THE PRINCELY
DRIFT
On the walls of the drift there are visible marks
of hand carving with a chisel 2 . In the middle of the 16th century it
had a length of 400 metres and was used as a draining, ventilating and
mining drift for the excavations on Krzyżowa Mountain. In the 20th century
a new drift "Wniebowzięcie" ("The Assumption") was
cut through towards the deposits of ore. It lay 35 metres below and was
a branch of the drift "Gertruda". In the drift there was an
electrical narrow gauge railway that carried the output up to the surface.
The ore was hewn with a special "iron" (a kind of a splitting wedge with a loosely attached handle) and a hammer. Very hard pieces of rock were heated up, making a fire under them and pouring some water over them.
VENTILATION IN THE EXCAVATIONS.
Miners hewing such long drifts were supplied with fresh air. A special pair of bellows or a sheet were used for that. Pits, from which branch galleries were bored, were equipped with special devices that used wind for pumping air into the pits.
THE INFLUENCE OF MINING ON THE ENVIRONMENT
Mining excavations changed the flow of water for good. Rainwater that earlier had flowed straight to the stream today leaks through the collapsed pits to the old galleries and then flows out through the lowest located drift. Water, gathering in the excavations of Krzyżowa Mountain now flows through the drift "Gertruda". A similar situation is with water from excavations on Hanig Mountain. Flowing through the underground excavations, water dissolves all minerals occurring in them. The water contains air and organic compounds, essential for bacteria taking part in the process of dissolving. The presence of the air makes the process possible. On the other side of the stream we can see another channel in which water from the mouth of the drift "Błotnista" ("Muddy") is flows. The drift dates from the 16th century and its mouth is now backfilled. The flowing water contains an increased amount of calcium, magnesium and also arsenic. Therefore it is unfit for drinking. About 60 metres below, the water from the stream is seeping into the excavations in Sołtysia Montain. You can see it flowing in the underground waterfall in Kopalnia Złota and flowing out through "Sztolnia Czarna" ("The Black Drift").
BATS
While visiting a drift we can chance upon one of the most mysterious mammals a bat. Bats can fly in total darkness thanks to employing echo location. Most of them feed on insects and other invertebrates. After a man, they form the second biggest group of mammals. Their colonies have thousands of individuals. Bats belong to warm blooded animals but the temperature of their bodies fluctuates from 37 C while they are active to under 10 C degrees during hibernation. During hibernation they spend the winter months in caves and drifts. Mining activity was one of the reasons that bats have found favourable conditions for living in Złoty Stok. In the accessible old mining excavations live numerous species of bats, among which are some very rare and protected such as: lesser horseshoe bats, greater mouse eared bats, notch eared bats, Bechstein bats and Barbastelle bats.
 --- zoom --- Plan of subterranean excavations in the mountain. |
On
the slope of Krzyżowa Mountain there are some relics of tens of
pits of old mines that existed here from the 13th century. Inside
the mountain, on several levels, there are old excavations. Dieser Stollen wurde zum ersten Mal urkundlich erwähnt im Jahre 1502. An den Wänden des Stollens sind noch Meißelspuren sichtbar. "THE PRINCELY DRIFT" The first information about the drift comes from 1502 year. |
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The ore was hewn with a special "iron" (a kind of a splitting wedge with a loosely attached handle) and a hammer. Very hard pieces of rock were heated up, making a fire under them and pouring some water over them.
VENTILATION IN THE EXCAVATIONS.
Miners hewing such long drifts were supplied with fresh air. A special pair of bellows or a sheet were used for that. Pits, from which branch galleries were bored, were equipped with special devices that used wind for pumping air into the pits.
 |
"The
Princely Drift"was manually bored for several years. Miners
used the flickering light of oil lamps to lighten the surrounding
darkness.
In the 16th century the lamps were ceramic bowls with spouts in which there were hemp wicks. The bowls were filled with sufficient oil for one shift (7 hours). Later the lamps were made of iron or brass. Tallow candles gave more light but since they were expensive they were rarely used. |
THE INFLUENCE OF MINING ON THE ENVIRONMENT
Mining excavations changed the flow of water for good. Rainwater that earlier had flowed straight to the stream today leaks through the collapsed pits to the old galleries and then flows out through the lowest located drift. Water, gathering in the excavations of Krzyżowa Mountain now flows through the drift "Gertruda". A similar situation is with water from excavations on Hanig Mountain. Flowing through the underground excavations, water dissolves all minerals occurring in them. The water contains air and organic compounds, essential for bacteria taking part in the process of dissolving. The presence of the air makes the process possible. On the other side of the stream we can see another channel in which water from the mouth of the drift "Błotnista" ("Muddy") is flows. The drift dates from the 16th century and its mouth is now backfilled. The flowing water contains an increased amount of calcium, magnesium and also arsenic. Therefore it is unfit for drinking. About 60 metres below, the water from the stream is seeping into the excavations in Sołtysia Montain. You can see it flowing in the underground waterfall in Kopalnia Złota and flowing out through "Sztolnia Czarna" ("The Black Drift").
BATS
While visiting a drift we can chance upon one of the most mysterious mammals a bat. Bats can fly in total darkness thanks to employing echo location. Most of them feed on insects and other invertebrates. After a man, they form the second biggest group of mammals. Their colonies have thousands of individuals. Bats belong to warm blooded animals but the temperature of their bodies fluctuates from 37 C while they are active to under 10 C degrees during hibernation. During hibernation they spend the winter months in caves and drifts. Mining activity was one of the reasons that bats have found favourable conditions for living in Złoty Stok. In the accessible old mining excavations live numerous species of bats, among which are some very rare and protected such as: lesser horseshoe bats, greater mouse eared bats, notch eared bats, Bechstein bats and Barbastelle bats.
