Brightside Lead Mine

Overview

Brightside Lead Mine, on a wooded slope near Hassop, is considered the best-preserved 19th-century lead mine of its type in Derbyshire, keeping the county's only surviving original ore bins.

History

Brightside was one of a number of lead mines that grew up around Hassop, alongside others with names such as Backdale, Harry Bruce, Waterhole and Whitecoe, most of which had ceased working by the mid-19th century. Sited on a steep wooded slope, it is remarkable for the survival of an unusually complete range of surface components, and is considered the best remaining example of its type in the Derbyshire orefield -- most notably in its range of ore bins, or wash kilns, believed to be the only original examples left anywhere in the county. A well-preserved adit and portal testify to an earlier start than the mine's best-documented phase: ore was originally hauled out using horses, before a steam engine, ordered in or before 1853, took over pumping and winding, drawing ore up a vertical shaft; steam also powered a sawmill on site and possibly an early stage of ore crushing. Surviving features include a rare bank of three bouse teems (ore storage bins), an arched haulage level known as the Newcastle Road, the footings of a horizontal pumping and winding engine with the base of its chimney, and a ruined sawmill. By 1974 the surface mining rights belonged to the Bleaklow Mining Co. A mine cottage on the site remains inhabited.

Geology

Lead-bearing ground worked by adit and, later, a vertical shaft, on a steep wooded slope near Hassop.

Workings

An adit-accessed mine later worked via a vertical shaft with steam-powered pumping and winding (from 1853), a sawmill, ore bins and a haulage level known as the Newcastle Road.

Closure

Ceased working by the mid-19th century, per Wikipedia's account of the Hassop mines generally; surface mining rights were still held by the Bleaklow Mining Co. as of 1974.

What remains

Considered the best-preserved 19th-century lead mine of its type in Derbyshire; a mine cottage on the site remains inhabited.

The only surviving original ore bins (bouse teems) in Derbyshire, the Newcastle Road haulage level, a ruined sawmill, and the footings of a pumping/winding engine with its chimney base all survive.

Related mines

• Coalpithole Rake — Coalpithole's 1870 winding/pumping engine was bought second-hand from Brightside Mine, Hassop, where it had originally been installed.

Nearby mines

• Red Rake Mine — 1.2 km NE
• Silver Hillocks Mine — 1.7 km W
• Sallet Hole Mine — 2.9 km N
• Glebe Mine — 3.0 km N
• Little Brookhead Mine — 3.1 km N

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

Recorded claims

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

• Brightside Lead Mine is considered the best remaining example of its type in Derbyshire, remarkable for an unusually complete range of surviving components including its ore bins (wash kilns), believed to be the only original examples left in the county's orefield. ¹
• A steam engine was ordered for pumping and winding at Brightside in or before 1853, also powering a sawmill; a well-preserved adit and portal testify to an earlier phase of working, before horsepower gave way to steam-driven winding gear on a vertical shaft. ¹
• Surviving features at the mine include a rare bank of three bouse teems, an arched haulage level called the Newcastle Road, the footings of a horizontal pumping/winding engine with its chimney base, and a ruined sawmill; a mine cottage on the site remains inhabited. ¹
• Hassop developed around a number of lead mines, including 'The Brightside', 'Backdale', 'Harry Bruce', 'Waterhole' and 'Whitecoe', which lasted until the mid-19th century. ²

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (primary) Derbyshire HER: Brightside Lead Mine, Hassop (MDR4058) — Derbyshire Historic Environment Record
2. (secondary) Hassop — Wikipedia

Record created: 16 September 2026 · Last researched: 16 September 2026