Image: one of the entrances of the Ecton copper mine.

A Long Mining Pedigree

The Peak District was the first region in the UK to be designated as a National Park. The landscape of this now protected area has been a valuable resource to humans since the Stone Age, providing food, shelter, fuel and raw materials for tools and weapons.

This page is concerned with what lies beneath the surface - minerals. Bronze Age humans are thought to have mined copper near Ecton and the Romans produced lead ingots here. The most active period of mining came during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, with dozens of mines smelting metals from their ores throughout the region.

These mineral riches come from the Derbyshire Orefield. When I studied geology in the 1970s, it was thought that it originated from a deeply buried granitic mass. Since then, the mineralisation of the Peak District is better understood, you can find out more on my mineralisation page.

Current mining is mainly opencast. The only active underground workings I can think of currently are the Blue John mines near Castleton. The key metals ores mined in the past were those of lead, zinc and copper. Currently, the focus is more on fluorite (flourspar) and barite (barytes). Calcite is also mined, along with limestone and gritstone.

 

Mining Controversies

The controversies of the past were about mining rights, with violence sometimes breaking out as miners disputed their territories. The disputes of more recent times have generally been concerned with the re-opening of former surface mines and quarries. One particularly notable one was Stanton Lees gritstone quarry. A group of activists set up camp on Stanton Moor to take direct action to prevent Stanton Lees quarry from being re-opened. The camp was present for a total of nine years and at times, there were almost a hundred people present.

The problem is getting a balance between local employment and the local economy and environmental concerns. The Peak District is after all a National Park.

Where to stay

Great places to stay if you have an interest in the history of mines and mining in the Peak District:

Hotels, B&B and holiday cottages in the Peak District >> (via booking.com)



Changing Fortunes

Image: Cromford Wharf

Evidence for Mining in the Peak District

Minerals of various kinds have been mined in the Peak District since prehistoric times. An antler tool and hammer stones from the bronze age have been found at Ecton (copper) Mines, near Wetton. Also a lead axe has been found at Mam Tor, near Castleton (where there is a high concentration of mines).

By looking at levels of lead in soils, archaeologists can find circumstantial evidence for lead mining in the past. The readings from peat on Kinder Scout, Derbyshire's highest hill, suggests that lead smelting occurred during the Bronze Age. In other areas, higher lead concentrations have been found which date to the Iron Age.  The highest concentrations date to the heyday of lead mining in the Peak District during the 18th and 19th centuries.

Peak District Roman Lead Mining

Lead ingots have been found that carry Roman inscriptions. Some have personal names, one has the Emperor Hadrian stamped on and several have Lutudarum. Mysteriously, no reference to the town of Lutudarum has been found. Some believe it existed in the area of Carsington whilst others believe it could refer to the ore field.

It is possible that the fort of Navio, at the northern limit of the mineralised area, was built to protect this industry. A prehistoric track way - The Portway - linked this with a non military settlement further south, where Carsington water now is.

No signs of these early Roman lead mines have been located. One of the main features of Roman mines is the shape of the tunnels. They have a characteristically small, square, arched or coffin-shaped cross section. These may have been present originally but subsequently lost during later mining as the tunnels were enlarged. Mining enthusiast and writer Nellie Kirkham explored a shaft close to a Romano-British settlement at Rainster Rocks and concluded from a variety of pieces of evidence that it seemed to be much older than most of the other workings she had explored.

 



Saxon and Medieval Mining in the Peak District

The only historical reference to Saxon lead mining activities is from the Wirksworth area. The mines here were owned by the monks of Repton. There is some ambiguity as to whether the entries in the Domesday Book refer to actual mining or smelting works.

In Wirksworth church there is a carving of T'owd Man (the local name for miners) dating from the 12th century (pictured below). I believe that it originally belonged to the people of Bonsall, a village a few miles away. After a bit of to-ing and fro-ing, it ended up permanently at Wirksworth. The carved figure shows a miner carrying a kibble (basket in which the ore is carried) and a pick.

