Cumberland, CLIFTON Colliery token 1735 LOWTHER cm 'L'

Description

Brass token of the Clifton Colliery, a few miles inland of Workington, issued in 1735 by Sir James Lowther Bart, with a 'barred L' countermark on both sides.

Obverse : a dragon walking left.  Reverse : 'CLIFTON  1735'.

In 1726 Thomas Salkeld leased the Clifton Colliery to a John Porter of Workington and in 1734 this lease came to an end to be taken up, at an annual rent of £250., by Cookson and Williams who owned the neighbouring Clifton Furnace.  Two days after the lease was signed they entered into an agreement to supply Sir James Lowther and Walter Lutwidge with 7,000 tons of coal a year for the term of the lease (21 years), delivered to Workington Harbour.

it is therefore reasonable to surmise that as these Clifton tokens bear the crest of the Lowthers that they were issued by Sir James and used in much the same way as similar tokens of his were used at Whitehaven,  ie a system of tokens that were set up to act as tallies to record the packhorse or cart loads that were delivered from the colliery to collier ships mored at the docks which transported coal to Ireland where there were no coal reserves.  

These tokens are found in both copper and brass, some countermarked with 'IL'  (James Lowther) and a barred 'L' (probably Walter Lutwidge) possibly to distinguish between the two men's shares of transported coal.

The colliery lasted until 1781 when the pits were flooded with water - mainly caused by the closure of neighbouring mines and in particular their pumps, which resulted in a rise of the water level in that area. *

*   Michael Finlay : 'The Mining and Related Tokens of West Cumberland'. 2006

D&W 285/37           Fin. 68          25.5mm.              RARE     (R)

About Very Fine, evenly toned.