Longcleugh Mine

Overview

A lead vein in the Nenthead mining field on Alston Moor, leased from the Commissioners of Greenwich Hospital in 1751 and worked from the Middlecleugh Level as part of the wider Middlecleugh-Longcleugh-Caplecleugh vein system that made Nenthead one of the North Pennine Orefield's most productive mining centres.

History

The Longcleugh Vein was among the leases the mining company operating at Nenthead negotiated with the Commissioners of Greenwich Hospital, who had held the manor since 1735, during 1751. It was worked as part of a closely linked group of veins -- Middlecleugh, Longcleugh and Caplecleugh -- that together formed one of the most productive parts of the Nenthead mining field, upper portions of the Longcleugh and Middlecleugh veins being reached via the Middlecleugh Level. Nenthead itself became one of the London Lead Company's main mining areas by the mid-18th century, and the wider field, worked initially from the discovery of the Rampgill Vein in 1690, went on to make Alston Moor one of the country's principal lead-producing districts by the mid-19th century. Structural geology recorded in the Middlecleugh Level shows the Longcleugh Vein's mineralisation history directly: slickensides on its vein walls, pitching 15 degrees west, are partly covered by cubes of green fluorite, evidence that strike-slip movement along the vein took place before, during and after mineralisation. The London Lead Company gave up its last Nenthead leases in 1882, selling its holdings on to the Nenthead and Tynedale Zinc Company, which was in turn taken over by the Belgian Vieille Montagne Zinc Company in 1896; intermittent production across the wider Nenthead field continued until 1963.

Workings

Worked from the Middlecleugh Level as part of the linked Middlecleugh-Longcleugh-Caplecleugh vein system; a large water pipe was later laid along part of the Middlecleugh Level entrance to serve mining operations elsewhere in the field.

What remains

Part of the wider Nenthead mining landscape, now largely accessible only underground via the Middlecleugh Level workings; the surface features of the wider field are managed as a heritage site at Nenthead Mines.

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.

• The Longcleugh Vein was among the leases negotiated with the Commissioners of Greenwich Hospital, who had held the manor of Alston Moor since 1735, during 1751. ¹
• Longcleugh was worked as part of a closely linked group of veins -- Middlecleugh, Longcleugh and Caplecleugh -- reached via the Middlecleugh Level; slickensides on the Longcleugh Vein's walls, partly covered by cubes of green fluorite, record strike-slip movement before, during and after mineralisation. ¹
• Nenthead became one of the London Lead Company's main mining areas by the mid-18th century; the company gave up its last Nenthead leases in 1882, and intermittent production across the wider field continued under later owners until 1963. ^1,2

Photographs & further reading

This page doesn't try to reproduce everything — these are the best original sources found for this mine.

Sources

1. (primary) Bulletin 9-1: The History and Workings of the Nenthead Mines, Cumbria — Peak District Mines Historical Society (NMRS Bulletin)
2. (secondary) Alston Moor, Cumbria — Wikipedia

Record created: 30 August 2026 · Last researched: 31 August 2026