Portway Lead Mine

Overview

Portway Lead Mine, on the eastern side of Elton, was the earliest recorded working in the wider Winster mining area, first worked in the 1650s and named after the ancient Portway trackway it stands beside -- a once-substantial producer of which nothing now remains but its hillocks.

History

Portway Lead Mine lies east of Woodbine Farm, Elton, beside Dudwood Lane -- formerly known as the Old Portway, a prehistoric trackway running past Winster on its route between Mam Tor and the edge of Nottingham. Portaway is recorded as the earliest mine known to have been worked in the wider Winster area, dating back to the 1650s. At its height the working here was so extensive that a small community, almost a separate town, grew up at Islington, where the Grangemill road meets the Pikehall road, as Burdett's map of Derbyshire recorded in 1767. It was once a substantial producer: today nothing remains of the workings but enormous hillocks, which themselves provide clear evidence for the route of the old trackway. Surviving remains recorded on site include disturbed hillocks and a capped, gritstone-lined engine shaft, believed to have given access to extensive pipe and vein workings in the surrounding ground, with several further shafts and mounds nearby. Portway's workings were connected to Winster's wider Portaway Title: a 1687 agreement to build Winster Sough was made specifically to unwater Portaway Grove alongside the neighbouring Grissill and Lickpenny groves, and a 1769 survey plan of the Winster mines names the Portoway partnership alongside Placket, Yate, Stoop, Limekiln and Drake as parts of the same wider concern. Later records place the mine's working life into the 18th and 19th centuries: 1827-1855 reckonings in the Bagshawe collection record Portoway, Elton, among the mines paying miscellaneous dues alongside Shining Sough at Alport, Water Grave at Wardlow and Odin Mine at Castleton. On the southern part of the Portaway title the Westhills shaft, 260 feet deep, reaches a level running towards the large chamber on Portaway Pipe met along Winster Sough from Wills Founder Mine; by 2023 its hillock had been removed and the site levelled to grass.

Geology

Lead-bearing pipe and vein workings east of Elton, part of the wider Portaway Title also drained in part by Winster Sough.

Workings

A capped, gritstone-lined engine shaft with disturbed hillocks, further shafts and mounds, believed to give access to extensive pipe and vein workings.

Closure

No closure date is recorded in either source read; 1827-1855 reckonings show the mine still paying dues into the mid-19th century.

What remains

Nothing remains of the working mine beyond its hillocks, which themselves mark the route of the adjacent historic Portway trackway.

Disturbed hillocks and a capped, gritstone-lined engine shaft; further shafts and mounds nearby.

Related mines

• Placket Mine — Both part of the same wider Winster mining concern shown on the 1769 Nuttall survey plan, and Portaway Grove was one of three areas drained by Winster Sough alongside Placket's own workings; physically separate sites over a mile apart.
• Wills Founder Mine — Winster Sough, driven from 1687 to unwater Portaway Grove, runs to Will Founder Vein; the large chamber on Portaway Pipe is reached along the sough from Wills Founder Mine.

Nearby mines

• Wills Founder Mine — 0.7 km E
• Placket Mine — 0.8 km SE
• Winster Mines — 1.2 km SE
• Rainslow Scrins — 1.3 km SW
• Winster Pitts and Drummer's Venture — 1.8 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 Portway lead mine is an 18th century mining site, visible remains consist of disturbed hillocks and a capped, gritstone-lined engine shaft, which likely provided access to the extensive pipe and vein workings in the area. ¹
• On the right is the site of the Portaway lead mine, once a substantial producer, which provides clear evidence for the route of the old road; Portaway is the earliest recorded mine to be working in the Winster area, starting in the 1650s, and nothing now remains except enormous hillocks. ²
• An agreement to make Winster Sough was made in June 1687 to unwater Portaway Grove, Grissill Grove and Lickpenny Grove; a 1769 plan of the lead mines and veins of Winster names the Partners and Proprietors of Portoway alongside Placket, Yate, Stoop, Limekiln and Drake. ^3,4
• At its height the working at Portaway was so extensive that a small community, almost a separate town, grew up at Islington, as recorded on Burdett's 1767 map. ⁵
• The Westhills Portaway shaft, 260 feet deep on the southern part of the Portaway title, leads to a level aligned with the large chamber on Portaway Pipe reached along Winster Sough from Wills Founder Mine; its hillock had been removed and the site levelled by 2023. ⁶

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (primary) Portway Lead Mine, Elton (MDR8252) — Derbyshire Historic Environment Record
2. (secondary) Elton — The Old Roads of Derbyshire — The Old Roads of Derbyshire
3. (primary) Winster Sough and Placket Lead Mine (MDR8374) — Derbyshire Historic Environment Record
4. (secondary) Map of Winster, Derbyshire (Plan of the lead mines and veins of the Partners and Proprietors of Portoway, Placket, Yate, Stoop, Limekiln and Drake, 1769) — Friends of the National Libraries
5. (secondary) Winster Local History Group Newsletter No. 6, March 1997: Winster Underground (talk by Tony Wood) — Winster Local History Group
6. (observational) Westhills Portaway Mine, Winster — Pegasus Caving Club

Record created: 16 September 2026 · Last researched: 17 September 2026