Longacres Mine

Overview

A Skelton ironstone mine that outlived its own winding gear twice over. Shaft sinking began in 1873 and the headgear burned down before the year was out; the shaft was finished at 95 metres in 1875. From 1916 the mine raised no stone of its own, sending it a mile underground into North Skelton and keeping its shafts for ventilation, men and timber, until Dorman Long reopened it for ironstone in 1933. It closed in 1954 and the headgear came down the year after.

History

Longacres was leased by Bolckow, Vaughan & Co. in 1865 and held by them until 1929, then by Dorman, Long & Co. to 1954. Shaft sinking began in 1873 and in December of that year the headgear was destroyed by fire; sinking was completed in 1875 at 95 metres. The mine was among those served by the Saltburn Extension railway, opened for goods in 1872 and for passengers in 1875, along with Lumpsey and Brotton. In 1916 ironstone production at the site ended and the shafts were kept open for ventilation and for winding men and timber into North Skelton, a mile to the south, which worked the same seam; the stone went there by an underground incline. The winders and ventilators were electrified in 1919. That was not the end of it: Dorman Long reopened the shaft for ironstone extraction in 1933, and the site worked on until closure in 1954, the headgear being removed in 1955. The mine is known locally as Parkers Pit, though it was never called that while it was working — the name comes from Dennis Parker, who ran local taxis and rented buildings and land there afterwards, keeping pigs and selling wood and kindling.

Geology

The mine worked the Cleveland Main seam of the Cleveland ironstone, the bedded Jurassic ore of the Lias, the same seam North Skelton reached from its own shafts a mile to the south.

Geological setting: Sedimentary Beds and Seams (well documented example)

Workings

Two shafts, a downcast and an upcast a short distance apart, the sinking completed in 1875 at 95 metres. Ventilation was by a Guibal fanhouse carrying a fan thirty feet in diameter. From 1916 the ironstone went a mile by incline underground to North Skelton rather than up these shafts, which then served for air, men and timber; the winders and ventilators were electrified in 1919 and the shaft was reopened for ironstone in 1933. A drift on the site is recorded as a failed drainage level.

Closure

The site closed in 1954 and the headgear was removed in 1955. A local account ties the appearance of minewater in Saltburn Gill on 18 May 1999 to a closure thirty-five years earlier, which would give 1964; that is the year North Skelton closed, and pumping in this connected group of workings would have stopped then rather than in 1954.

What remains

A brick cap stands around the downcast shaft, with the upcast a short distance away, filled and obscured by undergrowth, and beside it the foundations of the main winding engine. A circular shaft cap on the site is open, and can be climbed on and looked down. The mine's explosives magazine survives, now standing just behind an Aldi, with an arched doorway, a small entrance room and two larger rooms behind it. An outfall believed to come from the mine flows into Holme Beck, the water stained bright orange. The mine's name survives in a new public house on the site.

The brick-capped downcast shaft and the foundations of the main winding engine, the obscured upcast, an open circular shaft cap, the explosives magazine now behind a supermarket, and a drift that was a failed drainage level. Orange-stained minewater still issues into Holme Beck, and the mine's name survives in a nearby pub.

Related mines

• North Skelton Mine — Longacres worked the same seam as North Skelton a mile to the south, and from 1915-16 sent all its ironstone there by a mile-long underground incline, keeping its own shafts for ventilation and for winding men and materials.

Recorded claims

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

• The Wikipedia table of Cleveland mines gives Longacres at Skelton, 1865 to 1954 with 1916 marked in brackets, at NZ668194, operated by Bolckow, Vaughan until 1929 and Dorman Long thereafter, with output from 1916 taken by a one-mile incline into North Skelton Mine. ¹
• A brick cap stands around the downcast shaft with the upcast a short distance away, filled and obscured; the engine base of the winder survives beside it, along with a powder house with an arched doorway and three rooms, and an open circular shaft cap. ²
• An outfall believed to come from Longacres discharges bright orange water into Holme Beck, and minewater first appeared in Saltburn Gill on 18 May 1999, described locally as thirty-five years after the mine closed. (uncertain) ²
• Shaft sinking began in 1873, the headgear was destroyed by fire in December of that year, and sinking was completed at 95 metres in 1875. ³
• Ironstone production at the site ended in 1916 and the shafts were kept open for ventilation and for winding men and timber into North Skelton; the winders and ventilators were electrified in 1919, and Dorman Long reopened the shaft for ironstone extraction in 1933. ³
• The site closed in 1954 and the headgear was removed in 1955. ³

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (secondary) Ironstone mining in Cleveland and North Yorkshire — Wikipedia
2. (observational) Longacres shaft and building remains — Hidden Teesside
3. (secondary) Longacres Ironstone Mine — East Cleveland's Industrial Heartland

Record created: 12 September 2026 · Last researched: 12 September 2026