Red Rake Mine

Overview

Red Rake Mine, south of Calver, is remembered today chiefly for the Newburgh Level -- commonly, and wrongly, called a sough -- whose dated 1851 keystone makes it one of the very few precisely dated mine features anywhere in Derbyshire.

History

Red Rake, worked along with the nearby Cat (or Catsal) Rake, Dog Rake and other smaller veins in Northcliffe Wood, was served by the Newburgh Level, driven by the North Derbyshire United Mining Company and completed in 1851. Despite its common name, Red Rake Sough, the level was never a drainage sough at all: it was planned and built purely as a haulage level, to bring ore out of the workings rather than to drain water from them. Its drystone, gritstone-built arched portal, with an interior and approach channel lined in limestone rubble, carries a raised, wedge-shaped keystone clearly inscribed 'N.L. October 27 1851' -- N.L. standing for Newburgh Level -- making it one of only a handful of precisely dated mine features anywhere in the Derbyshire orefield, where most structures can only be dated approximately from documentary or stratigraphic evidence. The vein was reworked in the early 20th century for fluorspar, lead and barite. The Newburgh Level's interior is run in within a few yards of the entrance, but the portal and its stone-lined approach channel survive in good condition, preserved by the Peak District Mines Historical Society; nearby stand a corrugated-iron building over a mine shaft and a flat area probably once an ore-dressing floor, along with a roofless stone building that formed part of the wider mine complex. The surrounding ground, including shafts upslope of the level, was cleared and tidied by the site's 20th-century owners, Laportes Ltd, without apparent damage to the level itself; much of the mine's wider hillocks and other surface features have, however, since been reworked or removed.

Geology

Red Rake and associated veins (Cat/Catsal Rake, Dog Rake and others) in Northcliffe Wood, later reworked for fluorspar and barite as well as lead.

Workings

A haulage level (the Newburgh Level, 1851) built by the North Derbyshire United Mining Company to bring ore out of Red Rake and its neighbouring veins, commonly but incorrectly known as a sough.

Closure

No precise closure date for lead working was found; the vein saw further reworking for fluorspar and barite in the early 20th century under Laportes Ltd.

What remains

The Newburgh Level's portal and approach channel survive in good condition, preserved by the Peak District Mines Historical Society; its interior is run in a few yards inside.

The dated 1851 stone portal and approach channel survive, along with a corrugated-iron shaft building, a probable ore-dressing floor, and a roofless stone building from the wider mine complex.

Nearby mines

• Brightside Lead Mine — 1.2 km SW
• Nickergrove Mine — 2.6 km NW
• Sallet Hole Mine — 2.6 km NW
• Little Brookhead Mine — 2.7 km NW
• Silver Hillocks Mine — 2.7 km W

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 Newburgh Level, commonly but mistakenly called a sough, was planned by the North Derbyshire United Mining Company as a haulage level for Red Rake, Cat or Catsal Rake, Dog Rake and other smaller veins in Northcliffe Wood; its keystone is inscribed 'N.L. October 27 1851', one of the few dated levels in Derbyshire. ¹
• The vein was reworked in the early 20th century for fluorspar, lead and barite; the surrounding area, including shafts upslope of the level, was cleared and tidied by the site's owners, Laportes Ltd, without apparent damage to the level's entrance and tail. ¹
• The drystone gritstone arched portal, with its limestone-rubble-lined interior and approach, is a rare survival of a dated adit portal, most Derbyshire mine features being difficult to date with any accuracy; the dated keystone remains clearly legible and the stone-lined trackway has also survived well. ²

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (primary) Derbyshire HER: Site of Red Rake Mine and Newburgh Level, Calver (MDR4060) — Derbyshire Historic Environment Record
2. (primary) Newburgh Level at Red Rake Mine, Calver, Derbyshire — AncientMonuments.uk (mirroring the Historic England scheduling record)

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