Hazard Mine

Overview

One of the major lead mines on Dirtlow Rake above Castleton, worked to a hundred fathoms and yielding some five thousand tons of ore in the 1830s. Opencasting removed most of it in the late 1990s. A walled gin circle, a grilled engine shaft and a fragment of the belland yard wall are what is left.

History

Hazard Mine worked lead on Dirtlow Rake, the great east-west vein that runs above Castleton and which this archive holds as a record of its own. The Derbyshire Historic Environment Record classes it as a post-medieval lead mine with a mine shaft and a winding circle, and it was one of the major mines of the district rather than one of the many small workings along the rake. Its best-recorded period is the 1830s, when the shaft is said to have stood at nearly seven hundred feet and some five thousand tons of lead ore were got. The extensive hillocks that once surrounded it were mainly calcite, thrown out by the mid-nineteenth century workings — the gangue rather than the ore, and a fair measure of how much rock had to be moved for the lead. The mine was connected at times with the neighbouring Hollowstone mine to the east, and both were drained through a natural feature in Hollowstone called the Great Swallow at six hundred feet. Where that water went is still not fully understood; it is thought to flow into Peak Cavern, the show cave under Castleton. What survived the mine did not survive the quarry. Hazard was largely removed by opencasting in the late 1990s and the opencuts were backfilled.

Geology

The mine worked a lead vein on Dirtlow Rake, in the Carboniferous limestone of the White Peak south of Castleton. The hillocks it left were mainly calcite, the gangue mineral that filled the vein alongside the galena, and they came chiefly from the mid-nineteenth century workings.

Geological setting: Veins and Lodes (well documented example)

Workings

An engine shaft with a walled gin circle to the south of it, on the south side of the workings. The mine was worked to six hundred feet, a hundred fathoms, though the engine shaft itself is recorded as only three hundred and fifty feet deep. It was connected at times to the Hollowstone mine to the east, and the two drained together through the Great Swallow in Hollowstone at six hundred feet.

Closure

No closure date has been established. The Historic Environment Record dates the workings post-medieval, to 1900 at the latest, and the surviving hillocks to the mid-nineteenth century. The site itself was largely destroyed by opencasting in the late 1990s.

What remains

Mostly removed. What remains is a walled gin circle, badly reduced; a deep engine shaft, now covered by an old iron grille with a slot cut into it; a small part of the belland yard wall; and a few adjacent hillocks. Cavers record the engine shaft at seventy-nine metres and warn that the grille bars are ancient and must not be stood on or rigged from. There is no access agreement in place and the only approach is by the public footpath at the west end near Wham Rake.

A walled gin circle, mostly removed; the grilled engine shaft; part of the belland yard wall; a few hillocks.

Redevelopment

Opencast quarrying took most of the site in the late 1990s and the opencuts were backfilled.

Related mines

• Dirtlow Rake Mine — Hazard is one of the named lead mines on Dirtlow Rake and is on the same vein; this archive's Dirtlow Rake record names it, which is how it was found.

Nearby mines

• Treak Cliff Cavern — 2.3 km N
• Odin Mine — 2.4 km N
• Speedwell Cavern — 2.5 km NE
• Dirtlow Rake Mine — 2.6 km NE
• Moss Rake — 2.9 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.

• The Historic Environment Record classes Hazard Mine as a post-medieval lead mine with a mine shaft and a winding circle, dated between 1540 and 1900, with no protected status recorded. ¹
• Once extensive hillocks, mainly of calcite, came from the mid-nineteenth century workings. There is an engine shaft with a walled gin circle to the south, on the south side of the workings. The mine was connected at times with Hollowstone mine to the east, and both drained through a Great Swallow in Hollowstone at 600 ft; the natural drainage is not fully understood but is thought to flow into Peak Cavern. ¹
• The Historic Environment Record says the mine was worked to 600 ft, a hundred fathoms, though the engine shaft is only 350 ft deep. Derbyshire Heritage says the shaft had a depth of nearly 700 ft in the 1830s. Peak District Caving records the engine shaft as 79 m deep. (disputed) ^1,2,3
• Some 5,000 tons of lead ore were gained in the 1830s. ²
• Hazard Mine was largely removed by opencasting in the late 1990s and the opencuts were backfilled; a walled gin circle, a deep grilled engine shaft, a small part of the belland yard wall and a few adjacent hillocks are extant. ^1,2
• The engine shaft is 79 m deep and covered by an old iron grille with a slot cut into it; the grille bars are ancient and are not to be stood on or used alone for rigging. There is no access agreement in place, and the only approach is by the public footpath at the west end near Wham Rake. ³

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (primary) Hazard Mine, Castleton — Derbyshire Historic Environment Record MDR2299 — Derbyshire Historic Environment Record
2. (secondary) Hazard mine, major lead mine near Castleton — Derbyshire Heritage
3. (observational) Hazard Mine, Castleton area — Peak District Caving

Record created: 9 September 2026 · Last researched: 10 September 2026