Report - Report - Mines of Essex: Cymbeline's Gold Mine (Thurrock) - May 2022

[CantClimbTom]

Fair play, solo again. Another lot close to me. I hate those fences, because I cant climb them lol. Nice images. Lots of info here. I've seen the dene hole in Darenth woods, but never been able to go down it.

Saw pics of Darenth when researching, also IKS have a good YouTube video on it (a decent one, not goontube). Looks shallow, smaller and not interconnecting, and not fenced (all that makes it easier) but I don't know the state/safety of the collapsed entrance currently as the IKS video may be out of date. If Darenth is in not dodgy condition maybe you should go back and take a look down it?

 

[Doozer]

Thanks Doozer. Yeah.. although I've been down places with no call out (3 times this year for example ), I never like doing that! This one I had text my daughter with a Google maps pin and what I was doing with a time I should be out. Then I let her know when I got back to car and instructions to delete all texts/evidence afterwards. Gotta set call out when underground, especially solo trips. I had asked a couple of mates about coming down Dene holes but whatever date I suggested seemed to be the same day they were washing their hair, amazing unlucky coincidence I guess, so it was another solo.

I’m glad I’m not the only one wi

Thanks Doozer. Yeah.. although I've been down places with no call out (3 times this year for example ), I never like doing that! This one I had text my daughter with a Google maps pin and what I was doing with a time I should be out. Then I let her know when I got back to car and instructions to delete all texts/evidence afterwards. Gotta set call out when underground, especially solo trips. I had asked a couple of mates about coming down Dene holes but whatever date I suggested seemed to be the same day they were washing their hair, amazing unlucky coincidence I guess, so it was another solo.

fair play mate, I’m glad I’m not the only one who has mates that are always up for it when talking about it but when it comes to it by hey blow it out lol . I got 2 mates that don’t let me down now so I’m getting out a lot more lately. If you ever fancy tagging along I’ve got a couple of places that are local in the pipeline

 

[Calamity Jane]

Saw pics of Darenth when researching, also IKS have a good YouTube video on it (a decent one, not goontube). Looks shallow, smaller and not interconnecting, and not fenced (all that makes it easier) but I don't know the state/safety of the collapsed entrance currently as the IKS video may be out of date. If Darenth is in not dodgy condition maybe you should go back and take a look down it?

Yep may take a wander and see how deep it is. The tubing looked intact, but I couldn't judge the depth, I've seen the video as a friend is in it. They repelled down if I remember correctly, Id be alright going down, but getting back up would be impossible for me. Wondering if there would be an easy up!

 

[Natashalucy]

Really?? Hope he's OK, depending which shaft that's a long way down, some may have been partly collapsed or plugged and be less, but if he'd taken a full depth fall he'd be one lucky guy survive that.

I rigged at top with a shorter bit of blue climbing rope, but for the shaft drop I used a semi static. It was 60m orange with halfway marked in black, I was maybe 5m short of the halfway marker to reach bottom. So I reckon the main drop (not inc the funnel of earth at top) was about 25m/80 foot.

 

[Natashalucy]

Yes it was 80feet he fell there was a news paper article about it he was 14 at the time not sure of the year it was he fell it did also leave him disabled but he is ok

I have Been told they may be old smugglers tunnels that go all the way to the thames river (not sure if this is true)

great photos by the way most you can find online is mostly old scouts groups

 

[DaveFM]

Dene holes/chalkwells are probably not worth bothering with in view of the great danger they present and the very limited extent of workings (if any) at the base of the shaft. Its never like you are going to discover a great labrynth of tunnels. Most have vanished anyway (farmers dump waste into them) and a lot of time can be wasted looking at old maps only to find nothing but a shallow depression in the ground where the shaft was. Even then relatively few were ever recorded on maps, being too small and in often isolated farmland areas. They were in some cases bricked off with a rough dome of brickwork once worked out and the best preserved ones probably lie undetected beneath these brick caps, only being discovered if the brickwork fails and falls in.

 

[CantClimbTom]

I agree that they're not as impressive as a Shropshire or Welsh lead mine or underground slate quarries - but I found in Thurrock Deneholes can be interconnected by crawl tunnels and start to form a bit of a rabbit warren so not only a simple bell pit or shaft to a chamber or two. Maybe that's a local oddity at Hangman's? Definitely these are a riskier trip in terms of stability and confined air/space so people need to be careful and they're not going to get loads of visits.
Essex wasn't as blessed with underground mines to explore as other counties (maybe only Suffolk is worse?) but my idea is to see what's there, there's always something. Someone kindly mentioned pillar and stall chalk mines to me and there have been a few in the county, but I'm not if any access remains. We'll see...

 

[DaveFM]

I agree that they're not as impressive as a Shropshire or Welsh lead mine or underground slate quarries - but I found in Thurrock Deneholes can be interconnected by crawl tunnels and start to form a bit of a rabbit warren so not only a simple bell pit or shaft to a chamber or two. Maybe that's a local oddity at Hangman's? Definitely these are a riskier trip in terms of stability and confined air/space so people need to be careful and they're not going to get loads of visits.
Essex wasn't as blessed with underground mines to explore as other counties (maybe only Suffolk is worse?) but my idea is to see what's there, there's always something. Someone kindly mentioned pillar and stall chalk mines to me and there have been a few in the county, but I'm not if any access remains. We'll see...

The greatest concentration of these was around the chalk country of north west Kent (unfortunately much more built on than the downs in other areas) though they were dug in significant numbers over the Kent downs in general.

 

[DaveFM]

The well known Chitts Wood chalkwell (sometimes incorrectly quoted as being in Smokes Wood) near Hucking in Kent, I visited this the other week though didn't enter the actual shaft. Twenty years ago this was choked with general rubbish including old fridges and cookers and just had an old wire fence around it but about ten years or so ago KURG cleared the shaft and installed the present steel fence, the shaft is roughly 40ft deep. There seems now to be some obstruction a short way down as stones thrown in can be heard to strike something not far enough down to be the bottom.

 

[CantClimbTom]

Nice pics, liking the bluebells in foreground
Even if it wasn't blocked you'd have to be a bit careful with that lot hanging above the hole!

 

[DaveFM]

Craters swallow orchard's trees

This is the aftermath after two craters opened up on farmland - swallowing up more than a dozen trees.

www.kentonline.co.uk

 

[Lopata]

Impressive stuff, but your a nutter to go at it alone!