A Taste of the
Peak District
Peak District, Derbyshire industrial archaeology - mining, B&B, self catering holiday cottage accommodation, hotels, tourist attractions, walking, climbing, mountain biking history, towns, villages, geology, mining, local information, Derbyshire businesses and much more …
After the middle ages, mining in the Peak District was a boom industry and gave the charater we see toaday to many of the towns and villages.
The heyday of Peak mining began in the 17th century. Improvements in technology in the 18th century such as soughs and pumping engines gave access to deeper workings. Some of the richest veins were found in the south of the ore field - Winster, Elton and Snitterton had the Plackett Pipe and the veins in the Wirksworth area were also rich in lead. Millclose mine was one of the richest and most successful, read about Millclose mine here.
An interesting local insight into underground workings can be found in Masson Hill quarry, a recently developed sports climbing venue. On the guide, there is a cave marked at one end of the quarry. This is in fact a cross section through an old mine (the Masson mine) that was revealed during the working life of the quarry. A shaft is intact above your head and a deep, narrow cleft marks the line of the vein. The site is on private property and the rock at the quarry is loose. Accessing the quarry and site of the mine necessitates scrambling down large rocks and a steep sope, slippery when wet.
Ventilation in mines has always been a problem. In early days, it consisted simply of lighting a fire at the bottom of a specially dug shaft. The rising hot air set up a convection current that drew cooler fresh air down into the mine through another air shaft nearby. Fans were first introduced in the early 18th century. Waterblasts were intruduced in the mid 18th century and were not widespread. Water falling down a pipe was used to compress air which then blasted into the mine at depth.
The name ‘Bole Hill’ or ‘Bolehill’ indicates sites where bonfires were used to smelt lead. They were situated on high points where the wind would fan the flames and generate the high temperatures needed for the smelting process. Naturally, these were small scale operations.
The method was superseded by the cupola smelting system late in the 16th century. This enabled an increase in production and Derbyshire’s Peak District became a major producer, exporting world wide for the next 200 years. The industry declined as it became harder to find new deposits and also as new areas were developed such as the northern Pennines, Wales and Spain. Probably the most successful Peak District mine was the Millclose Mine which closed in the 20th century (1939). In addition, the Napoleonic wars in the early 19th century disturbed trade as access to the European market was denied. The industry revived briefly in the mid 19th century but most mines had closed by the end of the 1860s. The Broken Hill mine in Australia opened at that time. They had easily mined and very rich lead/zinc veins which helped make the Peak District mines non-viable.
So what remains of the industry that once employed an estimated 20,000 people? Well over 20,000 shafts and spoil heaps are left behind with high levels of lead and a small number of buildings and chimneys. This is a mixed legacy, on the one hand it leaves tangible and fascinating evidence of one of the most significant industries of the Peak District plus a habitat for rare metallophytic (tolerant of high levels of potentially toxic metals in the soil) plants e.g. leadwort. On the other hand, it leaves areas that are potentially toxic to visitors. Please make sure that your hands are washed if you spend time investigating the remains, particularly spoil heaps.
Disclaimer - (probably not needed but here goes anyway!) We can accept no responsibility for your well being if you visit any of the Peak District, Derbyshire mine sites mentioned on this web site, they are included only for reference. You should ensure that the necessary permissions are sought when entering private property and also take appropriate action to ensure your personal safety.
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Back to the first Debyshire Peak District mining page or see images of Bell Pit mines in Derbyshire
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. I bought mine via Amazon.co.uk
with a decent discount off the shop price (sorry,
I don't know if they are still doing the discount).
Other Peak District mines information - Magpie
Mine, Copper
mine at Ecton, Millclose
Mine
Ordnance Survey 1:25,000 (2 1/2 inches to the mile for us oldies!) map of the White Peak or Dark Peak (10% discount off list prices).