Longriggs Mine, Appleby

Overview

A gypsum drift mine opened in 1965 to the south of British Gypsum's Kirkby Thore works in the Eden Valley, one of three mines -- with Newbiggin and Birkshead -- supplying the plant's plaster and plasterboard mill by the mid-1970s, and linked underground to Birkshead Mine by a conveyor running through storage bins beneath Longriggs.

History

Longriggs Mine was opened as a drift in 1965, to the south of the Kirkby Thore gypsum and plaster works in Cumbria's Eden Valley, joining the district's other working 20th-century mines: the Stamphill mine (opened 1927, largely worked out by the 1930s), Newbiggin Mine (opened 1961) and Birkshead Mine, the largest of the group. As the aerial ropeways that had carried gypsum from the older Boazman and McGhie workings were dismantled from 1975, a conveyor system was installed to carry crushed material from Birkshead Mine to storage bins underground in Longriggs, and onward to the Kirkby Thore mill; by the mid-1970s the three working mines together produced around 750,000 tons of gypsum a year. By the 1980s Longriggs was owned by British Gypsum Ltd, and it appears in trade and industry directories as a producer of gypsum in 1979, 1980, 1983 and 1984. By the time of a 2020s account of the district's gypsum industry only Birkshead Mine remained working of the Kirkby Thore group; Longriggs's own closure date has not been established.

Geology

Worked a gypsum (calcium sulphate dihydrate) deposit in the Eden Valley, the same measures worked at the district's other Kirkby Thore mines.

Workings

A drift mine, driven underground despite the 'quarry' used for it in some catalogues; from 1975 linked underground to Birkshead Mine by a conveyor carrying crushed gypsum through storage bins beneath Longriggs on its way to the Kirkby Thore mill.

Closure

Closure date not established; by the time of a 2020s account of the district's gypsum industry, only Birkshead Mine remained in production among the Kirkby Thore group.

What remains

Not established from the sources read for this pass.

Not established from the sources read for this pass.

Redevelopment

Not established from the sources read for this pass.

Related mines

• Kirkby Thore Gypsum Mines — Physically connected underground: from 1975 a conveyor carried crushed gypsum from Birkshead Mine (part of the Kirkby Thore Gypsum Mines group) through storage bins beneath Longriggs on its way to the mill, and both were part of the same British Gypsum operation at Kirkby Thore.

Nearby mines

• Kirkby Thore Gypsum Mines — 1.4 km NW
• New Stamphill Mine, Kirkby Thore — 2.2 km N
• Silverband Mine — 6.6 km NE
• Hilton and Scordale Mines — 6.7 km E
• Cash Well Mine — 12.8 km NE

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.

• Opened as a drift mine in 1965, to the south of the Kirkby Thore plant, one of three mines (with Newbiggin and Birkshead) supplying it by the mid-1970s. ¹
• From 1975 linked underground to Birkshead Mine by a conveyor carrying crushed gypsum through storage bins beneath Longriggs and onward to the mill, replacing the district's earlier aerial ropeways. ¹
• Recorded as a producer of gypsum in 1979, 1980, 1983 and 1984 under owner British Gypsum Ltd, part of the three-mine group that produced about 750,000 tons of gypsum a year by the mid-1970s. ^1,2

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (primary) Gypsum Production in the Kirkby Thore Area — Settle-Carlisle Railway Conservation Area
2. (secondary) Longriggs Quarry (Gypsum) — Durham Mining Museum

Record created: 11 September 2026 · Last researched: 14 September 2026