Greenburn Mine

Overview

Greenburn, tucked into its own valley west of Coniston, was worked for copper on and off from the late 17th century and became, in its mid-19th-century heyday, an outlier of the wider Coniston Copper Mines — before ending up, by an odd twist, in the care of Beatrix Potter's own estate.

History

Documentary evidence shows a reasonably intense and prolonged period of copper mining at Greenburn by 1690, regarded as an outlier of the wider Coniston Copper Mines and known for parts of the 19th century as New Coniston Mine and Great Coniston Mine. The mine's most intensive period ran from around 1845 to 1861, including the sinking of an Engine Shaft, the driving of the Long Crag Level, and the construction of the Greenburn Reservoir to supply water power. A succession of companies worked the site less successfully until around 1885, and mining activity had ceased entirely by 1940. The site formed part of the Pennington family estates until 1930, when the land was bought and bequeathed to the National Trust by Beatrix Heelis — the author and illustrator better known as Beatrix Potter.

Geology

The mine worked copper lodes within the Coniston orefield of the Lake District, associated with the Borrowdale Volcanic Group, part of a hydrothermal mineralised system distinct from the granite-related lodes of Cornwall and Devon.

Geological setting: Hydrothermal Deposits (well documented example), Veins and Lodes (well documented example)

Workings

The mine's main features include the Engine Shaft and the Long Crag Level, along with the Greenburn Reservoir, built to supply water power to the site during its 1845-61 intensive working period.

Closure

A succession of companies worked the site with declining success until around 1885, and mining had ceased entirely by 1940.

What remains

Extensive remains of the mine and its associated ore-processing works survive in the Greenburn Valley, protected as a Scheduled Monument within the Lake District National Park.

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.

• Documentary sources show intensive mining under way at Greenburn by 1690; the most productive period ran from around 1845 to 1861, after which the site was worked with declining success until about 1885 and ceased entirely by 1940. ^1,2
• The site passed into National Trust care in 1930 as a bequest from Beatrix Heelis (Beatrix Potter), having previously formed part of the Pennington family estates. ¹

Images

Sources

1. (secondary) Greenburn Mine, Greenburn Valley, Coniston, South Lakeland, Cumbria, England, UK — Mindat
2. (primary) Greenburn copper mines and associated ore processing works, Coniston — Historic England (Scheduled Monument record)
3. (primary) Greenburn Mine, Coniston (BGS Mine Plans Catalogue) — British Geological Survey / Cumbria Amenity Trust Mining History Society

Record created: 23 August 2026 · Last researched: 23 August 2026