Lindal Moor

Overview

Lindal Moor, in the Furness district of Cumbria, was a major source of the haematite iron ore that fed the region's steel industry — and became briefly, unwittingly famous in 1892 when a railway locomotive vanished into a subsidence hole caused by its own workings, never to be recovered.

History

Haematite iron ore was worked on a large scale at Lindal Moor from the mid-19th century, part of the wider Furness iron-mining district whose ore fed the Bessemer steelmaking process pioneered nearby at Barrow-in-Furness. The mine was worked by the Parkside and Lindal Moor Mining Company, and later leased to Harrison, Ainslie and Co; large, irregular ore bodies were worked using the top-slicing method, and the ground beneath the surrounding area, including the Furness Railway line through Lindal-in-Furness, became honeycombed with workings for around half a mile. On 22 September 1892 the ground gave way beneath a Furness Railway locomotive, No. 115, that was shunting at Lindal station: the driver, Thomas Postlethwaite, escaped as cracks opened in the ground, and the 35-ton engine dropped nose-first into a hole around 30 feet across, deepening to some 60 feet as the ground continued to subside. The locomotive was never recovered and remains buried beneath the site to this day. A further six feet of subsidence closed the line again in November 1893. Mining at Lindal Moor continued into the early 20th century before the mine finally closed around 1914-1915.

Geology

The mine worked haematite iron ore deposits within Carboniferous limestone of the Furness district, formed where iron-rich solutions replaced pockets and fissures in the limestone — large, irregular ore bodies rather than regular veins, which were worked using the top-slicing method suited to their shape.

Geological setting: Iron Replacement Deposits (well documented example)

Workings

Large, irregular haematite ore bodies were worked using the top-slicing method; contemporary accounts describe the ground for around half a mile beneath the surrounding area, including the Furness Railway line, as 'honeycombed' by the mine's underground workings.

Closure

The mine closed around 1914-1915, after more than half a century of large-scale working.

What remains

The buried locomotive remains beneath the site of the 1892 subsidence, close to Lindal railway station; further subsidence in the area has continued to be monitored in the years since closure.

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.

• On 22 September 1892 a 35-ton Furness Railway locomotive fell into a subsidence hole around 30 feet across, deepening to some 60 feet, and was never recovered. ¹
• The ground for around half a mile beneath the surrounding area, including the Furness Railway line, was honeycombed by the mine's underground workings. ¹

Sources

1. (secondary) Lindal railway incident — Wikipedia
2. (primary) Lindall Moor Iron Mines mine plan — British Geological Survey / Cumbria Amenity Trust Mining History Society
3. (secondary) Lindal Moor Mine, Lindal & Marton, Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria, England, UK — Mindat

Record created: 24 August 2026 · Last researched: 24 August 2026