Staying near the Lake District over Christmas we went on several family walks in mining areas, although this one was a solo effort.
The plan was to start at the top left of the map below and have a look at old copper mine adits above Tilberthwaite Gill (A - G ), followed by the lower slate workings (H - J), finishing with a long tunnel at K.
This tunnel, the ‘deep adit’ or ‘horse crag level’, was driven in ca 1850 to drain the higher copper mines and to provide an easier route to cart out the ore.
The deep adit is well known and has been reported before, first in 2015 (along with a couple of the slate places) and again in 2017:
www.28dayslater.co.uk
www.28dayslater.co.uk
I haven’t found any underground pictures of the other sites - the photos below are a mixture of phone and camera.
A view of the first location A from the other side of the valley.
Three adits are visible, but only the lowest one with the largest waste heap went any distance.
This turned out to be typical for most of the holes in this region - flooded tunnels 50-100 yards long which meander around with a few offshoots, never hitting any significant ore vein.
Walking around to B, this had a little ruin in front of the adit, which was blocked with rocks, presumably to prevent sheep falling down - I left it as I found it.
The adit at C was flooded to within a foot of the ceiling, so I had a look at a fenced-off shaft up the hill instead, top right of the photo below.
The partially flooded lower level was accessible but the whole place looked dodgy so I didn’t go further.
D has a couple of ruined buildings, probably mill remains, and seems to be the site of the original Tilberthwaite mines, more info here: https://heritagerecords.nationaltrust.org.uk/HBSMR/MonRecord.aspx?uid=MNA119493.
Everything was water-powered in the early days of course, and there’s plenty of water nearby, along with the remains of what looks like an old leat (not shown).
There are few deep fissures nearby, maybe worked-out veins, but nothing really explorable without climbing equipment.
Down the hill there are two very short adits at E, the upper slightly flooded one featuring a hole in the floor with a view of lower levels.
Passing several trial levels along the side of Steel Edge we come to F, appearing sometime between 1860 and 1912 and marked as ‘Wetherlam Mines’ on one map.
This must have been fairly productive judging by the terraced remains of an ore processing plant.
No obvious sign of a wheel pit, only some old ironwork made by John Fell and Co of Wolverhampton.
I haven’t found any information about this maker but a firm of the same name based in London is listed as making steam engines and boilers.
The adit behind was blocked by waste, but looked as if it could opened up again without too much effort.
The final copper adit explored in this region is G, another flooded one but with no signs of connections to anything else.
There is another adit shown on old maps nearby, downstream of a waterfall on Tilberthwaite Gill.
The second picture below, taken from the other side of the ravine, may be it but I didn’t have time to investigate.
continued
The plan was to start at the top left of the map below and have a look at old copper mine adits above Tilberthwaite Gill (A - G ), followed by the lower slate workings (H - J), finishing with a long tunnel at K.
This tunnel, the ‘deep adit’ or ‘horse crag level’, was driven in ca 1850 to drain the higher copper mines and to provide an easier route to cart out the ore.
The deep adit is well known and has been reported before, first in 2015 (along with a couple of the slate places) and again in 2017:
Report - - Penny Rigg Copper Mill and Adits - Tilberthwaite - October 2015 | Mines and Quarries
Penny Rigg Copper Mill and Adits - Tilberthwaite Penny Rigg Mill, showing the pit which housed a 32ft diameter wheel. History Penny Rigg Copper Mill was used to process copper ore which was transported to the mill from the Tilberthwaite mine through the impressively long Deep Level Adit...
Report - - Penny Rigg Copper & Slate Mine - Cumbria - May 2017 | Mines and Quarries
Good Evening Guys, today i can start with the Reports from my UK Trip. First i have to say SORRY, because i have planned to meet with some of you, and i cant make it. There was some privat circumstances and we have to change some things that we go without a plan to UK, so it wasnt possible. We...
I haven’t found any underground pictures of the other sites - the photos below are a mixture of phone and camera.
A view of the first location A from the other side of the valley.
Three adits are visible, but only the lowest one with the largest waste heap went any distance.
This turned out to be typical for most of the holes in this region - flooded tunnels 50-100 yards long which meander around with a few offshoots, never hitting any significant ore vein.
Walking around to B, this had a little ruin in front of the adit, which was blocked with rocks, presumably to prevent sheep falling down - I left it as I found it.
The adit at C was flooded to within a foot of the ceiling, so I had a look at a fenced-off shaft up the hill instead, top right of the photo below.
The partially flooded lower level was accessible but the whole place looked dodgy so I didn’t go further.
D has a couple of ruined buildings, probably mill remains, and seems to be the site of the original Tilberthwaite mines, more info here: https://heritagerecords.nationaltrust.org.uk/HBSMR/MonRecord.aspx?uid=MNA119493.
Everything was water-powered in the early days of course, and there’s plenty of water nearby, along with the remains of what looks like an old leat (not shown).
There are few deep fissures nearby, maybe worked-out veins, but nothing really explorable without climbing equipment.
Down the hill there are two very short adits at E, the upper slightly flooded one featuring a hole in the floor with a view of lower levels.
Passing several trial levels along the side of Steel Edge we come to F, appearing sometime between 1860 and 1912 and marked as ‘Wetherlam Mines’ on one map.
This must have been fairly productive judging by the terraced remains of an ore processing plant.
No obvious sign of a wheel pit, only some old ironwork made by John Fell and Co of Wolverhampton.
I haven’t found any information about this maker but a firm of the same name based in London is listed as making steam engines and boilers.
The adit behind was blocked by waste, but looked as if it could opened up again without too much effort.
The final copper adit explored in this region is G, another flooded one but with no signs of connections to anything else.
There is another adit shown on old maps nearby, downstream of a waterfall on Tilberthwaite Gill.
The second picture below, taken from the other side of the ravine, may be it but I didn’t have time to investigate.
continued
