Glebe Mine

Overview

A lead mine at Eyam worked until 1884, whose name was carried forward by Glebe Mines Ltd, a company that reopened the site for fluorspar in 1937 and grew into a major Derbyshire fluorspar producer, processing ore at nearby Cavendish Mill until final closure in 2010.

History

Glebe Mine was worked for lead through the 19th century until operations ceased in 1884. The Glebe name was carried forward when the mine was reopened in 1937 to produce fluorspar, by which point the mineral once discarded as waste from lead working had become valuable in its own right; the reopened company also took control of the nearby Ladywash and Black Hole mines, both reopened in 1939. Demand for fluorspar surged after the Second World War owing to its use in manufacturing hydrofluoric acid, and Glebe Mines grew into one of the key suppliers of fluorspar in Britain. Laporte Minerals acquired the company in 1959, and in 1965 built Cavendish Mill, near Eyam, to replace the original Glebe processing plant -- at one stage among the largest and most efficient fluorspar processing sites in Europe. Laporte disposed of its fluorspar manufacturing operations in the 1980s as the business lost ground to foreign imports, but the Glebe Mines name was revived in November 1999 to continue processing at Cavendish Mill. The operation finally closed at the end of 2010 with the loss of 65 jobs, and was acquired out of administration by Minmet UK, a subsidiary of the Italian company Fluorsid.

Workings

Underground lead working through the 19th century; the site's 20th-century fluorspar output was processed first at the original Glebe plant and, from 1965, at the purpose-built Cavendish Mill nearby.

Closure

Original lead working ceased in 1884; the fluorspar processing operation that took the Glebe name closed for good at the end of 2010.

Abandoned workings can be dangerous — unstable ground, uncapped shafts, flooding and bad air are common even where a site looks safe from the surface. This entry describes history and general location only; it is not an access guide.

Recorded claims

Individual factual claims, each attached to the source(s) that support it below. Where sources disagree, both are kept.

• The mine was reopened in 1937 to produce fluorspar, with the reviving company also taking control of the nearby Ladywash and Black Hole mines, both reopened in 1939. ¹
• Laporte Minerals, which acquired Glebe Mines in 1959, built Cavendish Mill in 1965 to replace the original processing plant; the Glebe Mines name was revived in 1999 to continue processing there until the operation finally closed at the end of 2010 with the loss of 65 jobs. ¹

Photographs & further reading

This page doesn't try to reproduce everything — these are the best original sources found for this mine.

Images

Sources

1. (secondary) Glebe Mines bought by Italian company — Insider Media
2. (observational) Glebe Mines at Cavendish Mill — Geograph Britain and Ireland (Graham Hogg)
3. (secondary) Glebe Mine, Eyam — Mindat

Record created: 30 August 2026 · Last researched: 30 August 2026