Mixon Mine

Overview

The most productive of the small copper mines around Onecote and Butterton in the Staffordshire moorlands, whose ore went with Ecton's to the Duke of Devonshire's smelter at Whiston; the hamlet of Mixon grew up to house its miners.

History

A number of small copper mines were worked around Butterton and Onecote, on the moorland edge east of Leek, and Mixon was the most productive of them, though the far richer copper came from nearby Ecton Hill. In 1770 the Duke of Devonshire built a smelter at Whiston to serve the Ecton and Mixon mines, and the ore went there by pack mule and horse through Grindon, Waterfall and Winkhill, where a stretch of track is still called Duke's Lane. The oldest houses in the hamlet of Mixon were built for miners working the nearby copper and lead mines.

Accounts of its working life differ. One local history has the site worked from the seventeenth to the late nineteenth century, but the 1851 directory of Staffordshire said the Mixon copper mine had not been worked for the last thirty years, and the Imperial Gazetteer of 1870-72 that it ceased to be worked about 1820.

Geology

Copper ore with some lead, in the same district as the Ecton copper deposits.

Workings

Unknown.

Closure

Working stopped about 1820, or according to one account continued into the late nineteenth century.

What remains

A part-cobbled track leads down from the hamlet to the old mine site.

Redevelopment

Unknown.

Related mines

• Ecton Copper Mines — Ore from Ecton and Mixon went to the Duke of Devonshire's smelter at Whiston, built in 1770.

What's uncertain

Points where sources disagree or the record could not be settled; both accounts are kept. All open questions in the archive.

• The Mixon site was worked from the seventeenth to the late nineteenth century. (disputed) ²
• In 1851 the Mixon copper mine had not been worked during the last thirty years. (disputed) ³
• The Mixon copper mine ceased to be worked about 1820. (disputed) ⁴

Recorded claims

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

• Mixon was the most productive of the small copper mines in the locality of Butterton and Onecote. ¹
• In 1770 the Duke of Devonshire built a smelter at Whiston to serve the Ecton and Mixon mines. ¹
• The oldest buildings at Mixon were built to house miners working the nearby Mixon copper and lead mines. ²
• The Mixon site was worked from the seventeenth to the late nineteenth century. (disputed) ²
• In 1851 the Mixon copper mine had not been worked during the last thirty years. (disputed) ³
• The Mixon copper mine ceased to be worked about 1820. (disputed) ⁴

Sources

1. (secondary) Copper Mining (Bygone Industries of the Peak) — Wishful Thinking (transcribed texts)
2. (secondary) My Way Around: Onecote to Roach End (Sally Mosley) — Peak Advertiser
3. (primary) White's History, Gazetteer and Directory of Staffordshire, 1851: Onecote — Staffordshire Past Track
4. (secondary) Onecote (Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales, 1870-72) — A Vision of Britain through Time

Record created: 19 October 2026 · Last researched: 19 October 2026