Odin Mine is a disused lead mine in the Peak District National Park, situated at grid reference SK133835 . It lies on a site of 25 hectares [1] near the village of Castleton, England. It is the oldest documented mine in Derbyshire and is thought to be one of the oldest lead mines in England. The mine is a Scheduled Ancient Monument [2] and has biological and geological significance within the Castleton Site of Special Scientific Interest.
The origins of Odin Mine are unclear; many Peak District guidebooks and sources say that the mine was first worked by the Romans and subsequently by the Saxons and the Danes. Trevor D. Ford states "It was probably worked in Roman times, again in the Dark Ages and in Norman times". [3] However, there is no historical evidence to back this up. The use of the name “Odin” is often cited as evidence that the mine was named by the Danes after their chief god. This is backed up by evidence that prior to the 19th century the mine was commonly called Oden in mining records, which is more in common with the traditional Danish spelling. [4] The first mention of the mine in official records was in 1280 when a poacher John of Bellhag was put on trial for hunting at Bactor Wood in Castleton and at the entrance to Odin Mine. [5] In the early days before explosives, the rock was weakened by fire setting: this involved heating the rock overnight by leaving fires lit and then cooling the rock with water the next morning causing the rock to shatter. [6]
The Romans had great need for lead, especially for the plumbing systems in their dwellings. They mined the ore galena extensively during their time in Britain, so it is possible that Odin Mine does have Roman origins. The mine is not mentioned again in documents until 1663. In the early 18th century Richard Bagshawe, later to become High Sheriff of Derbyshire, had a considerable stake in the mine. The Bagshawe family retained their interests at Odin until the 1850s. The mine was worked continuously throughout the 18th century with annual ore extraction varying between 100 and 800 tonnes per annum. In April 1706 a rich vein of lead was struck: 41 men and eight women were working at the site and the mine reached 500 metres into the hillside beneath Mam Tor.
Drainage problems in the mine meant that a proposal to build a low-level sough was put forward in 1772 but this was not completed for many years, probably not until the 1840s. It was driven up from Hollowford Brook at Trickett Bridge in Castleton to the workings. The mine produced extensive spoil and this was used by the Manchester and Sheffield Turnpike company in 1802 when constructing a new road between the two places. The spoil contained fluorspar, calcite, and barite which was extracted in later years when their value became known. There was a gap in production between 1848 and 1852 and the Bagshawe family withdrew their interests from the mine in September 1856, handing over ownership to Robert How Ashton of Losehill Hall. Lead production at the mine stopped in 1869, although some working took place in 1908 and 1909 when considerable amounts of fluorspar and barite were excavated from the Mam Engine Shaft. [7]
The veins of lead in the Castleton area formed 280 million years ago when a fault in the local Carboniferous limestone allowed mineralising fluids to flow into fissures in the rock, pushed up by great pressure from beneath the Earth's surface. Lead and sulphate combined to form the lead ore galena. In its heyday, the mine was a complex system of levels and shafts that extended for approximately 1500 metres into the Edale shales beneath the nearby Mam Tor. In the early days the mining was open cast, forming a gorge in the hillside with the water diverted by a leat to the north to keep the workings dry. Later the miners followed the vein of lead underground. The vein is exposed on the surface in a small limestone outcrop at the entrance to the mine and then continues underground just south of due west in the limestone under the Edale shales of Mam Tor. The 1769 plans of the mine show that there were several branch veins leading from the main lead workings. There are several small pipe caverns contained within the mine; the most prominent of these is Odin Cave (called Gank Hole by the miners) which was formed by groundwater opening out a void between limestone boulders. There is no evidence that Blue John was ever mined at Odin although the adjacent Treak Cliff Cavern regularly mines the rock in areas not open to visitors. [8]
The site of Odin Mine is owned by the National Trust. It consists of a limestone gorge, the original early workings before they went underground to follow the veins of ore. It looks like a natural limestone ravine with the workings now disguised by natural vegetation. To the left of the gorge is the two-metre-wide Odin Cave, which goes about 10 metres underground. The remaining spoil heaps are a protected archaeological site and support a wide variety of plants including Birdsfoot Trefoil, Eyebright, Wild thyme and the Common spotted orchid. Some plants called metallophytes can tolerate the high levels of metal in the soil: these include Spring Sandwort and Alpine Scurvy-grass. [9] A gritstone crushing wheel, 1.75 metres in diameter with its iron tyre and circular iron track, used to crush the ore, can still be seen at the site. The crusher was built in 1823 at a cost of £40. [10]
Fluorite (also called fluorspar) is the mineral form of calcium fluoride, CaF2. It belongs to the halide minerals. It crystallizes in isometric cubic habit, although octahedral and more complex isometric forms are not uncommon.