Image: T'owd Man of Wirksworth

Lead mining was widespread in Derbyshire and the Peak District in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. Odin mine near Castleton at the foot of Mam Tor was cited as the location where a poacher was caught. Nestus mine (Heights of Abraham, Matlock Bath) is documented as being active in the fourteenth century. Medieval lead from the Peak District roofed many important buildings.

Collapse, Recovery and Mining Fortunes

The industry appears to have largely collapsed with Henry VIII's dissolution of the monasteries due to the recycling of lead from their roofs. By the seventeenth century, lead values had recovered, it was a 'boom time' for mining in the Peak District. Millclose Mine was one of the largest and only closed definitively in the 1950s.

Some of the mines in the region yielded lead 'for the Crown' but there were plenty of others in private ownership. Many of the big-name local families (e.g. Manners, Gell, Babbington) made money from lead mining between the 15th and 17th centuries.

Peak District Mining Laws and Customs

The earliest known formal Peak District mining laws and customs date from the 'Ashbourne Inquisition' in 1288. This was a royal inquisition which accepted that the practices of the time dated back further than living memory.

During Danish, Saxon and Norman times, England was divided up into areas with properly defined borders. Two mining areas were created, the High Peak and the Low Peak. A Barmote was set up for each, at Monyash for the High Peak and in the Wirksworth 'Soke and Wapentake' for the Low Peak.  Wapentake is the Danish name for a designated mining area. Within a wapentake, smaller administrative units called 'liberties' were established, usually based on a Parish.

They were established in 1288 and the Wirksworth Barmote still sits at the Moot Hall, complete with its old traditions. Food is provided before the Barmote sits and after the session, the members head to a local pub. Here, they are still given a clay pipe, but since the smoking ban, no tobacco is provided. The Monyash Barmote still sits but was incorporated with Wirksworth in the 1990s.

The Barmote

The idea of the Barmote was to settle disputes and set the rules for the wapentake. These days, it is effectively a tradition, although occasionally it is called upon to rule or advise on some small issues. Originally, in terms of the mining community, it was a powerful entity.

The image many of us have of these Peak District miners is that they were a rough and ready lot, hard drinking and rowdy. Whether that is accurate or not, the Barmote was legally required to provide stocks and other devices to punish anyone who should 'curse, swear or carry out any other misdemeanor' at a mine. Trespass was a common occurence, if caught, the trespasser had to give back all of the ore taken.

Thieving was not taken lightly. There was a three strikes and out system. For the third offence, I have read somewhere that the offender was stabbed through the hand, with the dagger being driven into a block of wood. The thief then must remain there until he died or managed to get free by cutting his hand off with the dagger.



Surface Remains

There are a few impressive surface remains, such as the Magpie Mine near Sheldon. In other places like Via Gellia, on the tops near Dirtlow Rake, random bits and pieces of machinery lie rusting in the grass. There are a fair number of mine entrances around. These have been made safe.

Not all of the mines were deep underground, many of the veins were worked using 'bell pits'. These were a cheap and easy way of getting at an ore that was fairly close to the surface. A shaft was sunk into the ore vein and enlarged at the bottom to extract the ore. The bottom of the chamber was enlarged until it became unsafe, then another pit would be sunk and so on along the vein. In many places in Derbyshire's Peak District you can see a line of bell pits, or at least what remains of the shaft at the surface. This type of mining resembles a line of craters marking the location of the ore and can be seen in many places around the Peak District.

Given the dangers of open mine shafts, towards the end of the nineteenth century, it was established in law that landowners were responsible for securing them.

Disclaimer - (probably not needed but here goes anyway!)

We can accept no responsibility for your well being if you visit any of the geological or mining sites mentioned on this web site, they are included only as information. You should ensure that the necessary permissions are sought when entering private property and also take appropriate action to ensure your personal safety.

Mining Reference Book

Peak District Mining and Quarrying - at last, a local history book that is easy to read and holds your interest for more than a few minutes at a time! Fascinating, well illustrated, non-technical and with a social angle throughout.

Ordnance Survey 1:25,000 (2 1/2 inches to the mile for us oldies!) map of the White Peak or Dark Peak.