Harehope Gill Mine

Location	near Frosterley, County Durham — 54.7280, -1.9640 (approximate)
Commodity	Lead
Type	Metal
Worked	from 1796
Maximum depth	Engine Shaft reached approximately 60 metres, to the Great Limestone and Four Fathom Limestone.
Operators	London Lead Company (1796–1830), Beaumont Company (1835–?)
Status	Researched

Overview

A Weardale lead mine near Frosterley, leased by the London Lead Company in 1796 and later worked by the Beaumont Company, whose Engine Shaft reached some 60 metres down to the Great and Four Fathom Limestones.

History

Harehope Gill Mine lies in the Weardale valley near Frosterley, County Durham. The London Lead Company took a lease on the mine in 1796, and probably drove its main level; around the mid-1830s the Beaumont Company took over the working. The mine's Engine Shaft reached some 60 metres deep, giving access to the Great Limestone and the Four Fathom Limestone, two of the key host beds for lead mineralisation in the North Pennine orefield.

Workings

Worked via a main level (probably driven by the London Lead Company from 1796) and an Engine Shaft around 60 metres deep, reaching the Great Limestone and Four Fathom Limestone.

Closure

No reliable specific closure date has been located beyond the mine passing from the London Lead Company to the Beaumont Company around the mid-1830s.

What remains

Only the gable end of one wall and the wall of a water-wheel housing survive above ground.

The gable end of one wall and a water-wheel housing wall.

This is an active mining operation. It is not open to public access, and this entry describes its history and general location only.

Recorded claims

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

The London Lead Company leased Harehope Gill Mine in 1796 and probably drove its main level; the Beaumont Company took over the working around the mid-1830s. ¹
The mine's Engine Shaft was around 60 metres deep, reaching the Great Limestone and the Four Fathom Limestone. ²

Photographs & further reading

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

Mine Explorer Society: Harehope Gill Mine (further_reading)

Further detail on the mine's workings and surviving remains.

View source

Sources

(secondary) Harehope Gill Mine — Mine Explorer Society
(secondary) Fluorite Specimen Mining, Frosterley, Weardale, England — UK Mining Ventures

Record created: 1 September 2026 · Last researched: 1 September 2026