Lodge Syke Mine

Overview

Lodge Syke was a lead mine of the London Lead Company in the Hudeshope valley above Middleton-in-Teesdale, working the Lodgesike–Manorgill vein. It was a mine of levels rather than shafts: a Low Level and a High Level driven in from Hudeshope, with a Transport Level between them, the workings eventually running far enough to connect with those coming in from the Eggleston valley on the other side. The 1888 List of Mines returns it under the London Lead Company with John Hunt as manager.

History

Lead mining in Teesdale was dominated by one concern. The London Lead Company — the Quaker company, formally the Governor and Company for Smelting Down Lead with Pitcoal and Sea Coal — took its first Teesdale lease in 1753 and moved its headquarters to Middleton-in-Teesdale in 1815, building the model village there that is its most visible legacy. Lodge Syke was one of its mines.

The 1888 List of Mines enters Lodge Syke in Teesdale with John Hunt as manager and the London Lead Co. of Middleton-in-Teesdale as owner. The company agreed to dissolve in July 1902 and began divesting itself of its mines and other assets at once; by 1905 it was out of Teesdale altogether. Nothing on record says what became of Lodge Syke at that point, or when it stopped. The mine's own layout is better recorded than its history. It comprised two principal levels, Low and High, both driven from the Hudeshope valley, with a Transport Level as well, and the workings extended far enough to connect with those driven from the Eggleston valley on the far side of the ridge — two dales' mines meeting underground.

Geology

The Teesdale mines lie in the North Pennine orefield, where ore is carried in near-vertical veins cutting a Carboniferous sequence of limestones, sandstones and shales and is richest where a vein crosses a competent bed. The vein here is named: the Lodgesike–Manorgill vein, running through the ground between Hudeshope and Eggleston, which is why workings driven from either valley could meet along it. Galena was the object; the fluorite and barytes that accompany it in these veins were gangue at this date, and this mine is not recorded as having been reworked for them.

Geological setting: Veins and Lodes (well documented example)

Workings

A mine of levels driven horizontally into the valley side rather than of shafts sunk from the top. The Lodge Sike Low Level and High Level were both entered from Hudeshope, with a Transport Level between them, and their workings ran on to connect with mines coming in from the Eggleston valley. The three level mouths lie within a few hundred metres of one another on the western side of Hudeshope.

Closure

The closure date is not known. The London Lead Company agreed to dissolve in July 1902, divested its assets quickly and was out of Teesdale by 1905, so the mine changed hands or stopped at some point in that window; nothing on record says which.

What remains

Unknown. The level mouths are recorded in the mine database used here, with positions on the western side of Hudeshope, but nothing on record describes their present state or what survives at surface.

Unknown. The Low, High and Transport level positions are recorded, but nothing on record describes surviving structures.

Related mines

• Coldberry Mine — Both were London Lead Company mines in the Hudeshope valley, and BGS catalogues plans of the Lodgesike–Manorgill Vein as part of the Coldberry Mines.

What's uncertain

Points where sources disagree or the record could not be settled; both accounts are kept. All open questions in the archive.

• The mine's two levels, Low and High, were both accessed from the Hudeshope valley and extended to connect with workings from the Eggleston valley, the Lodgesike-Manorgill vein being the primary target of exploitation. (uncertain) ²

Recorded claims

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

• The 1888 List of Mines records Lodge Syke in Teesdale with John Hunt as manager and the London Lead Co. of Middleton-in-Teesdale as owner. ¹
• The mine comprised a Lodge Sike Low Level, High Level and Transport Level in the Hudeshope valley, lying within a few hundred metres of one another, all recorded as galena workings. ²
• The mine's two levels, Low and High, were both accessed from the Hudeshope valley and extended to connect with workings from the Eggleston valley, the Lodgesike-Manorgill vein being the primary target of exploitation. (uncertain) ²

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (primary) 1888 List of Mines under the Metalliferous Mines Act: Lead Mines (Durham District) — Mines Department, via the Durham Mining Museum
2. (secondary) Lodge Sike levels, Hudeshope — Buddlepit Mine Database

Record created: 5 September 2026 · Last researched: 5 September 2026