A nice little explore that involved a few buildings, but sadly not much left of the interiors. Both of the mines on the site could be a good further explore, but both look either very dirty or incredibly unstable.
You can check out all my photos from this explore here on my Flickr.
Background:
Rockwood Pigments is located along the River Derwent, Matlock Bath, and can be accessed two main ways - one of which proves to be much easier than the other.
The site was originally known as Viaton and was established for the mining of iron ore in the first half of the 1800s. When this was exhausted in 1850, Lead carbonate or “white lead” (a pigment used in white paint since the 4th century BC) was ground by a water-wheel of 80 horse power, capable of raising 1,000 gallons an hour. At the end of the century in 1900, the Via Gellia Colour Company then took the works over and installed a turbine to drive four pairs of Peak stones to grind-up iron oxide.
The site became part of the Rockwood group and although they closed the site down when they revised their operations, they went on to change their name to Huntsman Pigments and Additives, and are currently the second largest manufacturer of iron oxide colour pigments in the World.
The site also contains the entrance to Side Mine, a former lead mine. It was opened up as a Show Cavern between 1825 and 1845. Mining finished in 1844 when the owner gave up his attempts to drain the workings of water. The red colour on the walls and roof comes from residue from the pigment factory when excess pigment was blown into the mine via ventilation fans.
The explore:
After a short walk along the riverbank we found a good way of gaining access to the site. At the time of our visit there were a few vehicles parked along the road leading to the site and a site office that was open. We cautiously made our way around the office and gained access undisturbed. The Rockwood Pigments site spans much further than you'd first think along the riverbank and there are a few buildings to see here, sadly the test of time has meant that not too much of the interiors now remains.
A few of the buildings on the site:
The entrance to the on-site mine that was used during operations:
After only a short walk inside the mine it looked very unstable so we decided not to venture any further:
The entrance to Side Mine, sadly we didn't venture down as its reportedly very dirty:
You can check out all my photos from this explore here on my Flickr.
Background:
Rockwood Pigments is located along the River Derwent, Matlock Bath, and can be accessed two main ways - one of which proves to be much easier than the other.
The site was originally known as Viaton and was established for the mining of iron ore in the first half of the 1800s. When this was exhausted in 1850, Lead carbonate or “white lead” (a pigment used in white paint since the 4th century BC) was ground by a water-wheel of 80 horse power, capable of raising 1,000 gallons an hour. At the end of the century in 1900, the Via Gellia Colour Company then took the works over and installed a turbine to drive four pairs of Peak stones to grind-up iron oxide.
The site became part of the Rockwood group and although they closed the site down when they revised their operations, they went on to change their name to Huntsman Pigments and Additives, and are currently the second largest manufacturer of iron oxide colour pigments in the World.
The site also contains the entrance to Side Mine, a former lead mine. It was opened up as a Show Cavern between 1825 and 1845. Mining finished in 1844 when the owner gave up his attempts to drain the workings of water. The red colour on the walls and roof comes from residue from the pigment factory when excess pigment was blown into the mine via ventilation fans.
The explore:
After a short walk along the riverbank we found a good way of gaining access to the site. At the time of our visit there were a few vehicles parked along the road leading to the site and a site office that was open. We cautiously made our way around the office and gained access undisturbed. The Rockwood Pigments site spans much further than you'd first think along the riverbank and there are a few buildings to see here, sadly the test of time has meant that not too much of the interiors now remains.
A few of the buildings on the site:
The entrance to the on-site mine that was used during operations:
After only a short walk inside the mine it looked very unstable so we decided not to venture any further:
The entrance to Side Mine, sadly we didn't venture down as its reportedly very dirty:
