Eldon Hill Crushing Circle

Overview

On the summit of Eldon Hill, an 18th-century lead-ore crushing circle -- a stone-paved ring where a horse-drawn wheel ground ore for dressing -- survives in unusually good condition, saved from quarrying in 1989 by being physically dismantled and rebuilt nearby.

History

The lead-working remains on Eldon Hill lie along Burning Drake Vein, which runs in the Bee Low Limestone across the hill's summit close to the southern boundary of Eldon Hill Quarries. It is unclear when the vein was first worked, but the crushing circle itself -- where lead ore was ground ready for dressing -- is believed to be 18th century in origin, worked, like all Derbyshire lead mining, under the jurisdiction of the Barmote Courts. The circle, about 7 metres in diameter with the remnant of its edge runner stone (the crushing wheel's track) some 17 metres round, is supported on its lower southern side by a drystone wall of limestone waste rock, and survives with paving around its circumference still in place. Some 17.5 metres either side of the circle are the remains of shafts, linked to it by open cuts and small hillocks; abutting the belland yard wall enclosing the whole complex are the remains of a small, almost square coe containing a fireplace and chimney flue. The crushing circle came under direct threat in 1989 when Eldon Hill Quarries, under new ownership, prepared to extend stone extraction into the site. Following a 1989 survey, the monument was lifted by lorry and JCB and relocated to Dirtlow Rake, next to the small car park there, where it was reconstructed by Peak District Mines Historical Society staff that autumn as part of a wider reclamation scheme -- one of relatively few Derbyshire mining monuments to have been physically moved, rather than simply recorded, to save it from destruction. The same scheduled monument also protects a Late Bronze Age or Early Iron Age palisaded hilltop enclosure on a shelf just south of the summit, unconnected to the later lead working except that a lead rake physically crosses its northern part and the mining complex's belland yard wall overlies its north-eastern corner; the enclosure's stony bank, up to 4 metres wide, is thought to have carried a timber palisade protecting stock and, possibly, a small settlement, of a type otherwise concentrated in north-eastern England, the Borders and southern Scotland.

Geology

Burning Drake Vein, a lead-bearing vein in the Bee Low Limestone running across the summit of Eldon Hill.

Workings

A stone-paved lead-ore crushing circle about 7m in diameter with a surviving edge runner stone, flanked by shafts, open cuts, hillocks and a coe, all within a belland yard wall.

Closure

No reliable closure date has yet been located for the lead working itself.

What remains

Scheduled as a nationally important monument; the crushing circle was physically relocated to Dirtlow Rake in 1989 and rebuilt by PDMHS volunteers after Eldon Hill Quarries threatened the original site.

The rebuilt crushing circle with paving and part of its edge runner stone, flanking shafts, open cuts, hillocks, a coe with fireplace and chimney flue, and a separate Late Bronze Age/Early Iron Age palisaded enclosure bank survive.

Nearby mines

• Slitherstone and Linacre Lead Mines — 1.0 km NE
• Oxlow Rake Lead Mines — 1.4 km SE
• Gautries Rake — 1.7 km W
• Coalpithole Rake — 1.8 km W
• Peakshill or Oden Sough — 1.8 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.

• The crushing circle, located at grid reference SK11828115 and believed 18th century in origin, is well preserved with surviving paving around its circumference and part of the edge runner stone in the centre, the circle itself approximately 7m in diameter with the runner stone's track approximately 17m in diameter. ¹
• Following the sale of Eldon Hill Quarry, the monument was threatened by stone extraction; after a 1989 survey by K. Smith and R. Parker, the operator paid for a lorry and JCB to remove the monument and relocate it to Dirtlow Rake, where it was reconstructed by Peak District Mines Historical Society staff in autumn 1989 as part of a reclamation scheme. ²
• A lead rake runs east to west across the northern part of a Late Bronze Age or Early Iron Age palisaded hilltop enclosure just south of the crushing circle, physically linking the enclosure to the post-medieval lead mining remains; the belland yard wall surrounding the crushing circle sits on top of the enclosure's north-eastern corner. ¹

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (primary) Eldon Hill crushing circle, associated lead mining remains and palisaded enclosure on Eldon Hill, Peak Forest, Derbyshire — AncientMonuments.uk (mirroring the Historic England scheduling record)
2. (primary) Derbyshire HER: Lead-Ore Crushing Circle, Eldon Hill, Peak Forest (MDR2247) — Derbyshire Historic Environment Record

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