Underground Mines

Underground mining in the district ceased with the closure of Blenkinsopp Colliery in 2002. The majority of coal workings were of small scale, consisting of open cast workings on the seam outcrops, bell-pits, shallow shafts and adit levels which mainly worked coal to depths of 100 metres or less. All the coal workings are now believed to be flooded and inaccessible, but documentary material including illustrations and photographs is important in appreciating the place of coal mining in the geodiversity of the region. The Romans almost certainly worked coal, particularly from those seams which crop out close to Hadrian’s Wall.

Documentary records exist of coal working in the 13th century and by the early 1620s, coal was being mined on a commercial basis in the Grasslees valley between Elsdon and Hepple. Substantial underground mining of lead and later witherite took place in the south of the district. The closure of Settlingstones Mine in 1968 brought an end to witherite production worldwide. Some buildings remain as evidence of the Settlingstones and adjacent mines; the underground workings are inaccessible, but material extracted can still be found on the spoil heaps.