<P> As a technique for drawing , the closest predecesor to the pencil was Silverpoint until in 1565 ( some sources say as early as 1500 ) , a large deposit of graphite was discovered on the approach to Grey Knotts from the hamlet of Seathwaite in Borrowdale parish , Cumbria , England . This particular deposit of graphite was extremely pure and solid , and it could easily be sawn into sticks . It remains the only large - scale deposit of graphite ever found in this solid form . Chemistry was in its infancy and the substance was thought to be a form of lead . Consequently , it was called plumbago ( Latin for `` lead ore '' ) . Because the pencil core is still referred to as `` lead '' , or a `` lead '' , many people have the misconception that the graphite in the pencil is lead , and the black core of pencils is still referred to as lead , even though it never contained the element lead . The words for pencil in German ( bleistift ) , Irish ( peann luaidhe ) , Arabic ( قلم رصاص qalam raṣāṣ ) , and some other languages literally mean lead pen . </P>
when did they replace lead with graphite in pencils
never contained the element lead