The Village of Leadgate
First attested in 1590 Leadgate (Saxon Hildgaet or Swing Gate) the village consisted of little more than a house and farm in what is now the Brooms area of the village. update 123
The Industrial Age, the changing of manual tools to tools that could be driven by power started around 1750. This quickly led to advanced quarrying and mineral mining.
As Leadgate stood on the gateway to the veins of lead it is claimed that it was a “Toll Gate” which collected tolls from the merchants who passed through with the raw mined material.
Clearly that could have been possible and, in common with all historical stories, it became common folklore.