Slitherstone and Linacre Lead Mines

Overview

Slitherstone and Linacre, straddling the Castleton-Peak Forest parish boundary, worked three parallel veins to a depth of 202 metres using nothing but horse gins and manpower -- unusual for a mine that deep, which elsewhere in Derbyshire would typically have called for steam.

History

Slitherstone lead mine, on the west side of the parish boundary separating Castleton from Peak Forest, and Linacre lead mine on the east, together with a limekiln, form one substantial lead-mining landscape on high limestone moorland north of Eldon Hill. It is unknown when the mines were first worked, but surviving surface features mainly indicate late 17th- to 18th-century activity, continuing into the early 19th century. Slitherstone is documented from at least the mid-18th century, when it was known by the names Two Rakes, Birch Hall, and Windle and Rush Mine and Vein; between 1752 and 1765 John Barber of Castleton is recorded freeing the founder -- the point where the vein was first discovered -- and four meers west and one meer east of Birch Hall mine at Two Rakes Head. Slitherstone Mine is separately documented as having been worked to a depth of 110 fathoms (202 metres) using horse-gin haulage and manpower rather than the steam power that would usually have been expected at that depth by this period. Three veins run roughly parallel across the site, marked by lines of undisturbed hillocks with concentrated areas of activity at intervals; at one such area, near the parish boundary, a stone-built belland yard wall surrounds an engine shaft known to survive to a depth of 61 metres, its associated gin circle, and the remains of three coes. Surveys in 1995 and 2003 recorded well-preserved hollows and hillocks, numerous shafts and open cuts, coes, ore-processing ponds, buddle dams and further belland yards across both halves of the site, with several deep shafts underground giving access to unstable stopes. Slitherstone and Linacre form part of a wider group of parallel rakes in this part of Derbyshire that also includes New Rake, Faucet Rake, Watts Grove Vein and Oxlow Rake.

Geology

Three roughly parallel lead-bearing veins on high limestone moorland, worked as Slitherstone (west of the parish boundary) and Linacre (east).

Workings

An engine shaft surviving to 61m depth within a belland yard, worked to an overall depth of 110 fathoms (202m) by horse-gin haulage and manpower; further coes, ponds, buddle dams and belland yards across both halves of the site.

Closure

No reliable closure date has yet been located.

What remains

Scheduled as a nationally important monument; surveyed in 1995 and 2003, with well-preserved hollows, hillocks and structures recorded across the site.

Belland yard walls, an engine shaft (61m deep), a gin circle, three coes, ore-processing ponds, buddle dams and a limekiln survive.

Related mines

• New Rake Lead Mines — Both named by the Derbyshire HER as part of the same wider group of parallel rakes in the Castleton/Peak Forest area, alongside Faucet Rake, Oxlow Rake and Watts Grove Vein.
• Oxlow Rake Lead Mines — Both named by the Derbyshire HER as part of the same wider group of parallel rakes in the Castleton/Peak Forest area, alongside New Rake, Faucet Rake and Watts Grove Vein.

Nearby mines

• Eldon Hill Crushing Circle — 1.0 km SW
• Hazard Mine — 1.1 km E
• New Rake Lead Mines — 1.2 km NE
• Oxlow Rake Lead Mines — 1.3 km S
• Peakshill or Oden Sough — 1.7 km NW

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.

• Slitherstone is documented from at least the mid-18th century under the names Two Rakes, Birch Hall, and Windle and Rush Mine and Vein; between 1752 and 1765 John Barber of Castleton freed the founder and several meers at Birch Hall mine, Two Rakes Head. ¹
• Slitherstone Mine was worked to a depth of 110 fathoms (202m) using horse-gin haulage and manpower rather than steam power; a stone-built belland yard wall near the parish boundary surrounds an engine shaft known to survive to 61m depth, its gin circle and the remains of three coes. ¹
• A 1995 survey of Linacre Field recorded well-preserved hollows and hillocks, disused and capped mine shafts protected by belland walling, and at least two ponds likely built for ore washing. ²
• Slitherstone and Linacre form part of a wider group of parallel rakes in this part of Derbyshire that also includes New Rake, Faucet Rake, Watts Grove Vein and Oxlow Rake. ³

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (primary) Derbyshire HER: Slitherstone Mines, Rowter Farm, Peak Forest (MDR2281) — Derbyshire Historic Environment Record
2. (primary) Derbyshire HER: Linacre Field lead mining remains, Rowter Farm, Castleton (MDR2280) — Derbyshire Historic Environment Record
3. (primary) Slitherstone and Linacre lead mines and a limekiln 725m south west of Rowter Farm, Peak Forest, Derbyshire — AncientMonuments.uk (mirroring the Historic England scheduling record)

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