Roughton Gill Mine

English Heritage's Landscape Investigation Team has recently completed a detailed survey of the greater part of Roughton Gill and Silver Gill Mines, which lie next to each other in the Caldbeck Fells. The project only examined the surface remains, which are scattered over a vast area of remote moorland; no investigation was made of the underground workings, or of the 19th-century Mexico Mine complex, which lies immediately east of Roughton Gill Mine. The investigation was carried out in partnership with the Lake District National Park Authority, which owns the site and needed the best possible understanding of how the site evolved and what still survives in order to begin a long-term process of conservation.

The mines occupy adjacent ravines ('gills', in local dialect) at the head of the Dale Beck valley, where a number of nearly-parallel veins of silver-rich lead and copper ores were exposed in the steep valley sides. Silver Gill is the earlier mine, with documentary evidence suggesting that it was being worked intermittently and on a small scale by the early 14th century. However, it has long been suspected that it is the same as the 'Caldbeck Mine', which was operated by the Company of Mines Royal and their subsidiary companies between 1568 and about 1630; this theory has recently received strong support from research by Richard Smith and Sam Murphy. By the 18th century, the mine was effectively exhausted, but continued to be worked from time to time as part of Roughton Gill Mine, which lies a short distance to the east.

Roughton Gill Mine primarily exploited a second rich mineral vein which was apparently discovered at the end of the 17th century by Edward Wright and the Company of Copper Miners in England. Wright was one of the leading players in developing the technology of using coal to smelt metal ores in a 'reverberatory furnace'. This first phase of exploitation of Roughton Gill Mine ended about 1730, but the mine re-opened around the turn of the 19th century and proved very profitable for a succession of companies. By the time the Caldbeck Fells Consolidated Lead and Copper Mining Company Ltd took over the lease in 1865, however, most of the worthwhile ore above the 90-fathom level had already been extracted. The new owners spent large sums trying to follow the vein deeper and further to the east and invested heavily in new machinery to process the ever-expected 'strike' of rich ore. In the event, they met with little success and finally went bankrupt in 1876. Between 1888 and 1894, the site was re-used briefly by the Cleator Iron Ore Company to refine umber brought down from their China Clay Mine at Hare Stones about 1km to the east. Eventually, in 1913, the Roughton Gill 90-fathom mine level was purchased by Carlisle Urban District Council in order to pipe the water draining from it into the local public water supply, effectively ending any prospect of the mine re-opening.

Few traces of mine buildings survive at the site. A mill to crush and refine the mined ore is known to have been built in 1850, and was mapped at 1:2 500 scale by the Ordnance Survey in 1863, but this was almost completely demolished following the mine's closure in 1876. Nevertheless, the field survey revealed building foundations and other structural detail, which can be related in part directly to the map evidence. Analysis of the many physical remains that have gone virtually undocumented, including the system of 'leats' (artificial water channels) and reservoirs built by the miners to ensure a sufficient and regular supply of water to the mill that pulverised the ore, enabled the English Heritage team to piece together the evolution of the mine complex. Water was essential, both to power machinery and to separate mineral good-quality ore from waste material. In addition, the investigation identified the site of an earlier dressing plant, dating from about 1832, situated on a very steep and heavily-eroding hillside, and the possible sites of other processing buildings, including a 16th-century stamp mill operated by the Company of Mines Royal. Other highlights of the survey were the recognition of several 'hushes', or deep ravines created by the release of water collected in reservoirs upslope, which were intended to expose buried veins of ore. Documentary evidence suggests that these date to about 1602. The entrances of more than twenty mine levels (horizontal tunnels) and shafts of various dates were recorded, many of which had not previously been recognised. The exact site of the Cleator Iron Ore Company's umber mill was also established for the first time. As a whole, the investigation has provided both the breadth of coverage and the detailed understanding necessary for the Lake District National Park Authority to continue to conserve these important - but formerly poorly understood - relics of our early industrial heritage.

The mines can be visited by anyone walking the Caldbeck Fells: the easiest approach is along the Dale Beck valley from Fell Side 3km to the north. However, parts of the mines lie in steep, rocky ravines, and on unstable scree slopes, and access may prove extremely difficult. In addition, the underground workings are unstable and collapsing, and many have deep shafts in their floors: unauthorised entry is illegal and potentially extremely dangerous. Unauthorised collection of minerals is also illegal.

The full report (ref: AI/8/2001) can be ordered online. For more information, contact Marcus Jecock at English Heritage's York Office on 01904 601901 or e-mail marcus.jecock@english-heritage.org.uk