Brandon Walls Mine

Overview

A Weardale lead mine on Rookhope Burn, first leased in 1801, whose ore was unusually valuable for its silver content and whose well-preserved 19th-century wheel pit still survives beside the Weardale Way footpath.

History

Brandon Walls Mine lies on the east bank of the Rookhope Burn, about 2 kilometres downstream of Rookhope in Weardale. The site's history is documented at least as far back as a 1662 lease agreement between George Wraye of Beamish and the London merchants Henry Dacres and Anthony Earneing, though its main working period began when the Newcastle wine merchant Robert Jopling took a lease in 1801. Between 1836 and 1842 the mine yielded 257 tons of lead ore. By 1807 the property belonged to Colonel Beaumont and was leased to Alexander Whaley and Company; the ore was initially profitable well beyond its lead content alone, averaging some 6 ounces of silver per ton. From 1862 the site was worked by the Brandon Lead Mining Company until that company failed in 1872, when the Rookhope Valley Mining Co. took over, working it alongside the neighbouring Thorney Brow and Stotfield Burn mines. Brandon Walls was not worked intensively again after this period and was finally abandoned around 1903.

Workings

Pumped via a c.13m diameter overshot waterwheel housed in a wheel pit measuring c.13m by 3m, powering pumps in a shaft around 110 metres deep.

Closure

Not worked intensively after the Rookhope Valley Mining Co.'s tenure from 1872; finally abandoned around 1903.

What remains

The wheel pit survives nearly complete, along with a shaft, pump settings, the earthwork remains of an ore-processing area and the ruined stone shell of a mine smithy; the site is crossed by the Weardale Way public footpath and used as an educational resource.

A near-complete wheel pit, shaft and pump settings, ore-processing earthworks, and a ruined smithy.

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.

• Brandon Walls Mine yielded 257 tons of lead ore between 1836 and 1842; the ore averaged around 6 ounces of silver per ton, well beyond its lead value alone. ¹
• The mine was worked by the Brandon Lead Mining Company from 1862 until its 1872 failure, after which the Rookhope Valley Mining Co. took over, working it with the neighbouring Thorney Brow and Stotfield Burn mines until abandonment around 1903. ²

Photographs & further reading

This page doesn't try to reproduce everything — these are the best original sources found for this mine.

Sources

1. (primary) Brandon Walls lead mine and ore works (List Entry 1015831) — Historic England
2. (secondary) Brandon Walls Mine near Rookhope (self-guided trail) — North Pennines National Landscape

Record created: 1 September 2026 · Last researched: 1 September 2026