Gratton Dale Lead Mines

Overview

Gratton Dale's lead mines -- Rath Rake, Cowlica Rake, Dunnington, Hardbeat, Hardwork and Gatcliffe -- preserve a concentration of surface remains thought to be unique in the Derbyshire orefield, worked from a possible Roman origin through to a 19th-century reworking that recovered even the low-grade ore previously thrown away.

History

The mines of Gratton Dale, immediately east of the dale and south-west of Elton, worked ore bodies within the Monsal Dale and Bee Low Limestones under six named workings: Rath Rake, Cowlica Rake, Dunnington, Hardbeat, Hardwork and Gatcliffe. Roman brooches and pins recovered from surface workings at Cowlica Rake and Hardbeat in the mid-19th century -- one brooch now in the British Museum's Lucas Collection -- suggest a very early origin, though surface working is documented from the 17th century and underground working from the early 19th. Dunnington mine is recorded from at least 1641, when it was in the possession of Thomas Staley and Partners. Dunnington's own workings are centred on an extensive concentration of open-cut shafts, some within ruined coes, entered via an adit at the south-west, and a large buddle dam some 65 metres long, 45 metres wide and up to 9 metres high, built of stone, clay and ore-washing sludge. Rath Rake, marked by a line of hillocks along its vein, was the subject of a mid-17th-century agreement to sink two engine pits; only one was sunk, and no engine was ever installed because the water could not be drained. Instead a sough was driven from Gratton Dale to intersect the rake, a task carried out between 1655 and 1665 and then continued a further 800 feet west along the vein. Cowlica Rake, source of the Roman finds, crosses a large opencast hollow probably created both by working a near-surface flat vein and by dumping 19th-century buddling waste. A closely spaced cluster of bell pits, so intensively worked that later shafts' spoil has partly buried earlier ones, runs across the south-west of the site, alongside a concentration of at least nine buddle dams -- an intensity of working particularly associated with the early 19th century, when waste heaps across the district were extensively rewashed for previously discarded low-grade ore. A ruinous building near the dams, marked as Hungerhill Farm on the first Ordnance Survey map, was involved in at least the 19th-century operations; a silver deposit was reputedly discovered nearby in the early 19th century. The concentration of surviving surface remains across the site -- bell pits, open cuts, ruined coes, buddling dams, rakes, hillocks, an adit, a sough and shafts -- is probably unique in the Derbyshire orefield, and the area is recognised as a high priority site for the region's lead-mining heritage.

Geology

Lead-bearing ore bodies within the Monsal Dale and Bee Low Limestones, worked along several named rakes and veins.

Workings

Six named workings (Rath Rake, Cowlica Rake, Dunnington, Hardbeat, Hardwork, Gatcliffe) with bell pits, opencuts, a large buddle dam, an adit and a 1655-65 sough on Rath Rake.

Closure

No reliable closure date has yet been located; extensive 19th-century rewashing of waste heaps for low-grade ore suggests working continued at least that late.

What remains

Recognised as a high priority lead-mining site, with a concentration of surface remains thought to be unique in the orefield.

Bell pits, open cuts, ruined coes, at least nine buddle dams (one 65m long and 9m high), rakes, hillocks, an adit, a sough, shafts and the ruinous Hungerhill Farm building survive.

Nearby mines

• Rainslow Scrins — 1.0 km SE
• Wills Founder Mine — 2.4 km E
• Mawstone Mine — 2.8 km N
• Winster Mines — 3.0 km E
• Winster Pitts and Drummer's Venture — 3.5 km E

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.

• Roman brooches and pins recovered from surface workings at Cowlica Rake and Hardbeat mines in the mid-19th century suggest a very early origin for the site, and Dunnington mine is documented from at least 1641, when it was in the possession of Thomas Staley and Partners. ¹
• A mid-17th-century agreement to sink two engine pits on Rath Rake failed for want of drainage, leading instead to a sough driven from Gratton Dale between 1655 and 1665 to intersect the rake, later continued a further 800ft west; a large buddle dam near Dunnington measures some 65m long, 45m wide and up to 9m high. ¹
• The concentration of surviving surface remains at Gratton Dale, including bell pits, open cuts, ruined coes, buddling dams, rakes and an adit, is probably unique in the Derbyshire orefield. ²

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (primary) Derbyshire HER: Gratton Dale lead mines, Gratton Dale, Elton (MDR7759) — Derbyshire Historic Environment Record
2. (primary) Lead mines 600m and 980m south west of Oddo House Farm, Gratton, Derbyshire — AncientMonuments.uk (mirroring the Historic England scheduling record)

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