New Rake Lead Mines

Overview

New Rake, worked from at least 1711, was deliberately driven hard in the 1750s by its Over Engine and Nether Engine mines to beat rival claimants into the ground later worked out through Speedwell Cavern -- the show cave whose underground boat trip now passes directly beneath the rake.

History

New Rake, formerly known as Hurdlow and New Rakes, runs roughly east-west across high limestone moorland south-east of Rowter Farm, one of a broad band of sub-parallel lead veins in this part of Derbyshire alongside Faucet Rake, Oxlow Rake, Watts Grove Vein and Slitherstone Rake. Workings here are documented in ore accounts and other records from at least 1711; in 1725 one of the mine's owners, Thomas Pendleton, was brought before the courts for non-payment of 19 shillings and four pence owed for blacksmith's work. As with the district's other rakes, mining here was governed by the Barmote Courts, with individual miners or small companies working relatively short lengths of the vein. The rake's most substantial concentration of activity, at Hurdlow Stile Mine, is entirely enclosed by a belland yard wall and includes a number of capped shafts -- among them three climbing shafts, one recently reopened for exploration and educational use -- along with water storage ponds and an ore storage bin. A second concentration centres on James Hall's Engine, an engine shaft documented from at least 1748, itself lying between two further mining shafts. New Rake is intersected at depth by the Speedwell Level, begun in 1771 and planned primarily as an underground canal; Hurdlow Stile Mine connects with Speedwell Cavern some 500 feet down. In the 1750s the Over Engine and Nether Engine mines here were worked hard and fast specifically to forestall rival parties who went on to exploit the same ground from Speedwell Cavern -- the level that later became one of the Peak District's best-known show caves, its underground boat trip now passing directly beneath the rake. The rake's eastern end, largely untouched because of its low remaining mineral value, preserves a further pair of narrow mineral veins and an east-west scrin that widens further west.

Geology

A lead-bearing vein among a broad band of sub-parallel rakes, intersected at depth by the Speedwell Level and its natural stream caverns.

Workings

A linear rake centred on Hurdlow Stile Mine (with three climbing shafts inside a belland yard) and James Hall's Engine shaft (documented from 1748), intersected by the 1771 Speedwell Level.

Closure

No reliable closure date has yet been located.

What remains

Scheduled as a nationally important monument; one of Hurdlow Stile Mine's climbing shafts has been reopened for exploration and educational use.

Hillocks, shafts, open cuts, an ore storage bin, water leats and storage ponds survive, along with the belland-yard-enclosed Hurdlow Stile Mine and James Hall's Engine shaft.

Related mines

• Slitherstone and Linacre Lead Mines — Both named by the Derbyshire HER as part of the same wider group of parallel rakes in the Castleton/Peak Forest area, alongside Faucet Rake, Oxlow Rake and Watts Grove Vein.

Nearby mines

• Hazard Mine — 0.9 km S
• Slitherstone and Linacre Lead Mines — 1.2 km SW
• Odin Mine — 1.5 km N
• Treak Cliff Cavern — 1.5 km NW
• Speedwell Cavern — 1.7 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.

• Workings on New Rake, formerly Hurdlow and New Rakes, are documented in ore accounts from at least 1711; in 1725 mine owner Thomas Pendleton was brought before the courts for non-payment of 19 shillings and four pence owed for blacksmith's work. ¹
• New Rake is intersected at depth by the Speedwell Level, begun in 1771 and planned primarily as an underground canal; Hurdlow Stile Mine connects with Speedwell Cavern at 500ft, and in the 1750s the Over Engine and Nether Engine mines were worked hard specifically to forestall rival parties who went on to exploit the same ground from Speedwell Cavern. ¹
• James Hall's Engine, an engine shaft east of Hurdlow Stile Mine, is documented from at least 1748. ¹
• New Rake is one of a broad band of sub-parallel lead veins in this part of Derbyshire alongside Faucet Rake, Oxlow Rake, Watts Grove Vein and Slitherstone Rake, and its eastern end, largely untouched because of low remaining mineral value, preserves a further pair of narrow veins and a widening east-west scrin. ²

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (primary) Derbyshire HER: New Rake Lead Mines, Castleton (MDR2284) — Derbyshire Historic Environment Record
2. (primary) New Rake lead mines 600m south east of Rowter Farm, Castleton, Derbyshire — AncientMonuments.uk (mirroring the Historic England scheduling record)

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