MineArchiveRoughton Gill Mine
| Location | Caldbeck Fells, Cumbria — 54.7383, -3.0653 (approximate) |
|---|---|
| Commodities | Copper, Lead |
| Type | Metal |
| Worked | 12th century (earliest possible); documented from 1564–17th century (main German-era working); reworked later |
| Operators | Company of Mines Royal (1564–1630) |
| Status | Researched |
Overview
Roughton Gill, in the Caldbeck Fells, was regarded as one of the richest of the mines worked by the German miners the Crown brought to Cumbria in the 1560s — a sister operation to Goldscope in the Newlands Valley, run by the same company barely a decade after it was founded.
History
Mineral deposits in the Caldbeck Fells may have been worked as far back as the 12th century, but documented mining history begins with the arrival of skilled German miners around 1564, brought in under Elizabeth I to develop Cumbria's mineral wealth and share their expertise; their descendants still live in the area today. Roughton Gill was considered one of the richest of the mines these German miners worked in the district, run under the same Company of Mines Royal, and later the Hochstetter family's supervision, that developed Goldscope in the Newlands Valley over the same period. The rich Driggith deposit, nearby, brought renewed activity to the wider Caldbeck Fells district in the early 17th century, and the most substantial phase of exploration across the fells as a whole came much later, from the 1820s onward, when many individual mines in the area were worked, reworked or newly opened.
Geology
The mine worked copper- and lead-bearing veins in the Skiddaw Group rocks of the Caldbeck Fells, the same general mineralised district that produced Goldscope's ore in the neighbouring Newlands Valley.
Geological setting: Hydrothermal Deposits (well documented example), Veins and Lodes (well documented example)
Workings
As with the other Cumbrian mines worked by the German miners of the 1560s, Roughton Gill was developed using contemporary Elizabethan mining and dressing techniques brought over specifically for the purpose by skilled continental miners unfamiliar to England at the time.
Closure
Major German-era working had ended by the mid-17th century, though the wider Caldbeck Fells district, including ground near Roughton Gill, saw renewed exploration in the early 1600s and again, more substantially, from the 1820s onward.
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.
Images
Sources
- (secondary) Digging deep beneath those golden daffodils — Whitehaven News
- (secondary) German mines at Caldbeck — Wikipedia
Record created: 22 August 2026 · Last researched: 22 August 2026