Pin Dale Lead Side Veins

Overview

Where a lead vein ran vertically instead of along the ground, Pin Dale's miners simply cut straight into the limestone crag face by hand -- leaving narrow slits, some barely 40 centimetres wide, believed to be a nationally unique response to this kind of mineralisation.

History

On a near-vertical valley side about a kilometre south-east of Castleton, the Pin Dale lead side veins preserve a distinctive response to an unusual form of lead mineralisation. Where lead-bearing strata occurred in extremely narrow veins close to the surface and surrounded by limestone, miners here worked them by cutting narrow vertical slits directly into the rock face of the crag itself, rather than sinking conventional shafts -- a form of opencut mining representing the most dramatic exposure of veins as 'scrin' anywhere in the county, entirely hand-picked and open to daylight, hand-worked near the surface as shown by frequent pick-marks on the cut sides. Since the use of dynamite became common in lead mining by the mid-18th century, this hand-cut working is understood to date from before that time. The side veins themselves are a series of well-preserved narrow slits, some as little as 0.4 metres wide, cut by hand from the surface of the limestone crags directly into the lead-bearing veins below, with tool marks still clearly visible in places. Some slits run just 2 to 3 metres long, while others cut through extensive stretches of limestone and take on the appearance of narrow quarries; in some places parallel cuts have been worked around a surviving core of limestone, leaving large isolated blocks as a particularly distinctive feature of the site. Alongside the side veins, a number of vertical shafts, visible today as small shaft mounds or open shafts, and spoil heaps relating to both types of working are also included within the scheduled area; buried remains are expected to include early ore-dressing areas, and the site is recorded as a high-priority lead mining site alongside neighbouring Dirtlow Rake, Red Seats Veins and How Grove and Siggate Head Mines. Scheduled as a nationally important monument in January 1998, Pin Dale is valued as a believed nationally unique feature demonstrating the direct response of Derbyshire miners to unusually confined local geology -- a low-technology solution to a problem few other Derbyshire lead mines faced in quite the same form.

Geology

Narrow lead-bearing side veins occurring vertically within a limestone crag near the boundary with shale, exploited as hand-cut slits rather than conventional shafts.

Workings

A series of narrow hand-cut slits (some only 0.4m wide) cut into the limestone crag face, alongside conventional vertical shafts, shaft mounds and spoil heaps relating to both types of working.

Closure

No reliable closure date has yet been located; working is understood to predate the mid-18th-century spread of dynamite use in lead mining.

What remains

Scheduled as a nationally important monument since January 1998; recorded as a high-priority lead mining site alongside neighbouring Dirtlow Rake and How Grove.

Narrow hand-cut side-vein slits with visible tool marks, isolated limestone blocks left by parallel cuts, shaft mounds, open shafts and spoil heaps survive.

Nearby mines

• Dirtlow Rake Mine — 0.8 km NW
• Moss Rake — 0.8 km SE
• Speedwell Cavern — 1.4 km NW
• New Venture Lead Mine — 1.5 km NE
• High Rake Mine — 1.9 km SE

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.

• The side veins are a series of well preserved, narrow slits (some only 0.4m wide) cut by hand from the surface of limestone crags into lead-bearing veins, with tool marks clearly visible in some, some between 2m and 3m long, whilst others are cut through extensive stretches of limestone and have the appearance of narrow quarries. ¹
• This was hand worked near the surface, as indicated by the frequent pick-marks on the cut sides; the use of dynamite was common by the mid 18th century, hence this working took place at an unknown date before this time. ²
• Pindale Side, along with Dirtlow Rake, Red Seats Veins and How Grove and Siggate Head Mines, is recorded as a high priority lead mining site; the Pin Dale side veins are believed to be a nationally unique feature, demonstrating the response of miners to local geology. ²

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (primary) Pin Dale lead side veins, Hope, Derbyshire — AncientMonuments.uk (mirroring the Historic England scheduling record)
2. (primary) Derbyshire HER: Pin Dale lead side veins, Pindale Farm, Castleton (MDR2408) — Derbyshire Historic Environment Record

Record created: 17 September 2026 · Last researched: 17 September 2026