Glaisdale Ironstone Mine

Overview

The mine that made a village. Ironstone was found beside the Esk at Glaisdale in the mid-1860s, seventy metres down instead of near the surface, and an ironworks followed by the end of the decade. Everything had stopped by 1876.

History

In 1831 Glaisdale was a township in the parish of Danby. By the end of the century it was a parish of its own, and it had grown as a mining village. The geology of this part of the North York Moors was thought in the mid-nineteenth century to be much the same throughout, and the ironstone seams worked just below the surface at Grosmont were expected to run under Glaisdale too. A shaft was sunk near the River Esk to find them. It did — but at seventy metres down, which made the ironstone far more expensive to get than anyone had budgeted for. An ironworks was built north of the river and opened by the end of the 1860s. Two more mines were opened higher up the dale in the 1870s, one on the west side at Postgate and one on the east at Wintergill, both after ironstone from seams other than the one the Esk shaft worked. Wintergill's stone was carted down the dale. Postgate's owners built a tramway instead, and rather than take the easy low route they took it uphill and along Glaisdale Rigg, with an embankment and a cutting, then down again, under the village in a tunnel and out onto a trestle bridge over the Esk by the ironworks. The story in the village was that men drinking in the Mitre could feel the ground shake as the trucks went underneath. It was all short. By 1876 the mines had closed and the ironworks with them. The official returns already record the mine standing in 1882 and 1883, and abandoned in 1875, with the South Cleveland Ironworks Company as the last owner named.

Geology

The Cleveland Ironstone Formation of the Lower Jurassic. At Grosmont its seams lie close to the surface; here they are about seventy metres down, which is the whole reason the venture failed. The later Postgate and Wintergill mines up the dale worked different seams again.

Workings

A shaft near the River Esk to the main seam at about seventy metres, with an ironworks north of the river. Two later drifts higher up the dale at Postgate and Wintergill, the first served by a tramway over Glaisdale Rigg and through a tunnel under the village, the second by cart.

Closure

All the Glaisdale workings and the ironworks had closed by 1876. The official returns note abandonment in 1875 and show the mine standing, with nobody employed, in 1882 and 1883.

What remains

The mine's powder store still stands on the moor edge above the village, a small stone building put up for the ironstone mine. Traces of the tramway earthworks survive along Glaisdale Rigg.

The powder store; the embankment and cutting of the Postgate tramway on Glaisdale Rigg.

Related mines

• Grosmont Ironstone Mines — Glaisdale was sunk on the assumption that the seams worked near the surface at Grosmont ran under Glaisdale too. They did, seventy metres down, and that difference ruined the venture.

Nearby mines

• Egton Quarry — 2.8 km E
• Goathland Whinstone Mine — 6.4 km SE
• Aislaby Quarry — 7.9 km NE
• Grosmont Ironstone Mines — 10.5 km SE
• Goldsborough Ironstone Mine — 10.6 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.

• A shaft was sunk near the River Esk to find the ironstone seams that were being mined from just below the surface at Grosmont. The stone was there, but a solid seventy metres down, and so much more costly to extract. ¹
• The Postgate owners built a tramway, but chose not to take the easy low-level road to Glaisdale. It went uphill and along Glaisdale Rigg, needing an embankment and a cutting, then down towards the village, tunnelling under it and emerging on a trestle bridge over the Esk near the ironworks. Men in the Mitre were said to feel the ground shake as the carts rumbled below. ¹
• Mining began about the mid-1860s and an ironworks had been built by the end of that decade. By 1876 the mines had closed and the ironworks with them. ¹
• The official lists record ironstone from Glaisdale in 1873, 1882 and 1883, with the South Cleveland Ironworks Co. Ltd. as owner in the 1880s, nobody employed in either 1882 or 1883 — the mine standing — and abandonment noted in 1875. ²

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (secondary) Boom and Bust: Glaisdale's Brief Ironstone Mining Era — Out & About (fhithich.uk)
2. (secondary) Glaisdale (Ironstone) — Durham Mining Museum

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