MineArchiveBentyfield Mine
| Location | Garrigill, Alston Moor, Cumbria — 54.7760, -2.3790 (approximate) |
|---|---|
| Commodity | Lead |
| Type | Metal |
| Worked | Lead had been worked on Alston Moor since medieval times, with the industry expanding massively during the 19th century; Bentyfield itself is a 19th-century nucleated mine with its own ore works.–No reliable closure date has yet been located; production had peaked and was in decline by the end of the 34-year period from 1848 to 1882 for which figures survive. |
| Operators | Alston Moor Mining Company, London Lead Company |
| Status | Researched |
Overview
A 19th-century lead mine on Alston Moor, worked partly by the London Lead Company and partly by the Alston Moor Mining Company, linked by tramway to the neighbouring Whitesike mine, together forming a core surviving example of a mid-19th-century nucleated North Pennine lead-mining complex.
History
Lead had been mined on Alston Moor since medieval times, but the industry expanded massively during the 19th century. Bentyfield mine, on the east side of Garrigill Burn, was worked partly by the London Lead Company and partly by the Alston Moor Mining Company, and was linked by tramway to the neighbouring Whitesike mine on the opposite bank, the two being worked in close association with each other. Bentyfield Mine alone yielded 4,868 tons of lead concentrate between 1848 and 1882, within a combined Whitesike-and-Bentyfield total of 12,000 tons across the same 34 years. The monument today includes the core surviving remains of both mines and their associated ore works: mine entrances, pits for a water wheel that drove the crushing mill, bouse teams used to store unprocessed ore, dressing floors where ore was processed, and massive spoil tips.
Workings
Worked in close association with Whitesike mine across Garrigill Burn, linked by tramway, with shared ore-dressing infrastructure including a water-wheel-driven crushing mill, bouse teams and dressing floors.
What remains
Designated a Scheduled Monument together with Whitesike mine; mine entrances, water wheel pits, bouse teams, dressing floors, spoil tips and a surviving explosives store are among the features recorded on the ground.
Mine entrances, a water wheel pit, bouse teams, dressing floors, extensive spoil tips and a surviving explosives store, shared with the adjoining Whitesike mine site.
Abandoned workings can be dangerous — unstable ground, uncapped shafts, flooding and bad air are common even where a site looks safe from the surface. This entry describes history and general location only; it is not an access guide.
Recorded claims
Individual factual claims, each attached to the source(s) that support it below. Where sources disagree, both are kept.
- Bentyfield mine was worked partly by the London Lead Company and partly by the Alston Moor Mining Company, and was linked by tramway to the neighbouring Whitesike mine, the two being worked in close association with each other. 1
- Bentyfield Mine alone yielded 4,868 tons of lead concentrate between 1848 and 1882, within a combined Whitesike-and-Bentyfield total of 12,000 tons across the same period. 1
- The monument includes the core surviving remains of a pair of 19th-century nucleated lead mines with their associated ore works, including a surviving explosives store at Bentyfield itself. 1,2
Photographs & further reading
This page doesn't try to reproduce everything — these are the best original sources found for this mine.
Historic England's own review of the site's condition over two decades on the Heritage at Risk register.
View sourceImages
Sources
- (primary) Whitesike and Bentyfield lead mines and ore works, Alston Moor - list entry 1015832 — Historic England
- (primary) Whitesike and Bentyfield Lead Mines, 20 Years of Heritage at Risk — Historic England
Record created: 30 August 2026 · Last researched: 30 August 2026