The Peak District is an upland area in England at the southern end of the Pennines. Mostly in Derbyshire, it extends into Cheshire, Greater Manchester, Staffordshire, West Yorkshire and South Yorkshire. It includes the Dark Peak, where moorland is found and the geology is dominated by gritstone, and the White Peak, a limestone area with valleys and gorges. The Dark Peak forms an arc on the north, east and west sides; the White Peak covers central and southern tracts. The historic Peak District extends beyond the National Park, which excludes major towns, quarries and industrial areas. It became the first of the national parks of England and Wales in 1951. Nearby Manchester, Stoke-on-Trent, Derby and Sheffield send millions of visitors – some 20 million live within an hour's ride. Inhabited from the Mesolithic era, it shows evidence of the Neolithic, Bronze and Iron Ages. Settled by the Romans and Anglo-Saxons, it remained largely agricultural; mining arose in the Middle Ages. Richard Arkwright built cotton mills in the Industrial Revolution. As mining declined, quarrying grew. Tourism came with the railways, spurred by the landscape, spa towns and Castleton's show caves.
Mam Tor is a 517 m (1,696 ft) hill near Castleton in the High Peak of Derbyshire, England. Its name means "mother hill", so called because frequent landslips on its eastern face have resulted in a multitude of "mini-hills" beneath it. These landslips, which are caused by unstable lower layers of shale, also give the hill its alternative name of Shivering Mountain.
Castleton is a village in the High Peak district of Derbyshire, England, at the western end of the Hope Valley on the Peakshole Water, a tributary of the River Noe, between the Dark Peak to the north and the White Peak to the south. The population was 642 at the 2011 Census.
Hope is a village and civil parish in the Derbyshire Peak District, in England. The population at the 2011 Census was 864. It lies in the Hope Valley, at the point where Peakshole Water flows into the River Noe. To the north, Win Hill and Lose Hill stand either side of the Noe.
The Hope Valley is a rural area centred on the village of Hope, Derbyshire, in the Peak District in the northern Midlands of England.
This article details some of the history of lead mining in Derbyshire, England.
Speedwell Cavern is one of the four show caves in Castleton, Derbyshire, England.
Treak Cliff Cavern is a show cave near Castleton in Derbyshire, England. It is part of the Castleton Site of Special Scientific Interest and one of only two sites where the ornamental mineral Blue John is still excavated. As part of an agreement with English Nature, the Blue John that can be seen in the show cave is not mined but it is extracted in small quantities from other areas of the cave and made into saleable items like bowls, jewellery, and ornaments.
Great Hucklow is a small village and civil parish in the Derbyshire Peak District which nestles under Hucklow Edge between the villages of Tideswell and Bradwell. It has a population of about 100, including Foolow, Grindlow plus Little Hucklow and being measured at 427 in the 2011 Census.
The High Peak Estate is an area of Pennine moorland in the ownership of the National Trust in the Dark Peak area of Derbyshire, England.
Cave Dale is a dry limestone valley in the Derbyshire Peak District, England. It is located at grid reference SK149824. The northern end of the dale starts at the village of Castleton where the valley sides are almost perpendicular and over 50 metres (160 ft) in height. The dale rises gently after leaving Castleton for approximately 200 metres (220 yd) before becoming steeper culminating in a fine viewpoint down the dale taking in Peveril Castle with Lose Hill behind. After the viewpoint the dale swings west and levels out with gentle gradients, becoming just a shallow depression as it peters out onto the open pastureland between Castleton and Chapel-en-le-Frith.
Oxlow Cavern is a part-natural and part-mined cavern near Castleton in Derbyshire, England. It is situated on the south side of the road running from the A623 at Sparrowpit to the Winnats Pass, west of Castleton, and is almost opposite Giant's Hole on the other side of the road. A few yards from Oxlow Cavern is the connecting Maskill Mine.
Eldon Hill is a hill in the Peak District National Park in the county of Derbyshire, England, 4 kilometres (2.5 mi) southwest of the village of Castleton. It is a 470-metre (1,540 ft) limestone hill whose pastureland is used for rough grazing, although a large proportion has been lost to limestone quarrying. It lies within the Castleton Site of Special Scientific Interest. Eldon Hill was formed when a bed of pure limestone was squeezed and upfolded by geological forces to form a dome; it is the highest limestone hill north of the River Wye.
Rushup Edge is a ridge in the Derbyshire Peak District of England. The ridge's highest point is Lord's Seat at 550 m (1,804 ft), while Mam Tor lies beyond its eastern end, at the western end of the Great Ridge.
Blue John is a semi-precious mineral, a rare form of fluorite with bands of a purple-blue or yellowish colour. In the UK it is found only at Blue John Cavern and Treak Cliff Cavern at Castleton in Derbyshire. During the 19th century, it was mined for its ornamental value, and mining continues on a small scale.
Magpie Mine is a well-preserved disused lead mine near the village of Sheldon in Derbyshire, England, in the parish of Ashford in the Water. The walled enclosure of five lead mines is a protected Scheduled Monument.
Coombs Dale is a steep-sided, dry carboniferous limestone valley in the Derbyshire Peak District of England. The village of Calver lies about 1 km to the east and the village of Stoney Middleton lies less than 1 km to the north. The dale is cut into the hills on the east side of Longstone Moor. The upper end of the dale is known as Rough Side. Several springs flow down the dale during winter and after heavy rains.
The Derbyshire Dome is a geological formation across mid-Derbyshire in England.
Bradwell Moor is a moorland hill above the village of Bradwell, Derbyshire in the Peak District. The summit is 471 metres (1,545 ft) above sea level.
Footnotes
Coordinates: 53°20′54″N1°48′06″W / 53.34823°N 1.80168°W
