrith, through Alston, which is shorter
by several miles than that by way of Carlisle. In several
parts are beautiful views of the surrounding country,
particularly from Hartside, which embraces the counties of
Cumberland and Westmorland, including the lake of Ulswater,
and the mountains of the lake district, Solway Frith, and the
adjacent Scottish shore. This district, which is enclosed on
the west by the mountains Cross-fell and Hartside, and on all
sides by high lands, is equally remarkable for its sterility
of agricultural produce, and its abundance of mineral wealth.
The lead mines, in which the inhabitants are chiefly employed,
are very extensive and productive; there are not less than
thirty-eight in the parish, and the quantity of lead produced
in the year 1830 was about five thousand tons, which is
considerably less than the average quantity for several years
preceding. The ore contains a proportion of silver, averaging
from eight to ten ounces per ton; and one of the mines, opened
at Yadmoss in 1828, has produced ore containing ninety-six
ounces of silver in each ton. Copper-ore has also been found
in the same vein with the lead, and in many instances the same
mine has been worked for copper-ore of excellent quality, and
lead-ore, which is rich in silver. The grand aqueduct level,
called "Nent Force," was cut by the trustees of Greenwich
Hospital, under whom the estate is held, pursuant to an act
which transferred these estates from the family of James,
third Earl of Derwentwater, who was beheaded for high treason
in the reign of George I.: this subterraneous canal is five
miles in length, from its mouth near the town to the shaft of
the mine; boats and guides are kept in constant readiness to
conduct those who may wish to explore it. In the mines are
several extensive caverns splendidly decorated with fluor-
spar, shot into chrystals of every form and hue; and where the
yellow copper-ore and pyrites are intermingled, nothing can
exceed the brilliancy with which the prismatic colours are
reflected. Of these, Tutman's hole has been explored to the
distance of a mile from the entrance; and in that at Dun fell,
on the side of Alston Moor, the chambers and windings are so
intricate, that visitors have been glad to avail themselves of
some clue to their return. Among other minerals found here are
pyrites of iron, containing small portions of gold, tesselated
ore, zink, phosphate and sulphate of lead, cobalt, &c. The
crow coal, found on the moor, at a small depth below the
surface, contains pyrites in large proportion; it burns with
little flame, but emits an intense heat, and, mixed with clay,
is made into fireballs. There are two large smelting furnaces,
and several machines worked by water for crushing and washing
the ore. The principal manufactures are those of shot, sewing
thread, and flannel, which are extensively carried on; and
there is also a public brewery on a large scale. The market is
on Saturday: fairs are held on the last Thursday in May,
Friday before the last day of September, and the first
Thursday in November. Two of the county magistrates hold a
petty session at the Swan Inn on the first Friday in every
month, and courts leet and baron are held in the months next
after Easter and Michaelmas. The living is a discharged
vicarage, within the jurisdiction of the Consistorial Court of
Durham, rated in the king's books at £7. 13., endowed with
£600 private benefaction, £800 royal bounty, and £1000
parliamentary grant, and in the patronage of the Governors of
Greenwich Hospital for two turns, and of William Jackson, Esq.
for one. The church, dedicated to St. Augustine, was rebuilt
in 1770. A chapel of ease is situated at Garrigill, a populous
village four miles south-east of the town. There are places of
worship for the Society of Friends, Independents, and
Primitive and Wesleyan Methodists. The grammar school was
rebuilt by subscription in 1828, and is endowed with £26 per
annum. No scholars are gratuitously instructed, but the
master, in consideration of the endowment, is limited to a
certain scale of charges for boys attending it. There is a
similar school at Garrigill, endowed with £7. 4. 1. per annum
j and a Lancasterian school for two hundred children was
erected in 1811, and is supported by subscription. At Nent
Head, a large populous village on the eastern border of the
parish, where a customary market is held on Thursday, a
National school was established by the London Lead Company, in
1820, and is partly supported by them, and partly by the
Governors of Greenwich Hospital. On Gildersdale fell is a
stagnant pool, covered with mud several inches thick, which is
used by the neighbouring people as paint: it produces colours
resembling yellow ochre and Spanish brown, but has not
been.analysed. The Roman road called Maidenway, traces of
which are distinctly visible, crosses the western part of the
parish; and on Hall hill, a little below the bridge over the
Tyne, are the foundations of an ancient fortress, surrounded
by a moat.