Brandelhow Mine

Overview

Brandelhow, on the lower slopes of Catbells above Derwentwater, was one of several mines worked by Elizabethan German miners around the lake from the 1560s — and, three centuries later, gave its shoreline an entirely different kind of fame as the very first land the National Trust ever bought.

History

Brandelhow was one of a cluster of mines — alongside Stoneycroft, Barrow and Thornthwaite — worked around Derwentwater from the 1560s, when Elizabeth I's government brought in German miners, valued as the leading mining experts of the age, to prospect and extract silver, lead, copper and graphite (plumbago) from the fells above the lake.

The mine was reopened on a substantial scale in 1819 under John Tebay, and worked most productively through the 1850s to 1880s, eventually driving around 700 feet of horizontal passage to a depth of some 70 fathoms via adit levels pushed north from the lakeshore. Persistent flooding — including unusually saline water containing dissolved sodium and calcium chloride, which rose to around 150 gallons a minute as workings deepened — required successive steam pumping engines and ultimately made the mine uneconomic; it was abandoned in early 1891.

Brandelhow's 1891 closure brought a very different kind of significance to the site a decade later: in 1902 the National Trust, prompted by its co-founder Canon Hardwicke Rawnsley, raised £6,500 by public subscription in just five months to buy 108 acres of the Brandelhow estate on the shore below Catbells — the Trust's first ever land purchase. The opening ceremony on 6 October 1902 was performed by Princess Louise, daughter of Queen Victoria, making it also the first National Trust property ever opened by a member of the Royal Family.

Geology

The mine worked lead-, copper-, silver- and graphite-bearing veins within the Skiddaw Group and associated intrusions of the northern Lake District, a hydrothermal orefield also worked at the neighbouring Force Crag and Goldscope mines.

Geological setting: Hydrothermal Deposits (well documented example), Veins and Lodes (well documented example)

Workings

Detailed underground workings at Brandelhow are not well documented, but surviving mine plans record it alongside Barrow, Dalehead, Force Crag, Goldscope and Thornthwaite as part of one broader mineral survey of the district.

Closure

Persistent water ingress — including unusually saline water requiring successive steam pumping engines — made the mine uneconomic, and it was abandoned in early 1891.

What remains

The National Trust, which has owned the site since 1902, manages Brandelhow as woodland, pasture and lake shore with public access and picnic facilities; visible mining remains are limited to the spoil heaps and the waterwheel/washing-tank traces noted above, rather than any surviving mine buildings.

Spoil heaps from the historic workings remain visible above Brandelhow Bay on the lower slopes of Catbells, along with traces of a washing tank and the headrace and wheel mounting of a former waterwheel lower down the slope.

Redevelopment

The Brandelhow estate has been managed by the National Trust as public parkland since its 1902 purchase.

Related mines

• Barrow Mine — John Tebay, who reopened Brandelhow from 1819, also leased Barrow in the 1830s.

Recorded claims

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

• German miners worked Brandelhow alongside Stoneycroft, Barrow and Thornthwaite from the 1560s, extracting silver, lead, copper and graphite from the fells above Derwentwater. ^1,2
• In 1902 the National Trust raised £6,500 by public subscription in five months to buy 108 acres of the Brandelhow estate — its first ever land purchase — opened on 6 October 1902 by Princess Louise, the first National Trust property ever opened by a member of the Royal Family. ³
• Brandelhow was reopened on a substantial scale in 1819 under John Tebay, working most productively through the 1850s to 1880s and eventually driving around 700 feet of horizontal passage to a depth of some 70 fathoms via adit levels pushed north from the lakeshore. Persistent flooding — including unusually saline water containing dissolved sodium and calcium chloride, reaching around 150 gallons a minute as workings deepened — required successive steam pumping engines and ultimately made the mine uneconomic; it was abandoned in early 1891. ⁴
• Brandelhow has been owned and managed by the National Trust as public parkland since its purchase in 1902, offering woodland, pasture and lake-shore access with picnic facilities, reachable by road or by lake launch to the Low Brandelhow and Hawse End landing stages. ⁵

Sources

1. (secondary) Above Derwent — Cumbria County History Trust
2. (secondary) Cumbrian Copper Sites — Industrial History of Cumbria
3. (secondary) First Steps, First Property - The History of the National Trust — The History of the National Trust
4. (primary) Brandlehow Lead Mine (Heritage Record) — National Trust Heritage Records
5. (secondary) Brandelhow Park — English Lakes
6. (primary) Brandelhow Barrow Dalehead Forcecrag Goldscope Plumbago Thornthwaite (BGS Mine Plans Catalogue) — British Geological Survey / The Coal Authority

Record created: 22 August 2026 · Last researched: 28 August 2026