Lead Mining
Calcite crystal in the spoil heaps of Wet Grooves Lead Mine in Wensleydale, North Yorkshire.
N.B. It is illegal to remove minerals from UK National Parks and SSSIs (Sites of Special Scientific Interest) without permission.
Crackpot Hall Level adit for the Beldi Hill Lead Mine, Keld, Swaledale, Yorkshire Dales, North Yorkshire.
Lead mine spoilheaps, Brandlehow Bay on Derwentwater, Keswick in the the Lake District, Cumbria.
German miners renowned for their skill, were brought to Keswick in 1564. They mined extensively around Cat Bells, searching for lead, silver, copper and graphite. Spoil heaps are still visible around Brandlehow Bay.
Maiden Moor is in in the distance.
Old mineral workings at Fell End Clouds, Ravenstonedale Common on the slopes of Wild Boar Fell in Cumbria.
One of a row of several trench-like surface mines. The lead ore, galena would have been the main product of the workings, but baryte and malachite may also have been found. The small white lead tolerant flower, spring sandwort, grows around the workings.
Old mineral workings at Fell End Clouds, Ravenstonedale Common on the slopes of Wild Boar Fell in Cumbria.
One of a row of several trench-like surface mines. The lead ore, galena would have been the main product of the workings, but baryte and malachite may also have been found. The small white lead tolerant flower, spring sandwort, grows around the workings.
Old mineral workings at Fell End Clouds, Ravenstonedale Common on the slopes of Wild Boar Fell in Cumbria.
One of a row of several trench-like surface mines. The lead ore, galena would have been the main product of the workings, but baryte and malachite may also have been found. The small white lead tolerant flower, spring sandwort, grows around the workings.
Yellow stained flourite in the spoil heaps of Wet Grooves Lead Mine, Wensleydale, North Yorkshire.
N.B. It is illegal to remove minerals from UK National Parks and SSSIs (Sites of Special Scientific Interest) without permission.
Two tiny fragments of galena (lead sulphide) found within a quartz vein in the spoil heaps of Bunton Level Lead Mine at Gunnerside Gill in Swaledale, North Yorkshire.
N.B. It is illegal to remove minerals from UK National Parks and SSSIs (Sites of Special Scientific Interest) without permission.
Greenside Lead Mine C16-C19 at Glenridding in the Lake District.
In 1959 the Atomic Weapons Research Est. in Operation Orpheus, carried out two explosions to see if underground nuclear tests could be detected by seismic instruments.
Greenside Lead Mine C16-C19 at Glenridding in the Lake District.
In 1959 the Atomic Weapons Research Est. in Operation Orpheus, carried out two explosions to see if underground nuclear tests could be detected by seismic instruments.
Aerial view of Glenridding Dodd in the Lake District National Park, Cumbria, UK.
The remains of Greenside Lead Mine can be seen at the end of Greenside Road.
Swaledale Sheep looking towards Grinton Smelt Mill and flue from the heather clad Grinton Moor, Swaledale in the Yorkshire Dales.
Grinton Smelt Mill (or How Mill) in Swaledale, North Yorkshire. This ruined lead mining and processing site on Cogden Moor was built c1820 to process lead won by hushing and hydraulic mining. The buildings and 300 metre long stone flue leading up to Sharrow Hill are grade II* listed structures and scheduled monuments. The site is recognised as being the best preserved lead mining site in the Yorkshire Dales...A mill had existed on the site since the early 18th century, but the later addition of a 980-foot (300 m) flue allowed workers to recover waste lead from the flue.
Grinton Smelt Mill (or How Mill) in Swaledale, the Yorkshire Dales.
This ruined lead mining and processing site on Cogden Moor was built c1820 to process lead won by hushing and hydraulic mining. The buildings and 300 metre long stone flue leading up to Sharrow Hill are grade II* listed structures and scheduled monuments. The site is recognised as being the best preserved lead mining site in the Yorkshire Dales...A mill had existed on the site since the early 18th century, but the later addition of a 980-foot (300 m) flue allowed workers to recover waste lead from the flue.
The dramatic lead mining landscape of Gunnerside Gill in Swaledale, Yorkshire Dales, North Yorkshire.
The Old Gang dressing floor for the Sir Francis Mine in Gunnerside Gill, Swaledale in the Yorkshire Dales, North Yorkshire.
