alum gems: Boulby Alum Works

Sunday, 23 May 2010

Boulby Alum Works

Tees Valley Wildlife Trust are guiding walkers around some of the many old alum works in this region, below are some of the photographs I took on three of these walks.

(The last photograph shows the fossilised vertebrae of a Jurassic sea creature)

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England's Alum
In the medieval period wool was England's largest export, and alum was needed as a mordant to stick the natural dyes to the wool. In the 16th century alum works were opened on the south coast of England, including at Alum Bay on the Isle of Wight, but no alum was produced. In 1600 Sir Thomas Chaloner started making alum on land near Guisbrough Priory in north Yorkshire, his works were over five miles from the sea, and because sailing ships were the main form of transport, large alum works began opening all along the Yorkshire coast.