Dubs Quarry

Overview

The highest and remotest of the Buttermere company's green slate workings, out on Fleetwith above Warnscale. Its slate came off the fell on a tramway to the Drum House and down to Honister, and the difficulty of moving it is what closed the place.

History

Dubs was one of the workings of the Honister group, held through the official returns by the Buttermere Green Slate Company and then Buttermere Green Slate Quarries Ltd. It sat high on Fleetwith above Warnscale, and for most of the period its people were not counted separately: the Lists of Mines return its employment as included in Honister's in 1894, 1896, 1900, 1902 and again through the 1920s. Twice it is given on its own — sixty employed in 1910, seventeen of them underground, and five in 1915. By 1870 there were smaller-scale underground workings on Dubbs Moor alongside a small opencast. The slate here was known for its smaller metal — metal being the quarrymen's word for the slate itself — because the geology yielded smaller pieces, and that came with some instability. In 1879 new owners installed self-acting inclines to serve Honister and Yew Crags, and the Dubs incline let slate be pulled up and then run down into the valley to the Hause. A four-horse team drew trains of trucks from Dubs to the high point on the fell, and from the Drum House a self-acting system controlled the descent to Honister Hause. In the late 1920s the company revived a proposal first made in the mid-1890s to drive a level through to the Dubs quarries; about a hundred metres was completed before the scheme was shelved in favour of the bigger workings under Honister Crag. Production ceased not long after — the museum's returns say the quarry had not been worked since 1927, and the fuller published account gives 1932 — largely because of the difficulty and slowness of getting finished slate off the fell. The tramway survived it, and was abandoned only in 1962.

Geology

The Borrowdale Volcanic green slate of the Honister group. The Dubs ground was known for what the quarrymen called smaller metal: the geology gave smaller pieces, and so smaller slates, at the cost of some instability.

Workings

Underground workings on Dubbs Moor with a small opencast alongside by 1870. A self-acting incline was installed in 1879 to lift slate out of the quarry and run it down to Honister Hause, and a team of four horses drew trains of trucks from Dubs across the fell to the Drum House at the high point, where the winding gear controlled the descent. A level driven from the Honister side towards these quarries in the late 1920s got about a hundred metres before the work was abandoned.

Closure

The quarry stopped largely because of the difficulty and slowness of transporting finished slate off the fell rather than for want of slate. The Durham Mining Museum's 1929 return records it as not worked since 1927; the published history of Honister gives 1932.

What remains

Dubs Hut, a quarryman's hut in the quarry, is now a bothy kept by the Mountain Bothies Association and open to anyone on the fell. The tramway to the Drum House is a walking route, the Drum House itself reduced to stone foundations, and the Coast to Coast path follows the line.

The bothy, the quarry workings and spoil, and the graded line of the tramway with the foundations of the Drum House at its summit.

Redevelopment

The quarryman's hut kept as a mountain bothy.

Related mines

• Honister Slate Mine — Dubs was one of the Honister group's workings and is barely separable from it in the record: the official lists return its people as included in Honister's in most years, and its slate went down the fell to Honister Hause.
• Yew Craggs Quarry — Both were served by the self-acting inclines the owners installed in 1879, and both were worked by the Buttermere Green Slate Company as parts of the same undertaking.

Nearby mines

• Honister Slate Mine — 0.4 km NE
• Yew Craggs Quarry — 1.0 km NE
• Rigg Head Quarry — 2.5 km NE
• Seathwaite Wad Mine — 2.5 km E
• Quay Foot Quarry — 5.0 km NE

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.

• The Durham Mining Museum's transcription of the Lists of Mines returns slate from Dubs in every year from 1894 to 1929 but gives its employment separately only twice: sixty in 1910, seventeen of them below ground, and five in 1915. In every other return the people are included in Honister's figures. ¹
• By 1870 there were smaller-scale underground workings on Dubbs Moor together with a small opencast quarry. The Dubs mine was known for its smaller metal — metal being the terminology for slate — in that the geology yielded smaller pieces and so smaller slates, though this gave rise to some instability. ²
• In 1879 the mine's new owners, who also leased and worked other quarries in Borrowdale, installed self-acting inclines to serve both Honister and Yew Crags. The Dubs Quarry incline allowed slate to be pulled up and then run down into the valley to the Hause, and the outlay was justified by the efficiency it bought. ²
• In the late 1920s work began on a proposal first suggested in the mid-1890s, to drive a level through to the Dubs quarries. About a hundred metres was completed before the project was shelved in favour of developing the more significant workings under Honister Crag. ²
• The published history of Honister gives 1932 as the year Dubbs Quarry ceased production, largely because of the difficulties and slowness of transporting finished slate. (disputed) ²
• The Durham Mining Museum's transcription of the 1929 List of Mines records against Dubs that it had not been worked since 1927. (disputed) ¹

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (secondary) Dubb (Slate) — Durham Mining Museum
2. (secondary) Honister Slate Mine — Wikipedia

Record created: 11 September 2026 · Last researched: 11 September 2026