Ban Garth Mine

Overview

A haematite mine on the fell top above Fisherground in Eskdale, worked as an opencast by the Lindow brothers from 1845, by Joseph Fearon in the 1860s and by Whitehaven Iron Mines from 1871 until the vein gave out in 1874. Its opencast, adits and incline survive among far older field systems on National Trust common.

History

Ban Garth, or Bangarth, was a haematite mine on the fell top behind Fisherground in Eskdale, one of seven mines or groups of mines worked in the valley in the later nineteenth century, on a vein running roughly north to south that carried only a little ore mixed with crushed rock. S. and J. Lindow, brothers from Cleator, took the lease of the Bangarth and Nab Gill ground in September 1845 and at first drove levels at Nab Gill, but soon turned their men onto opencast working at Bangarth; they raised a few thousand tons of ore for little profit and withdrew by 1853 by one account, about 1856 by another. Joseph Fearon, a Whitehaven businessman, took up the lease in 1860, drove a new level below the opencast and raised a disappointing thousand tons, giving up by 1863 by one account and in the late 1860s by another. The London ironmaster Faithful Cookson then took the ground and in 1871 sub-let it to Whitehaven Iron Mines Ltd, which added a level below the earlier workings and worked four levels; the vein narrowed as the workings went into the hill, and the company abandoned Bangarth in 1874 to concentrate on Nab Gill. An inclined plane carried ore down to the valley floor for the Ravenglass and Eskdale Railway. Surveyed for the National Trust in 2012, the upper part of the mine shows a large opencast pit cut through earlier stopes, truncated adit mouths, trials and spoil heaps, and below them a platformed working floor with three adit mouths at the head of the incline, all set among the cairnfields, field systems and possible medieval shielings of an older upland landscape.

Geology

A roughly north-south haematite vein carrying a low quantity of ore mixed with crushed rock. In Eskdale the haematite lies in the granite rather than in the limestone that holds most Cumbrian iron ore, and is far less plentiful.

Geological setting: Veins and Lodes (well documented example)

Workings

An opencast on the fell top, worked from the mid-1840s over earlier stopes, with adits and trials on several levels; Fearon added a level below the opencast in the 1860s and Whitehaven Iron Mines another below that, working four levels by 1874. An inclined plane ran from a platformed working floor with three adit mouths down to the valley floor.

Closure

Whitehaven Iron Mines Ltd abandoned Bangarth in 1874, when the vein narrowed as the workings went into the hillside, and moved its effort to Nab Gill; the company itself was in liquidation by 1877.

What remains

Surveyed in 2012 on National Trust open common: the opencast pit, truncated adit mouths, trials, spoil heaps, a working floor and the head of the incline survive among cairnfields, field systems, peat huts and possible medieval shielings.

The summit opencast, adit and trial cuttings, extensive spoil heaps, a platformed working floor with three adit mouths and the inclined plane.

Related mines

• Blea Tarn Mine — Both worked by Whitehaven Iron Mines Ltd from 1871, and surveyed together for the National Trust in 2012.
• Nab Gill Mine — Leased together to the Lindows in 1845 and later worked by Whitehaven Iron Mines, which left Bangarth for Nab Gill in 1874.

Nearby mines

• Blea Tarn Mine — 1.4 km E
• Nab Gill Mine — 2.2 km E
• Gill Force Mine — 2.7 km E
• Cove Quarries, Coniston — 12.7 km E
• Greenburn Mine — 13.6 km E

Straight-line distance, within 15 km. Show on the map.

People

• Faithful Cookson · lessee, 1866–1871 — London ironmaster who took the ground in the 1860s and sub-let it to Whitehaven Iron Mines in 1871.
• Joseph Fearon · lessee, from 1860 — Lessee from 1860; drove a new level below the Ban Garth opencast.

What's uncertain

Points where sources disagree or the record could not be settled; both accounts are kept. All open questions in the archive.

• S and J Lindow leased the Bangarth and Nab Gill ground in September 1845 and, before 1854, turned to opencast extraction at Bangarth, withdrawing in about 1856; Joseph Fearon tried again from 1860, abandoning in the late 1860s; Faithful Cookson sub-let to Whitehaven Iron Mines Ltd in 1871, which worked four levels and abandoned Bangarth in 1874. (disputed) ¹
• The Lindow brothers worked the Eskdale mines from 1845 to 1853, mainly at an open quarry on the fell top behind Fisherground Farm, the Ban Garth Mine, raising a few thousand tons for little profit; Jos. Fearon held the lease in 1860-63, drove a new level below the opencast and raised a disappointing 1,000 tons. (disputed) ²

Recorded claims

Individual factual claims, each attached to the source(s) that support it below. Where sources disagree, both are kept.

• S and J Lindow leased the Bangarth and Nab Gill ground in September 1845 and, before 1854, turned to opencast extraction at Bangarth, withdrawing in about 1856; Joseph Fearon tried again from 1860, abandoning in the late 1860s; Faithful Cookson sub-let to Whitehaven Iron Mines Ltd in 1871, which worked four levels and abandoned Bangarth in 1874. (disputed) ¹
• The Lindow brothers worked the Eskdale mines from 1845 to 1853, mainly at an open quarry on the fell top behind Fisherground Farm, the Ban Garth Mine, raising a few thousand tons for little profit; Jos. Fearon held the lease in 1860-63, drove a new level below the opencast and raised a disappointing 1,000 tons. (disputed) ²
• Bangarth targeted a vein running approximately north-south with a low quantity of iron ore mixed with crushed rock; Eskdale haematite occurs in the granite and is less abundant than in the limestone areas. ¹
• The 2012 survey found a summit opencast cutting through earlier stoping, truncated adit mouths, trials and spoil heaps, two further levels with open cuttings, a trial and an adit, a working floor with three adit mouths and an inclined plane to the valley floor. ¹
• The Ban Garth mine was briefly re-investigated in the 1870s, when some ore was raised on a new vein further east at Blea Tarn. ²

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (primary) Bangarth and Blea Tarn Iron Mines, Eskdale, Cumbria: Archaeological Survey Report (Oxford Archaeology North for the National Trust, 2012) — Oxford Archaeology North
2. (secondary) Boot Iron Mines, Eskdale — Northern Mine Research Society (Albyn Austin)

Record created: 18 September 2026 · Last researched: 19 September 2026