Bouse bays and wheel pit at the Old Gang dressing floor of Sir Francis Lead Mine in Gunnerside Gill, Swaledale in the Yorkshire Dales, North Yorkshire.
The bouse (or ore) was often hand-sorted by boys and women. Rock containing no ore was thrown onto the spoil heaps and any pure galena (lead ore) was crushed into small pieces. Initially this was done by hand using a large flat hammer, but later by a water-powered crusher in the wheel pit. Finally the pea-sized lumps of ore were sieved and sent to a smelt mill.
Bouse teams at the Sir Francis lead mine dressing floor, Gunnerside, Swaledale in the Yorkshire Dales, North Yorkshire.
The eleven stone bunkers above the dressing floor of Sir Francis Mine were used by gangs of miners to store their accumulation of bouse (ore) prior to it being taken to the dressing floor for processing.
Sir Francis Mine Level of 1864 beside Gunnerside Beck, Gunnerside, Swaledale, Yorkshire Dales, North Yorkshire.
The old cast iron air receiver stands on the site of the engine house beside the lead mine entrance.
Office and mineshop of the AD Lead Mining Company beside Gunnerside Beck in Gunnerside Gill, Swaledale in the Yorkshire Dales, North Yorkshire.
The enormous spoil heaps and ruinous remains of the bouse teams and wheel pit of the Dolly Lead Level on the west bank of Gunnerside Gill, Swaledale, Yorkshire Dales, North Yorkshire.
Bunton Level Lead Mine, Gunnerside Gill, Swaledale, Yorkshire Dales, North Yorkshire.
The remains of the row of bouse teams are in the foreground.
The wheel pit of Bunton / Bunting Mine dressing floor, Gunnerside Gill, Swaledale, Yorkshire Dales, North Yorkshire.
The wheel pit housed a 7.4m diameter overshot wheel which powered a pair of crushers the break up the ore.
Entrance adit to Bunton Level Lead Mine, Gunnerside Gill, Swaledale, Yorkshire Dales, North Yorkshire.
Surrender Bridge signposted up through the wild west landscape of Bunton Hush, Gunnerside Gill, Swaledale, North Yorkshire.
HUSH: "A gully or ravine excavated at least in part by use of a controlled torrent of water, to reveal or exploit a vein of lead or other mineral ore." Historic England.
Bunton Hush, Gunnerside Gill in Swaledale, North Yorkshire.
HUSH: "A gully or ravine excavated at least in part by use of a controlled torrent of water, to reveal or exploit a vein of lead or other mineral ore." Historic England.
The rich tapestry of Gunnerside Gill: Bunton Level and Bunton Rush from the western side of the gill in Swaledale, Yorkshire Dales, North Yorkshire.
Blakethwaite Smelt Mill, Gunnerside Gill, Swaledale, Yorkshire Dales, North Yorkshire.
This mill was built around 1820 to deal with the galena from the Lowanthwaite and Blakethwaite mines. Here the ore pellets were heated and the molten lead poured into moulds to make ingots of pure metal. The iron pillars that supported the furnace arches are still visible, as are sections of the long flue that ran up the hillside to carry away the poisonous fumes from the hot ore. The limekiln in front of the cliff face provided mortar for the building of the mill.
Peat Store, Blakethwaite Smelt Mill, Gunnerside Gill, Swaledale, Yorkshire Dales, North Yorkshire.
Peat, cut from the moors and dried in this open-sided storehouse, was used to fuel the furnaces of the smelt mill.
Lime kiln, Blakethwaite Smelt Mill, Gunnerside Gill, Swaledale, Yorkshire Dales, North Yorkshire.
An early 19th century kiln, built to provide mortar for the building of the mill.
Waterfall and the remains of the Blakethwaite Mine Dressing Floor, Gunnerside Gill, Swaledale, North Yorkshire.
North Hush, Gunnerside Gill, Swaledale in the Yorkshire Dales, North Yorkshire.
Gunnerside Gill is criss-crossed by a series of large lead-bearing seams which have been mined since at least the 15th century. Early miners developed the process of hushing to expose these veins of lead. To create a hush, a dam was built at the top of an area to be cleared. When sufficient rainwater had collected behind the dam, it was broken, sending the water gushing down the hillside, scouring away the soil and revealing seams of lead which could then be easily worked from the surface. When the gill had been fully hushed, means of horizontal tunnelling had to be developed to gain access to the deeper veins.
