Magpie Mine

Overview

Magpie Mine, on the limestone plateau above Sheldon in the Peak District, was the last working lead mine in Derbyshire when it finally closed. It's best known for the 1833 "Widow's Curse" affair, in which three miners from a neighbouring mine died after being deliberately smoked out of disputed workings — but its well-preserved surface buildings, now cared for by the Peak District Mines Historical Society, are reason enough on their own to visit.

History

Working is first recorded at Magpie in 1740, and the main shaft was sunk in 1823. The mine repeatedly closed and reopened over the following two centuries as disputes, flooding and falling lead prices took their toll — closures are recorded in 1793 and 1835. The most notorious of these disputes came in 1833: Magpie and the neighbouring Maypitt mine were both working the same vein, the Great Redsoil, and miners from each side took to lighting fires underground to smoke the other out. Three Maypitt miners suffocated in one such incident; 24 Magpie miners were tried for murder, and all were acquitted, since it proved impossible to establish which of them was responsible. The dispute is said to have ruined the mine, which closed in 1835, and local tradition holds that the miners' widows cursed the workings. The mine reopened in 1839 under the well-known Cornish mining engineer John Taylor, who deepened the main shaft substantially and installed much of the surface plant that survives today. Later operators included Edgar Garlick, who ran the mine from 1913 until his business entered liquidation in 1924 — after an overly optimistic 1913 report had promised four million tons of ore in reserve — and, after the Second World War, the Waihi Investment and Development Company, which worked the mine until final closure.

Geology

Magpie Mine worked lead-bearing veins in the Derbyshire limestone of the Peak District, on the Great Redsoil vein among others — the same vein whose disputed ownership led to the 1833 incident.

Workings

The main shaft, sunk in 1823, was deepened by John Taylor from 1839 to a final depth of 208 m (683 ft). Drainage was a persistent problem: a sough (drainage tunnel) roughly 2 km long was driven between 1873 and 1881 to carry water away from the lower workings, and still discharges several million litres of water a day.

Closure

Accounts differ on the exact final closure date: most describe the mine finally closing in 1958 after a post-war reopening failed to find significant new ore before the end of the Korean War caused imported lead prices to fall, while at least one account gives 1954. Either way, it was the last working lead mine in Derbyshire.

What remains

The site is well preserved and managed by the Peak District Mines Historical Society, who maintain public access via footpaths from Sheldon and the surrounding lanes. The drainage sough remains active, still discharging several million litres of water daily.

Surviving structures include a circular chimney of 1840, a square chimney of the same date (renovated in 2016), the 1869 Cornish engine house — which replaced an 1840 engine house on the same site — and a reconstructed horse-powered winding gin.

Redevelopment

No major redevelopment has taken place; the site was designated a Scheduled Monument on 15 January 1974 and is maintained as a preserved industrial heritage site rather than redeveloped for other use.

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. Where sources disagree, both are kept.

• Most accounts give final closure as 1958; one source instead gives 1954 for the end of the post-war Waihi Investment and Development Company operation. (disputed) — Magpie Mine History, Magpie Mine
• In 1833, three miners from the neighbouring Maypitt mine suffocated after Magpie miners lit fires underground during a dispute over the Great Redsoil vein; 24 Magpie miners were tried for murder and all were acquitted. — Magpie Mine History, Magpie Mine
• The site was designated a Scheduled Monument on 15 January 1974. — Magpie Mine
• Magpie Mine produced 800 tons of lead in 1827, a site record that reportedly stood unbroken until 1871. (uncertain) — Magpie Mine History

Photographs & further reading

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

Images

Sources

1. (secondary) Magpie Mine — Wikipedia
2. (secondary) Magpie Mine History — Peak District Mines Historical Society