Two more sandstone mines in Wensleydale, further round the same hill (Wether Fell) as the Burtersett mines in the previous report.
Google street view from down in the valley showing the approximate location.
There are actually many small excavations on the slopes of Wether Fell, extracting sandstone, limestone and coal.
The only way to tell if there’s anything to explore, i.e. some underground, is to go and look.
Contouring along from Burtersett the two pictures below are typical of what one mostly finds - blocked adits/levels.
Plenty of limekilns to inspect though if that’s your thing - this seems to have been a double one which is now being used as a source of rock to repair walls.
The first interesting mines I came across are shown on the map below.
In contrast to Burtersett, little is known about these two although the history is likely to be similar i.e. operating from the mid 1800s until the early 1900s, supplying roofing ‘slates’ and general purpose building stone.
Starting with East Shaw, the quarry on the map is just a quarry…
…but lower down there’s a ruin and an entrance into a fairly extensive underground section.
Next door is the Scarhead Quarry.
This is shown as a coal mine in 1856, and presumably started off mining one of the thin coal seams in the area before switching to sandstone.
East Shaw is not shown at this date so may have been a later development once it was found that the local stone was of useful quality.
Uphill is an open excavation with two entrances, both leading to small underground spaces.
Nearby are some ruins…
…and the entrance to the main mine, which again goes quite a long way with side passages and maze-like areas.
I wasn’t alone in here with a pair of orange eyes blinking on and off in the distant gloom - probably a fox.
The lack of footprints and photos suggest that people rarely visit these mines.
It still surprises me how what at first sight looks like a few bumps and ruins in a field can turn into something quite entertaining.
Google street view from down in the valley showing the approximate location.
There are actually many small excavations on the slopes of Wether Fell, extracting sandstone, limestone and coal.
The only way to tell if there’s anything to explore, i.e. some underground, is to go and look.
Contouring along from Burtersett the two pictures below are typical of what one mostly finds - blocked adits/levels.
Plenty of limekilns to inspect though if that’s your thing - this seems to have been a double one which is now being used as a source of rock to repair walls.
The first interesting mines I came across are shown on the map below.
In contrast to Burtersett, little is known about these two although the history is likely to be similar i.e. operating from the mid 1800s until the early 1900s, supplying roofing ‘slates’ and general purpose building stone.
Starting with East Shaw, the quarry on the map is just a quarry…
…but lower down there’s a ruin and an entrance into a fairly extensive underground section.
Next door is the Scarhead Quarry.
This is shown as a coal mine in 1856, and presumably started off mining one of the thin coal seams in the area before switching to sandstone.
East Shaw is not shown at this date so may have been a later development once it was found that the local stone was of useful quality.
Uphill is an open excavation with two entrances, both leading to small underground spaces.
Nearby are some ruins…
…and the entrance to the main mine, which again goes quite a long way with side passages and maze-like areas.
I wasn’t alone in here with a pair of orange eyes blinking on and off in the distant gloom - probably a fox.
The lack of footprints and photos suggest that people rarely visit these mines.
It still surprises me how what at first sight looks like a few bumps and ruins in a field can turn into something quite entertaining.
