Mawstone Mine

Overview

Mawstone Mine, near Youlgreave, worked lead from around 1700 to 1932, when a gas explosion killed eight men and closed the mine for good; its office and ore-dressing shed still stand on the site.

History

Mawstone lead mine, north-east of Mawstone Farm, Youlgreave, was worked from around 1700 until 1932. The 1870s saw a revival of interest in Hillcarr Sough as a way of draining the mine, and in 1878 the Mosstone Mining Company was formed to work it; in 1882 Mawstone Level was driven from Pinet Nest Shaft along Clay Vein as an extension of Hillcarr. Gas was always a problem underground here, and by 1891 a steam engine and ventilation pump were in operation. The Mosstone Mining Company went into liquidation in 1893; in 1919 the Bradford Vale Mining Company Ltd (wound up in 1967) took on the mine and promoted a scheme to unwater it using hydraulic pumps. On 23 May 1932 a firedamp explosion killed eight men here -- five miners and three would-be rescuers -- and closed the mine for good (see Disasters, below). Despite the disaster, the mine continued to be worked in fits and starts into the 1950s before closing for good as lead mining across the Peak District became uneconomical. A large hillock with the mine's surviving ore-dressing shed and one-storey office building (originally built as a smithy in the 1870s), the remains of a 20th-century gangue processing plant and a nearby powder house survive on the privately owned site, not accessible to the public.

Geology

Lead-bearing shale-hosted workings, particularly prone to firedamp (methane) gas because of the shale.

Workings

A deep shaft mine drained via Mawstone Level, an extension of Hillcarr Sough; later fitted with a steam engine and ventilation pump because of persistent gas.

Closure

Closed immediately after the 23 May 1932 gas explosion that killed eight men; the site was privately owned and not reopened as a working mine.

What remains

Privately owned and not accessible to the public; the office building (much altered, once used as holiday accommodation) and the ore-dressing shed were formally recorded in 2019.

A large hillock, the ore-dressing shed, the one-storey former office (built c.1870s as a smithy), remains of a 20th-century gangue processing plant, and a nearby powder house survive.

Nearby mines

• Prospect Lead Mine — 1.3 km NE
• Broadmeadow Lead Mine — 1.4 km NE
• Guy Mine — 1.5 km NE
• Alport Mines — 2.0 km N
• Wheels Rake Wheelhouse Shaft — 2.2 km NE

Straight-line distance, within 15 km. Show on the map.

Disasters & major incidents

• Mawstone Mine Disaster
  23 May 1932 · Explosion · 8 fatalities
  A firedamp explosion at Mawstone Mine, Youlgreave, killed five miners working on a ventilation fan; three more men died attempting a rescue without breathing apparatus, bringing the toll to eight and closing the mine for good.

Recorded claims

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

• Mawstone lead mine was worked from around 1700 to 1932; the Mosstone Mining Company worked it from 1878 until liquidation in 1893, and the Bradford Vale Mining Company Ltd from 1919 until 1967, when it was wound up. A 1932 gas explosion killed 5 miners and 3 rescuers and closed the mine. ¹
• The mine's surviving office building was built in the 1870s originally as a smithy, only later becoming an office, and was recorded along with the ore-dressing shed in a 2019 historic building survey. ¹
• The Bradford Vale Mining Company Ltd, which took on Mawstone in 1919 and was wound up in 1967, promoted a scheme to unwater the mine using hydraulic pumps. ¹

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (primary) Derbyshire HER: Mawstone lead mine, north-east of Mawstone Farm, Youlgreave (MDR8397) — Derbyshire Historic Environment Record
2. (primary) Newspaper Articles: The Lead Mine Tragedy, Inquest Story Of The Rescue Efforts (Northern Daily Mail, 31 May 1932) — Durham Mining Museum (newspaper archive)
3. (secondary) Remembering the Mawstone Mine Disaster — Great British Life (Andrew McCloy)

Record created: 16 September 2026 · Last researched: 16 September 2026