Claxby Ironstone Mine

Overview

Ironstone mining in the Lincolnshire Wolds began at Claxby in the 1860s. The mine lay on the north side of the village, its entrances about fifty metres below the top of the escarpment, working about 150 acres rented from the Earl of Yarborough. Production started in 1868 under the West Yorkshire Iron and Coal Company, and the ore went by rail to the ironworks at Ardsley near Leeds. By 1873 it employed about 250 men and raised 70,000 tons. The local rector called it "a gloomy cavern of disaster" for the injuries and deaths there. It closed in 1885, beaten by the low iron content of its stone.

History

Ironstone mining in the Lincolnshire Wolds began at Claxby in the 1860s. The mine was on the north side of the village, its entrances about fifty metres below the top of the escarpment, and the area mined ran to about 150 acres on land rented from the Earl of Yarborough. Production began in 1868 under the West Yorkshire Iron and Coal Company, and the ore was sent by rail to the ironworks at Ardsley, near Leeds. By 1873 the mine employed about 250 men and produced 70,000 tons a year. It was not a safe place. The local rector referred to it as "a gloomy cavern of disaster", on account of the numerous injuries and deaths associated with the site. In 1871–72 the Earl of Yarborough built two sets of ten terraced houses for the miners; each pair of cottages shared one outside water tap and one toilet. They were condemned in 1971 and demolished. The mine manager’s house on Pelham Road is now a private dwelling, and there was a powder house under the hill for the explosives. The mine closed in 1885 when it became uneconomic: the iron content of the Claxby stone was too low, and the ironstone found at Nettleton a few miles north was thought to be of better quality. The village had grown with mine workers from all over the kingdom, many of whom died and are buried in the local churchyard.

Geology

The Claxby Ironstone of the Lower Cretaceous, worked here and at Nettleton where the Middle Neocomian ironstone bed runs about six feet six inches thick. The ore is made up almost entirely of small, beautifully polished oolitic grains of hydrated peroxide of iron, yielding between 28 and 33 per cent metallic iron — useful for mixing with the clayey ores of the coal measures, but low-grade in its own right, and it was that low iron content that closed the mine.

Workings

Galleries driven into the side of the hill rather than shafts, entered about fifty metres below the top of the escarpment. Ventilation was by a brick air shaft twelve feet in diameter and 120 feet deep, with a fire lit at the bottom to draw air through the workings. A stone retaining wall of Tealby Limestone and Carstone held back the hillside to form railway sidings for empty wagons and for calcining the ore before it went to the ironworks.

Closure

The mine closed in 1885 when it became uneconomic because of the low iron content of the ironstone; the stone found at Nettleton was thought to be better, and it was Nettleton that the industry moved to.

What remains

The air shaft has been filled in. The stone retaining wall built for the sidings survives, and the mine manager’s house on Pelham Road is a private dwelling. The miners’ terraces the Earl of Yarborough built were condemned in 1971 and demolished; the powder house under the hill was photographed in 1965 but its stone has since gone.

The Tealby Limestone and Carstone retaining wall built for the railway sidings, and the mine manager’s house.

Related mines

• Nettleton Top Mine — Claxby closed in 1885 because its ironstone was too poor and the stone found at Nettleton was thought better; the Claxby site was afterwards acquired by the Mid-Lincolnshire Iron Co. as part of the Nettleton Mines, which replaced the company’s nearly exhausted Greetwell workings.

Nearby mines

• Nettleton Top Mine — 6.5 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.

• Ironstone mining in the Lincolnshire Wolds began at Claxby in the 1860s; the mine was on the north side of the village with entrances about 50 m below the top of the escarpment, working about 150 acres rented from the Earl of Yarborough. ¹
• Production started in 1868 under the West Yorkshire Iron and Coal Co., the ore going by rail to the ironworks at Ardsley near Leeds; by 1873 the mine employed about 250 men and produced 70,000 tons. ¹
• The local rector referred to the mine as "a gloomy cavern of disaster" because of the numerous injuries and deaths associated with the site. ¹
• The mine was ventilated by a bricked air shaft about twelve feet in diameter and 120 feet deep, with a fire lit at the bottom to create a draught. ¹
• In 1871–72 the Earl of Yarborough built two sets of ten terraced houses for the miners, each pair of cottages sharing one outside water tap and one toilet; they were condemned in 1971 and demolished. ¹
• The mine closed in 1885 when it became uneconomic because of the low iron content of the ironstone, the stone at Nettleton being thought better. ¹
• Near Claxby and Nettleton the Middle Neocomian ironstone, about six feet six inches thick, was worked by galleries driven into the hillside; the ore is almost entirely small polished oolitic grains of hydrated peroxide of iron yielding 28 to 33 per cent metallic iron, useful for mixing with the clayey ores of the coal measures. ²

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (primary) Claxby Ironstone Mine — Lincolnshire Wolds Countryside Service — Lincolnshire Wolds Countryside Service
2. (secondary) Claxby Ironstone — Wikipedia

Record created: 7 September 2026 · Last researched: 7 September 2026