Hillcarr Sough

Overview

Hillcarr Sough, driven from 1776 to drain the lead mines of the Alport region, still runs water through its dressed-gritstone tunnel today -- complete with the boat jetty used to remove excavated spoil and a lime kiln that likely supplied mortar for its underground masonry.

History

Hillcarr Sough was begun in 1776 and completed in 1787, running four and a half miles to drain the lead mines of the Alport region. Its entrance, at the foot of a steep east-facing slope in Hillcarr Wood, is a finely dressed gritstone arch about 1.5 metres square, its keystone still carrying the metal pin that once hinged a cover, the discarded grille from which lies nearby. A flight of steps beside the entrance, flanked by a stone jetty, relates to the removal of excavated material by boat, which was stacked into the oval, flat-topped spoil heap -- some 30 by 20 metres and up to 3 metres high -- that survives immediately to the north. Eastward from the entrance the sough runs as an open, gritstone-lined leat for about 160 metres to the River Derwent, crossed by two corbelled gritstone bridges, before widening into two diamond-shaped ponds divided by a weir that once carried a sluice gate. Just south of where the sough meets the river stand the remains of a circular limestone lime kiln about 4 metres across -- its well-built form identifying it as a longer-lived 'running' kiln rather than an ephemeral 'pudding' or 'pie' kiln, most likely built to produce quicklime for mortar inside the sough's underground sections, since documentary evidence shows gunpowder, not quicklime, was used for blasting during its excavation. West of the entrance the sough runs entirely underground, its construction traceable via three surviving shaft mounds on the hillside above, spaced roughly 50 metres apart and thought to represent 15 to 30 years of work during the sough's earliest phase. A metre-wide stepped paved track linking the entrance to the third shaft mound -- which is revetted in drystone walling and flanked by a walled yard about 20 by 10 metres -- attests to a long period of occupation at the site, along with broken roof slate, dressed building stone and a lined, dressed-stone-capped shaft with an adjacent winding-gear platform. By the 1840s, four water-pressure engines had been installed along the sough's branches to pump water from workings sunk below its own level, allowing many mines to be worked over 100 feet deeper; but by the 1850s, falling lead prices saw these engines advertised for sale and every Alport mine but Prospect Mine closed.

Geology

A drainage sough driven to unwater the lead mines of the Alport region, running four and a half miles from Hillcarr Wood.

Workings

A dressed-gritstone tunnel entrance with boat jetty and spoil heap, an open leat with two bridges and two ponds, a lime kiln, three construction shaft mounds linked by a paved track, and a walled yard with a winding-gear platform.

Closure

By the 1850s, falling lead prices saw the sough's water-pressure pumping engines advertised for sale and all the Alport mines it served but Prospect Mine closed.

What remains

Scheduled as a nationally important monument since 1979 (amended 1996); still functioning as a drain, with water flowing through the open sections today.

The dressed-gritstone entrance arch, a boat jetty, a spoil heap, an open leat with two bridges and two ponds, a lime kiln, three shaft mounds, a paved track and a walled yard with a winding-gear platform survive.

Nearby mines

• Millclose Mine — 1.9 km S
• Kirkmeadow Mine — 2.5 km W
• Mount Pleasant Lead Mines — 3.0 km S
• Wheels Rake Wheelhouse Shaft — 3.3 km W
• Northern Dale Lead Mines — 3.4 km S

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.

• Hillcarr Sough was begun in 1776 and was both surveyed and constructed for the specific purpose of draining the lead mines of the Alport region; by the 1840s there were four water pressure engines in place to pump water up from mineworkings sunk to a level deeper than the sough itself, but by the 1850s fluctuations in the lead market led to the engines being advertised for sale and all the Alport mines but Prospect Mine being closed. ¹
• Immediately south of where the sough meets the river are the remains of a circular limestone lime kiln about 4m across; its well constructed appearance and association with the sough indicate it was a longer-lived 'running' kiln rather than a 'pudding' or 'pie' kiln, most likely producing quicklime for mortar inside the underground sections of the sough since gunpowder, not quicklime, is documented as having been used for blasting during its excavation. ²
• On the hillside above the sough there are three shaft mounds located west of the entrance at 50m intervals, believed to represent a construction period of between 15 and 30 years dating to the early stages of the sough; a 1m wide stepped paved track links the sough entrance to the third shaft mound, which is flanked by an enclosed yard measuring about 20m by 10m. ¹

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (primary) Derbyshire HER: Hillcarr Sough and Associated Limekiln, Hillcarr Wood (MDR3880) — Derbyshire Historic Environment Record
2. (primary) Hillcarr Sough and associated lime kiln and paved track, Stanton, Derbyshire — AncientMonuments.uk (mirroring the Historic England scheduling record)

Record created: 17 September 2026 · Last researched: 17 September 2026