Goldsborough Ironstone Mine

Overview

A small, late and short-lived Cleveland ironstone mine on the coast west of Whitby. The Skinningrove Iron Company had it; seven people worked there in 1915, three of them underground, and that year's return marks it abandoned.

History

Goldsborough sits above the coast between Kettleness and Lythe, at the far eastern edge of the Cleveland ironstone field. Ironstone had been taken from these cliffs since the 1830s, won directly from the beach and loaded into ships in the bay — a hazardous business — and sent to the Wylam furnaces of Losh, Wilson and Bell. This mine was a much later and smaller affair. It belonged to the Skinningrove Iron Company, which had furnaces along the coast at Carlin How, and the stone went there by rail on the Whitby, Redcar and Middlesbrough Union line. The only official return that survives for it is 1915, giving seven people — three below ground and four at surface — and marking the mine abandoned. An account of the Kettleness workings describes a mine west of that hamlet operating between 1910 and 1915 and sending its ironstone to Skinningrove by rail, which is this one. Five years and seven people is about as small as a Cleveland ironstone mine gets.

Geology

The Upper Lias of this coast carries alum shales, jet rock, cement shales and ironstone together, and all four have been worked around Kettleness and Goldsborough at one time or another.

Workings

Very small. The 1915 return gives three people below ground and four at surface. The ironstone went out by rail to the Skinningrove works.

Closure

The 1915 List of Mines records the mine abandoned.

What remains

No account of the site as it now stands has been found.

None recorded.

Related mines

• Huntcliffe Mine — Both fed the Cleveland ironworks from mines driven into this coast; Huntcliffe was one of the big ones and Goldsborough one of the smallest and last.

Nearby mines

• Kettleness Alum Works — 1.7 km NW
• Port Mulgrave Mine — 5.0 km NW
• Aislaby Quarry — 5.6 km S
• Whitby Jet Workings — 6.4 km SE
• Grinkle Mine — 8.5 km NW

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 only official return recorded for Goldsborough is 1915: seven employed, three below ground and four at surface, with the mine marked abandoned. The owner in the 1910s was the Skinningrove Iron Co. Ltd. ¹
• The ironstone at Kettleness was worked at two sites. Between 1838 and 1857 stone was won directly from the cliffs and beach and loaded onto ships in the bay, which was a hazardous operation, and shipped to the Wylam furnaces of Losh, Wilson and Bell. The other mine was west of the hamlet and operated between 1910 and 1915, the ironstone being forwarded to Skinningrove ironworks by rail. (uncertain) ²

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (secondary) Goldsborough (Ironstone) — Durham Mining Museum
2. (secondary) Kettleness — Wikishire

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