until they became unsafe and another pit would be dug further along. Lines of these pits can still be seen across the moors. Apart from a locally found Roman lead "pig" stamped with the name Hadrian the earliest record of lead being taken from the dale dates from 1285. It states that the Lord's mine made a profit of £4, possibly referring to Faggergill. By 1521, there was extensive mining in Arkengarthdale, at Moulds, Punchard Gill and Faggergill. Bell pits were common in the 17th and 18th century. The lead was sold to lead merchants based in York. Gunpowder was introduced about 1700, and had become common by 1750. This led to the digging of deep-level tunnels into the hillsides. By the end of the 19th century it was possible to enter the Moulds Level in Arkengarthdale and travel six miles underground to the Sir Frances Mine in Gunnerside Gill, Swaledale. The hexagonal powderhouse was built in 1725. In 1750 the Moulds Level, north-west of Langthwaite, was worked out. It was later used as a route for transporting ore from the Old Gang Levels in the next valley to the west. It had its own smelting mill but this was knocked down after the building of the Octagonal Mill. The lead-mining in Arkengarthdale was dominated by the CB (Charles Bathhurst) Company which was founded in 1656 when a Dr Bathhurst purchased from the Crown the right to mine in the area. His Company continued until 1911 when the lead-mining industry in Yorkshire collapsed due to the slump in the price of lead. Water was always a problem in the mines. During the eighteenth century a group of miners working underground near Boldershaw blasted into an underground lake. Twenty-four miners and two pit ponies were drowned in the flood that followed. Modern research of Parish records have failed to find evidence of this disaster except for the deaths of three miners drowned after an underground lake was breached. In 1820, miners in Little Punchard Gill created a canal level along which ore and spoil could be floated to the surface. The existence of this water level is disputed by modern researchers. The Octagonal and the New Mills In 1800 the mines of Arkengarthdale were let for 21 years to a Newcastle company for a fixed rent rather than a percentage of the lead mined. The company, under its manager Frederick Hall,