Gautries Rake

Overview

Gautries Rake, worked since at least 1671, keeps the only known stone-lined buddle in the northern half of the Derbyshire orefield; a share in it held by Richard Bagshawe from 1709 to 1714 returned so little ore it lost him money.

History

Gautries Rake, on the southern side of Gautries Hill, was clearly already being worked in the 17th century: a dispute heard in the Barmote Court in 1671 concerned a mine 'on the Sun side of Cawthridge', presumably this rake. Richard Bagshawe held a share in 'Gawtries Grove' from at least May 1709 until the end of December 1714, during which time only 37 loads and 2 dishes of ore were measured for sale -- a result that left him out of pocket for the period. Major exploitation of the site took place across the 17th to 19th centuries, and possibly before. The rake extends for some 1.1 kilometres, wholly contained within a belland yard plantation -- woodland grown up within the enclosing drystone walls -- and in places splits into two parallel veins requiring separate extraction and processing areas. Surviving features across its six hectares include undisturbed hillocks, several capped shafts, open cuts, water storage and ore-dressing ponds, two buddle dams, dressing floors and traces of small buildings; a section of the rake known in the 19th century as 'Fortunate Mine' concentrates a main shaft and its own dressing floor and ponds. Rarer surviving features include the only known stone-lined buddle anywhere in the northern part of the Derbyshire orefield, a 19th-century mine road, and a retained tramway with a loading bay at its top end, probably associated with an early phase of reworking older hillocks.

Geology

A lead-bearing rake vein on Gautries Hill, in places splitting into two parallel veins.

Workings

A 1.1km rake wholly enclosed within a belland yard plantation, with dressing floors, two buddle dams (one holding the only known stone-lined buddle in the northern orefield), a mine road and a retained tramway.

Closure

No reliable closure date has yet been located.

What remains

Scheduled as a nationally important monument; the site survives within its enclosing belland yard plantation woodland.

Undisturbed hillocks, capped shafts, open cuts, ore-dressing and water storage ponds, two buddle dams (one stone-lined), dressing floors, a mine road and a retained tramway with loading bay survive.

Related mines

• Coalpithole Rake — Neighbouring rakes on and around Gautries Hill, both scheduled in March 2013 and documented through the same Peak Forest Mining Company records.

Nearby mines

• Coalpithole Rake — 0.3 km NW
• Eldon Hill Crushing Circle — 1.7 km E
• Peakshill or Oden Sough — 2.7 km NE
• Slitherstone and Linacre Lead Mines — 2.7 km E
• Hill's Venture Lead Mine — 2.8 km SE

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.

• Gautries Rake was clearly being worked in the 17th century, as a dispute was heard in the Barmote Court in 1671 about a mine 'on the Sun side of Cawthridge', presumably Gautries Rake; Richard Bagshawe held a share in 'Gawtries Grove' from May 1709 to December 1714, during which only 37 loads and 2 dishes of ore were measured for sale, at a loss. ¹
• The site's rarer surviving features include the only known stone-lined buddle in the northern part of the Derbyshire orefield, a 19th-century mine road, and a retained tramway with a loading bay associated with early hillock reworking. ¹
• The rake extends for approximately 1.1km, wholly contained within a belland yard plantation, and in places is split into two parallel veins requiring separate extraction and processing areas; a section known in the 19th century as 'Fortunate Mine' concentrates a main shaft and its dressing floor. ²

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (primary) Derbyshire HER: Rake Vein, also known as Gautries Vein, Gautries Hill, Peak Forest (MDR566) — Derbyshire Historic Environment Record
2. (primary) Gautries Rake, Peak Forest, Derbyshire — AncientMonuments.uk (mirroring the Historic England scheduling record)

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