Bere Alston (Beeralstone), Tavistock District, Devon, England, UK

NOTE: Beeralstone (sometimes: Beeralston) is an antiquated 19th century spelling variant. The spellings are also seen as Beer Alston or Bere Alston. The current spelling as seen on Ordnance Survey maps and elsewhere is Bere Alston.

A group of silver-lead mines, the Bere Alston mines are amongst the oldest workings in Britain, and date back to the 13th Century. After long periods of inactivity, mining was resumed throughout the area in the 1780s. The area was also one of the south-west's most important producers of fluorite (albeit of minor importance compared northern England)and produced many fine specimens in the late 1700 and early 1800s.

There is some possible naming confusion with these early workings, e.g. are contemporaneous references to Beer Alston Mine specifically referring to a Beer Alston Mine, or perhaps more generally, to one of the several mines located at Beer Alston?