Shaw Beck Gill Mine

Overview

A lead level in the valley of Shaw Beck, one of a dense cluster of workings across Arkengarthdale that made the dale one of Yorkshire's most productive lead-mining districts before the industry's collapse in the late 19th century.

History

Shaw Beck Gill Mine, a lead level marked on historical maps in the valley of Shaw Beck, is documented among Arkengarthdale's cluster of lead workings by the Swaledale and Arkengarthdale Archaeology Group, alongside neighbouring sites at Booze, Slei Gill, Punchard Gill, Whaw, Wetshaw and Fell End. Lead was worked in Arkengarthdale from at least medieval times, with extensive mining recorded across the dale by 1521, and reached its peak during the 19th century, when the dale's mines were among the most productive in Yorkshire and supported a far larger population than lives there today. The collapse of CB Mining in 1883 prompted most of the dale's remaining miners to move on in search of other work; by 1891 Arkengarthdale's population had fallen to 761.

Geology

Unknown.

Workings

A lead level in the valley of Shaw Beck, marked on historical maps; nothing more is recorded of it.

Closure

Unknown.

What remains

Unknown.

Recorded claims

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

• Shaw Beck Gill Mine, a lead level marked on historical maps in the valley of Shaw Beck, is documented among Arkengarthdale's cluster of lead workings, alongside neighbouring sites at Booze, Slei Gill, Punchard Gill, Whaw, Wetshaw and Fell End. ¹
• Arkengarthdale's lead mining reached its peak during the 19th century; the collapse of CB Mining in 1883 prompted most of the dale's remaining miners to move on, and by 1891 the dale's population had fallen to 761. ²
• SWAAG's record 430 places the Shaw Lead Level at NZ 002 050, 347 metres up in Shaw Beck Gill: a horse level below Stang Level, driven to work the ground below the Five Yard Limestone where Stang Level worked below the Main Limestone, plagued by bad air so that several ventilation shafts were sunk, and ending roughly under Stang Level's portal. ³

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (secondary) Lead Mines and Works — SWAAG — Swaledale and Arkengarthdale Archaeology Group
2. (secondary) Arkengarthdale: History of Yorkshire Dales valley known for lead mining — Yorkshire Post
3. (secondary) SWAAG database: mining-related records (Mining 1) — Swaledale and Arkengarthdale Archaeology Group (SWAAG)

Record created: 30 August 2026 · Last researched: 24 September 2026