Rosedale Ironstone Mines

Overview

A remote North York Moors ironstone field that grew, almost overnight, into an industrial settlement of several thousand people, its output hauled out over one of the most dramatic mineral railways ever built in Britain.

History

Ironstone was found near Hollins Farm and mining began in 1857 at Sheriff's Pit on the west side of the dale; the richer East Mines followed from about 1859. The Rosedale branch of the North Eastern Railway, engineered to climb the moor at a ruling gradient of 1 in 5 via a rope-worked incline at Ingleby, opened to the west side on 27 March 1861 at a cost of around £24,500; a further branch from Blakey Junction reached the east side in August 1865. Calcining kilns were built at both mines to roast the raw ironstone before it was hauled away, reducing its weight and driving off moisture and carbon dioxide. Output grew fast: around 200,000 tons of calcined ore left Rosedale in the railway's first full year, rising to roughly 300,000 tons a year by 1864, at the field's peak. Working and living conditions on an exposed, isolated moor were hard, and the surviving record of the period includes routine industrial accidents alongside the boom itself: a fatal roof fall in the mines killed 19-year-old miner Thomas Taylor of Low Row on 24 August 1868, only about ten minutes into his shift, when several tons of ironstone fell from the roof.

Geology

The Rosedale ironstone lies within the Middle Jurassic Cleveland Ironstone Formation, and its ore was notably richer in iron content than most of the deposits worked further north around Cleveland, which helped the field remain competitive despite its remoteness and the cost of the railway needed to reach it.

Workings

Ore was won mainly by adit and shallow shaft working into the hillside on both the west and east sides of the dale, then calcined on site at purpose-built kiln batteries before being hauled up to the railway for the journey out over the moor.

Closure

The original operator, the Rosedale and Ferryhill Iron Company, failed and closed the mines in March 1879; the West Mines were reopened shortly after by the West Rosedale Ironstone Company and worked until 1881, and some later reopened again under the Carlton Iron Company. The main mines finally closed in 1911. The East Mines saw one further, shorter revival during and just after the First World War, when wartime demand for iron — for shells and barbed wire among other uses — brought them back into production before final closure in 1926, and the railway itself closed in 1929. In total, more than 10 million tonnes of ironstone are estimated to have passed through Rosedale's calcining kilns over the life of the field.

What remains

The dale has reverted to quiet moorland farming and grouse-moor country, walked today largely along the route of the old railway, now a popular long-distance path.

The most visible remains are the two ranges of calcining kilns on the East Mines side, the chimney at Bank Top (which stood until it was demolished in 1972), the old railway goods shed — still in agricultural use by a local farmer — and a former mine depot cottage that remains inhabited. Sections of the railway trackbed, including its dramatic contouring around the head of the dale, survive as a walking route.

Abandoned workings can be dangerous — unstable ground, uncapped shafts, flooding and bad air are common even where a site looks safe from the surface. This entry describes history and general location only; it is not an access guide.

Recorded claims

Individual factual claims, each attached to the source(s) that support it below. Where sources disagree, both are kept.

• Ironstone found near Hollins Farm in 1853 by Matthew Snowdon of Whitby and William Thompson of Staithes; mining began 1857 at Sheriff's Pit on the west side. ^1,2
• The Rosedale branch railway opened to the west side on 27 March 1861, costing around £24,500; a branch from Blakey Junction reached the east side mines in August 1865. ^1,2
• Around 200,000 tons of calcined ore moved by rail in the line's first full year, rising to roughly 300,000 tons annually by 1864 at the field's peak; over 10 million tonnes of ironstone in total passed through the kilns over the mines' working life. ^1,2
• Rosedale and Ferryhill Iron Company failed and closed the mines in March 1879; West Mines reopened under West Rosedale Ironstone Co. until 1881, later worked again by Carlton Iron Company; main closure 1911, with a further East Mines revival 1919-26 for wartime and post-war iron demand. ^1,2
• A fatal roof fall killed 19-year-old miner Thomas Taylor of Low Row on 24 August 1868, about ten minutes into his shift, when several tons of ironstone fell from the roof — one of a number of accidents recorded during the mines' working life on this physically hard, isolated site. ³

Photographs & further reading

This page doesn't try to reproduce everything — these are the best original sources found for this mine.

Images

Sources

1. (secondary) Rosedale Mines and Tramway — Subterranea Britannica
2. (secondary) Ironstone mining in Rosedale — Wikipedia
3. (secondary) Reading the Past: 'Snapshots' of Ironstone Life in Rosedale — North York Moors National Park (official blog)

Record created: 20 August 2026 · Last researched: 20 August 2026