Golconda Mine

Overview

A lead, barytes and fluorspar mine at Griffe Grange on the Via Gellia ridge near Brassington, part of the Gell family's historic Griffe Grange mining liberty. Named, like its neighbour Chariot Mine, for the fabled Indian diamond city after unusually rich ore was struck, it was worked mainly for lead until the late 19th century, then increasingly for barytes under the Hopton Mining Company from 1915. The site now lies within an active industrial minerals complex with restricted access; underground workings connect into a substantial natural cavern system.

History

Golconda Mine formed part of the Gell family's private Griffe Grange mining liberty, which ran from the summit of Harboro' Rocks down to the Via Gellia. Its origins are poorly documented, but dates smoked or inscribed on the workings' walls, including 1771 and possibly 1678, point to considerable age, and the mine was surveyed without particular comment by the agricultural writer John Farey in 1811. White's 1857 Directory records that 'the lead mines [at Griffe Grange] were during the last century worked to great advantage, particularly the Golconda and Chariot mines' — confirming Golconda and its neighbour Chariot Mine as the liberty's two principal workings. The name Golconda was most likely applied, after the wealthy historic Indian diamond-mining city, when unusually rich ore was struck. Up to the First World War the mine was worked from two shafts, Upper and Lower Golconda, some 350 metres apart, with the Lower shaft standing beside Griffe House (later renamed New Harboro' Farm) and haulage originally by kibble and ladder. Originally worked mainly for lead ore, the mine turned increasingly to barytes as its principal product from the late 19th century. It closed in 1913 and reopened in 1915, when the Hopton Mining Company installed a cage and winding gear at the Upper shaft and later added inclines; from 1916 lead formed only a small fraction of output, with barytes dominant. The Lower shaft was already shown disused on the 1899 Ordnance Survey map and has since been capped and stripped of equipment. Prospection for tungsten was carried out in 1938 after wolframite-bearing ore was found in the mine's dumps, but its source was never located. Closure is generally reported as 1953, though a BGS mine-plan record separately gives 1985 as the abandonment year for a Golconda Mine plan — the discrepancy is not resolved by any source consulted, and may reflect a later formal abandonment registration rather than continued extraction.

Geology

The Golconda orebody occupies a horizontally-disposed contact zone between an incompletely dolomitized layer of Carboniferous Limestone above and unaltered limestone below — a dolomitisation-front style of mineralisation rather than a simple steep vein, on the southern margin of the Derbyshire lead-fluorite-barite orefield.

Workings

Two shafts served the mine, Upper and Lower Golconda, roughly 350 metres apart; the Lower shaft, beside Griffe House, was disused by 1899 and is now capped. A cage and winding gear were fitted at the Upper shaft in 1915, with inclines added later. Reported depths vary between sources — figures from around 100 to 150 metres at the engine shaft are recorded, not fully reconciled with one another, likely reflecting different reference points between the two shafts or different survey dates. Underground workings connect into natural caverns, including one known locally as the 'Great Shack'.

What remains

A 'mining cone' processing/dressing-floor structure survives within a modern building on site, though most other surface features have been removed. The site now lies within the Sibelco industrial minerals-processing complex near the Carsington wind farm; underground access is rarely permitted and is controlled by the Wirksworth Mines Research Group.

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.

• White's 1857 Directory records the Golconda and Chariot mines, on the Gell family's Griffe Grange liberty, as having been worked to great advantage through the 18th century; the name Golconda most likely followed the discovery of unusually rich ore. ^1,2
• The mine closed in 1913 and reopened in 1915 under the Hopton Mining Company, which installed a cage and winding gear at the Upper shaft; from 1916 lead made up only a small fraction of output against barytes. ¹
• Closure is generally reported as 1953, but a BGS mine-plan catalogue record separately gives 1985 as the plan's abandonment year — the two figures are not reconciled by any source found. (disputed) ³
• Wolframite-bearing ore found in the mine's dumps prompted prospection works in 1938, but the source of the tungsten ore was never located. ¹
• Mine workings connect into a substantial natural cavern system, including one known locally as the 'Great Shack'; underground access today is rarely permitted and controlled by the Wirksworth Mines Research Group. ^4,5

Sources

1. (primary) Golconda Mine (MDR9593) — Derbyshire Historic Environment Record
2. (primary) Chariot Mine (MDR12619) — Derbyshire Historic Environment Record
3. (primary) Golconda Mine plan record — British Geological Survey mine plans catalogue
4. (secondary) Golconda (Derwent South) — Peak District Caving / Wirksworth Mines Research Group
5. (secondary) Harboro' Rocks — Wikipedia

Record created: 26 August 2026 · Last researched: 26 August 2026