North Hush Gunnerside Gill in Swaledale, Yorkshire Dales, North Yorkshire.
Friarfold Hush and Bunton Hush make up the backdrop.
Crackpot Hall Level Smithy, Keld, Swaledale in the Yorkshire Dales, North Yorkshire.
Built for the lead mine, but the building was used as a storage barn for the owners of Crackpot Hall when the mine closed.
The 19th century Park Level Lead Mine at Killhope near Cowshill in County Durham. Now a mining museum.
The smelt mill chimney on Malham Moor, Malham in the Yorkshire Dales, North Yorkshire.
This chimney is all that remains of an old smelting mill which was used to smelt lead (from galena) and zinc (from calamine). The zinc was mined on nearby Pikedaw Hill.
Spoil heaps from the Old Gang Lead Mines on Melbecks Moor, Swaledale in the Yorkshire Dales, North Yorkshire.
Thomas and Foster stone breaker from the Old Gand Lead Mine on Melbecks Moor, Swaledale in the Yorkshire Dales, North Yorkshire. NY 948 014
Old Rake Hush on Melbecks Moor, Swaledale in the Yorkshire Dales.
HUSH: "A gully or ravine excavated at least in part by use of a controlled torrent of water, to reveal or exploit a vein of lead or other mineral ore." Historic England.
The village of Nenthead and the spoil heaps of its lead mines on Flinty Fell in the North Pennines AONB, Cumbria.
Keld Heads Lead Mine and Smelt Mill at Tullis Cote, Preston under Scar in Wensleydale, North Yorkshire.
Keld Heads Mine is believed to be the oldest mine in Wensleydale and was the richest in Yorkshire.
The photo shows the main mine adit, the smelt mill engine house, boiler room and chimney.
Keld Heads Smelt Mill at Tullis Cote, Preston under Scar in Wensleydale, North Yorkshire.
The photo shows the boiler room and chimney.
Keld Heads Smelt Mill at Tullis Cote, Preston under Scar in Wensleydale, North Yorkshire.
The photo shows the inside of the engine or pump house and the chimney.
Keld Heads Smelt Mill at Tullis Cote, Preston under Scar in Wensleydale, North Yorkshire.
The photo shows the converted peat store.
Elder growing in the ruins of The Calamine House on Cobscar Rake, Redmire Moor, Wensleydale in the Yorkshire Dales, North Yorkshire.
This building was recorded as a smithy in 1762, then as The Calamine House in 1851.
The ruin is all that remains of Cobscar Calamine House where calamine (zinc carbonate ZnCO3) was processed from the Hemimorphite found in the nearby lead workings. Zinc minerals were first used commercially in 1794 when zinc carbonate began to be used in the brass industry.
Lead mining bell pits on Cobscar Rake, Redmire Moor in Wensleydale, the Yorkshire Dales National Park, North Yorkshire.
The lead mining bell pits are circular mounds of spoil surrounding the remains of lead extraction pits.
To the left of the pits are the remains of The Calamine House where calamine (zinc carbonate ZnCO3) was processed from the Hemimorphite found in these lead workings. Zinc minerals were first used commercially in 1794 when zinc carbonate began to be used in the brass industry. Cobscar Mill Chimney can be seen in the distance.
Cobscar Mill and Chimney on Redmire Moor, Wensleydale in the Yorkshire Dales National Park, North Yorkshire.
This early 18th century smelt mill was closed in the 1830s due to a depression in the lead markets. It was reopened by Lord Bolton in the 1840s, but ceased work around 1890. It remained largely intact until the 1940s when it was used as target practise by the army.
Cobscar Mill flue and chimney on Redmire Moor, Wensleydale in the Yorkshire Dales National Park, North Yorkshire.
This collapsed flue would have carried fumes away from the mill. Lead would have condensed on the inside of the flue wall which could then be collected and processed.
Cobscar Lead Smelt Mill flue and chimney on Redmire Moor, Wensleydale in the Yorkshire Dales.
This collapsed flue would have carried fumes away from the mill. Lead would have condensed on the inside of the flue wall which could then be collected and processed.