1) This element occurred in a variety of compound terms which described the implements used by sinkers.
There is a reference to one sinking pick in Shibden in 1713, and to one sinking hammer and 6 sinking picks in Beeston in 1754. Two sinking corfs were valued at five shillings in 1727 and sinking wimbles at 8s 4d in 1815. In Colsterdale, a blacksmith was paid in 1736 for making sinking hacks and a sinking mell. Sinkers had a very important role in the development of mining and they were doubtless conscious of their status: an illiterate sinker called Thomas Hallas used a pick as his mark in 1666 when he signed an agreement with the landowner Sir Thomas Beaumont.