MineArchiveSlapewath Ironstone Mine
| Also known as | Slapewath Mine |
|---|---|
| Location | Slapewath and Charltons, near Guisborough, North Yorkshire |
| Commodity | Ironstone |
| Type | Ironstone |
| Worked | 1864–1906 |
| Maximum depth | Shafts about 286 ft (87 m) |
| Operators | Thomas Charlton and Company (1864–1878), Sir B. Samuelson & Co. Ltd (1880–1906) |
Overview
The mine that built a village. Thomas Charlton and Company opened it in 1864 by a drift in the Slapewath gap and put up terraced rows for the men that are called Charltons to this day. A shaft followed in 1878, 286 feet deep, with a short branch to the Cleveland Railway, and the mine closed in 1906.
History
Slapewath was opened and worked by Thomas Charlton and Company, who began in 1864 with a drift and housed their workforce in terraced rows beside the mine — rows that have carried the name Charltons ever since. In 1878 a shaft was sunk to the south of Hollin Hill Farm and connected to the Cleveland Railway by a short branch line. Hidden Teesside's account places the shafts a little later, around 1880, and has the mine then being operated by Samuelson & Co.; the two accounts agree on Charlton's drift of 1864 and differ on the date and the operator of the shaft period. The mine closed in 1906. Where the drift actually went is itself disputed, and instructively so. Out & About, following Peter Tuffs's Catalogue of Cleveland Ironstone Mines, has the drift driven in under the main road; a reader whose great-grandfather was an overman at the mine and whose grandfather was its surface storeman replied that it never went under the main road and that only the railway did. The old Ordnance Survey map, Out & About notes, puts the drift south of the road. Mining also caused subsidence in the village: a reader records that the third row of houses was damaged badly enough to need demolition.
Geology
The mine worked the Cleveland ironstone of the Lias in the Slapewath gap, reached first by drift from the valley side and later by shafts of about 286 feet.
Geological setting: Sedimentary Beds and Seams (well documented example)
Workings
A drift from 1864 and, from 1878 or about 1880, two shafts south of Hollin Hill Farm: a downcast now surrounded by a high wall and 286 feet deep, and an upcast a little to the north-west of similar depth. A short branch line connected the mine to the Cleveland Railway. One account from a local family records timbers still in place in the higher shaft and the remains of a small drift just below it, with the old railway line traceable down to the farm.
Closure
The mine closed in 1906.
What remains
The downcast shaft is capped and surrounded by a high wall, with the upcast a little to the north-west; a sizeable spoil heap remains on the site, cut by a farm track. The drift entrance has long been filled with rubbish. The track of the branch line can be traced where it passes under the road just outside the village, and the remains of the powder house stand in a garden near the sandstone bridge.
The walled downcast shaft, the obscured upcast, the spoil heap, the filled drift, the powder house near the sandstone bridge and the traceable branch line. The Charltons terraces the company built for its workforce still stand and still carry its name.
Related mines
- Spa Mine — Both worked the Cleveland ironstone in the Slapewath gap within a few hundred metres of each other, Slapewath from a drift and shafts south of Hollin Hill Farm and Spa across on the Skelton side of Alumwork Beck.
Recorded claims
Individual factual claims, each attached to the source(s) that support it below. Where sources disagree, both are kept.
- Slapewath Mine was opened and operated by Thomas Charlton and Company, who built the rows of terraced houses known to this day as Charltons; the mine was first reached by a drift and a shaft was sunk south of Hollin Hill Farm in 1878, connected to the Cleveland Railway by a short branch. 1
- Out & About dates the shaft to 1878 under Charlton; Hidden Teesside places the shafts around 1880 and has the mine then operated by Samuelson & Co. Both agree the mine began with Charlton's drift in 1864. (disputed) 1,2
- The downcast shaft, now surrounded by a high wall, is 286 feet deep, with the upcast a little to the north-west and of similar depth; a sizeable spoil heap remains, cut by a farm track. 2
- Out & About, following Peter Tuffs's catalogue, has the drift driven under the main road; a descendant of two of the mine's workers states it never did and that only the railway passed under, and the old Ordnance Survey map places the drift south of the road. (disputed) 1
Photographs & further reading
An account of the gap and its mines, with Thomas Charlton's drift, the Charltons rows, the 1878 shaft and branch line, and a comment thread in which a mining family disputes where the drift ran.
View sourceA photographic record of the walled downcast shaft, the upcast and the spoil heap, with the shafts dated to about 1880 under Samuelson & Co. and local recollections of the drift, the powder house and the subsidence that took down a row of houses.
View sourceSources
- (observational) The Slapewath Gap — Out & About (fhithich.uk)
- (observational) Slapewath Ironstone Mine — Hidden Teesside
Record created: 12 September 2026 · Last researched: 12 September 2026