Millclose Mine

Overview

Millclose, near Wensley in Derbyshire, was Britain's most productive lead mine — the last major lead mine worked in the Peak District — before catastrophic underground flooding forced its final closure in 1940.

History

Millclose was already old and nearly worked out by the late 1850s when E.M. Wass, owner of the nearby Lea Lead Works, reopened it in 1859, building a new Cornish pumping engine house — constructed 1859–60, with an engine supplied by Thornewill and Warham of Burton-on-Trent — at what became known as Watts' Engine Shaft. The original Cornish engine ceased work in the early 1870s, and a New Millclose Mine was opened around 450 metres to the northeast to work the pipe vein further north. Production peaked in the 1920s, and the mine went on to become the largest lead mine in Britain, yielding over 500,000 tons of lead ore and almost 100,000 tons of zinc ore over its working life, with a further roughly 140,000 tons recovered by reworking spoil heaps in the 1930s and 1940s. In 1938 the workings broke into what appears to have been an enormous natural underground water table; despite intensive pumping — water was reported entering at up to 2,000 litres a minute — the low market price of lead and the sheer cost of continued pumping made the mine uneconomic, and it finally closed in 1940.

Workings

Watts' Engine Shaft, sunk from the 1859–60 engine house, gave access to just one small section of the mine's extensive and important pipe-vein workings.

Closure

Millclose closed in 1940 after two years of fighting the 1938 flood; the low market price of lead compounded the immense cost of pumping to make continued working uneconomic.

What remains

Surface remains at the original site include the ruined gritstone engine house — its ‘bob wall’, which supported the pumping beam, still stands to around 9 metres and 1.5 metres thick — along with winding house and boiler house foundations, a capstan site, and extensively reworked spoil hillocks; the site was designated a scheduled monument in 1979.

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.

Disasters & major incidents

• Mill Close Mine firedamp explosion
  3 November 1887 · Explosion · 5 fatalities
  Five miners died when a shot-firer's naked flame ignited firedamp gas that had already been detected and flagged as dangerous in the days before the blast.

Recorded claims

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

• Over its working life, Millclose produced more than 500,000 tons of lead ore and almost 100,000 tons of zinc ore, with a further roughly 140,000 tons recovered from reworking its spoil heaps during the 1930s and 1940s. ¹
• In 1938 the workings broke into what appears to have been a large natural underground water table, with water reported entering the mine at up to 2,000 litres a minute; despite intensive pumping, the combined cost of pumping and the low market price of lead forced final closure in 1940. ¹
• The engine house built in 1859–60 to house a Cornish pumping engine supplied by Thornewill and Warham of Burton-on-Trent survives as a ruin, its gritstone ‘bob wall’ — which supported the pumping beam — still standing to around 9 metres. ²
• The mine site was designated a scheduled monument on 18 April 1979. ²

Images

Sources

1. (secondary) Millclose Mine — Derbyshire Heritage
2. (secondary) Old Millclose Mine — Wikipedia

Record created: 19 August 2026 · Last researched: 20 August 2026