MineArchiveNew Stamphill Mine, Kirkby Thore
| Location | Kirkby Thore, Cumbria — 54.6438, -2.5459 (approximate) |
|---|---|
| Commodity | Gypsum |
| Type | Mineral |
| Worked | 1937–After 1950, not established |
| Maximum depth | No depth figure has been established from the sources read for this pass. |
| Operators | Thomas McGhie & Sons Ltd (1937–?) |
Overview
A gypsum and anhydrite mine opened in 1937 in the Robinson and Hunter Quarries district of Kirkby Thore's gypsum field, as the older Stamphill mine of 1927 was worked out; recorded in Lists of Mines from 1938 to at least 1950, when it employed 59 people.
History
New Stamphill Mine was opened in 1937 in the district of the former Robinson and Hunter Quarries, part of the Kirkby Thore gypsum field in Cumbria's Eden Valley, as the earlier Stamphill mine of 1927 (see the Kirkby Thore Gypsum Mines record) was worked out. The Gotham Company, which had consolidated the whole Kirkby Thore district under its ownership by 1927, including the McGhie family's own mining interests, was driving the district's development at the time; the mine's own Lists of Mines entries record its owner through the 1930s and 1940s as Thomas McGhie & Sons Ltd, presumably the trading name under which Gotham continued to run the former McGhie operations. New Stamphill worked gypsum and anhydrite together, appearing in official returns for 1938, 1944, 1945, 1948 and 1950; employment grew from a token 3 workers in 1938 to 25 by 1944 and 59, 46 below ground and 13 on the surface, by 1950. No later record of the mine has been found; its eventual closure date has not been established.
Geology
Worked gypsum and anhydrite of the Kirkby Thore gypsum field, in the same Eden Valley evaporite deposit worked at the district's other mines.
Workings
An underground mine in the district of the former Robinson and Hunter Quarries, worked alongside the district's other gypsum mines.
Closure
No record found after 1950; the exact closure date has not been established.
What remains
Not established from the sources read for this pass.
Not established from the sources read for this pass.
Redevelopment
Not established from the sources read for this pass.
Related mines
- Kirkby Thore Gypsum Mines — Part of the same Kirkby Thore gypsum operation, opened in 1937 as the district's earlier Stamphill mine (also part of that record) was worked out, under the same Gotham Company ownership that ran the whole district by 1927.
Nearby mines
- Kirkby Thore Gypsum Mines — 1.1 km S
- Longriggs Mine, Appleby — 2.2 km S
- Silverband Mine — 5.6 km NE
- Hilton and Scordale Mines — 7.8 km SE
- Cash Well Mine — 11.3 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.
- Opened in 1937 in the district of the former Robinson and Hunter Quarries, as the earlier Stamphill mine of 1927 was worked out. 1
- Recorded in the Lists of Mines as owned by Thomas McGhie & Sons Ltd through the 1930s and 1940s, worked gypsum and anhydrite together. 2
- Employment grew from 3 (1938) to 25 (1944), 22 (1945), 49 (1948) and 59 (1950), the last recorded 46 below ground and 13 on the surface; recorded as a producer of gypsum and anhydrite in 1938, 1944, 1945, 1948 and 1950. 1,2
Photographs & further reading
Owner, output and employment by Lists of Mines year, 1938 to 1950.
View sourceA detailed history of the Kirkby Thore gypsum district, researched and written by David O'Farrell, recording the 1937 opening of a new mine at Stamphill as the district's operations expanded under the Gotham Company.
View sourceSources
- (primary) Gypsum Production in the Kirkby Thore Area — Settle-Carlisle Railway Conservation Area
- (secondary) New Stamphill (Gypsum) — Durham Mining Museum
Record created: 11 September 2026 · Last researched: 14 September 2026