done by hand, using a hammer called a bucker or, in larger mines, on a crushing circle, where a horse dragged a roller round a paved circle on which the ore was placed. Crushed ore was washed either by running water over it in a sloping trough called a buddle or by placing it in a sieve fine enough to prevent any ore particles passing through. The sieve was then plunged several times into a trough. In each case the object was to allow the heavier, lead-rich, particles to sink, enabling those containing lighter, unwanted minerals to be skimmed off the top and removed. These processes were then repeated at the smelter. By the 17th century new mines were being opened, shafts driven deeper, and old waste heaps were yielding new supplies for the smelters. Mining customs Everything about the old lead industry, from the mining of ore to its sale, stemmed from the ancient claim of the monarch to all mineral rights. The whole structure was designed to enable the Duchy of Lancaster, a royal possession, to collect the king's royalties and, since these were farmed out, the miners paid them to the king's farmer. By the 17th century the local holder of the mineral rights was also the barmaster, who ran the industry, helped by deputies responsible for the liberties, and by the miners' juries of the Barmote Court. The lead industry is long gone, but its traditions are still maintained and the barmaster and the jury still meet in the Barmote Hall in Wirksworth. It was the royal possession of the mineral rights and the royal wish to encourage lead mining, that dictated the two characteristic features of so-called "free mining". Any man who could demonstrate to the barmaster that he had discovered a significant amount of ore was allowed to open a mine and retain the title to it as long as he continued to work it, and, secondly, mining took precedence over land ownership. No land owner or farmer could interfere with lead mining, though there were many attempts to limit its damage. In 1620 the Duchy of Lancaster's tenants at Brassington complained that lead mining was poisoning their cattle. In 1663 the Brassington manor court forbade miners from taking water from the village well to wash ore, on pain of a fine of 1 shilling, and in 1670 imposed fines of 3/4d on miners