Carrock End Copper Mine

Overview

A small copper mine at the eastern foot of Carrock Fell, worked on and off from about 1700 to 1869 and never for long at a profit. Its most ambitious stroke was a 24-fathom shaft sunk about 1840, wound by a horse gin whose bearing stone is still in place, with a hush on the hillside above and a waterwheel to drain the shaft.

History

Mining here is reputed to go back to the 16th century — the Company of Mines Royal opened copper mines in the Caldbeck Fells from 1570 — but the earliest documentary record taken to refer to Carrock End indicates mining about 1700. It was worked periodically through the late 18th century and the first half of the 19th, generally on a small scale; the vein carried rich bunches of ore, but fruitless driving through barren ground usually swallowed any profit. The most ambitious work was about 1840, when a shaft 24 fathoms (44 m) deep was sunk. The mine finally closed in 1869, and external economic pressure and the exhaustion of the ore bodies ended copper and lead mining across the Caldbeck Fells by the turn of the century.

Geology

The mine lies at the north-western margin of Carrock Fell, by the bog once known as Dutch or Dutchman's Moss. The copper ores occur along the apparently faulted boundary between the Carrock Fell igneous complex and the Eycott Group rocks, on a vein that may continue westwards to Dry Gill mine.

Workings

The mine consists of three adits, a shaft and a prospecting trench or rake, with their spoil heaps. On the hillside a short way above the workings is a hush, now a shallow channel running down the slope, where controlled releases of water were used to strip the vegetation and expose the ore; the small reservoir that held the water survives at its head. Beside the shaft are the remains of a gin circle with its central bearing stone in place, which gave the horse power to raise ore and men, and water was drained from the shaft by a waterwheel, taken away when the mine closed. On lower ground are a small dressing floor and a rectangular patch of cobble flooring thought to mark a timber building, with an enclosure of brick-built structures also counted as part of the complex.

Closure

The mine closed in 1869. Across the Caldbeck Fells generally, outside economic pressures and the exhaustion of the ore bodies brought copper and lead mining to an end by about 1900.

What remains

The mine, its spoil heaps, dressing waste, reservoir, hush, gin circle, rodway and the enclosure of brick structures are a scheduled monument in two areas on either side of the minor road between Mungrisdale and Caldbeck. The gin circle keeps its central bearing stone.

Three adits, a shaft, a prospecting rake and spoil heaps; the hush and its reservoir; the gin circle with bearing stone; the line of a rodway; a dressing floor with cobbled flooring; and brick-built structures within an enclosure.

Redevelopment

None. The site is rough fell either side of the Mungrisdale to Caldbeck road.

Nearby mines

• Sandbed Mine — 2.9 km W
• Carrock Fell Mine — 3.0 km SW
• Red Gill Mine — 3.0 km NW
• Brandy Gill Mine — 3.2 km W
• Deer Hills Baryte Mine — 3.7 km W

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.

• Although mining here is reputed to have a 16th-century origin, the earliest documentary record considered to refer to Carrock End indicates that mining was taking place about 1700. ¹
• The most ambitious work at the mine was about 1840, when a shaft 24 fathoms deep was sunk; the mine finally closed in 1869. ¹
• The copper ores occur along the apparently faulted boundary of the Carrock Fell igneous complex and the Eycott Group rocks, on a vein that may continue westwards to Dry Gill mine. ²
• The vein contained some rich bunches of ore, but fruitless driving in barren ground usually used up any operating profit. ²

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (primary) Carrock End copper mine 230m and 490m south west of Linewath, Caldbeck (List entry 1019956) — Historic England
2. (secondary) Carrock End Mine, Caldbeck, Allerdale, Cumbria — Mindat

Record created: 22 September 2026 · Last researched: 22 September 2026