Spa Wood Mine

Overview

Leased from the Gisborough estate in 1853 alongside Belmont, Spa Wood took eleven years to win its first stone and never found good ore. It worked in fits and starts for seventy years on low-grade ironstone, stopping repeatedly through the depression of 1873 to 1896, and closed in December 1928. Its powder house, built into the hillside well away from everything else, still stands in the trees.

History

The Weardale Coal and Iron Company leased Spa Wood from the Gisborough estate in 1853, at the same time as Belmont to the west along the escarpment. Eleven years passed before the first stone was actually gained, and when it came the ore was of low quality, which set the pattern for everything after: the mine worked stop-start for the rest of its life. During the long depression between 1873 and 1896 operations ceased many times for several years together, hardship that was felt down in Guisborough, where ironstone had doubled the population between 1851 and 1861 and where 1,600 men and boys were recorded as mine workers ten years after that, drawn from all over Britain. The Buddlepit database records the tenancies: Tow Law Coal & Iron from 1866, the Weardale Coal & Iron Company from 1870, Weardale Iron & Coal Co. Ltd from 1875, Sir B. Samuelson & Co. Ltd from 1889 to 1922 and Dorman, Long & Co. Ltd from 1923. Ironstone was extracted between March 1853 and December 1928 on one account and the mine is given as worked from 1866 to 1930 on another. At Slapewath there were two ironstone mines within a hundred metres of each other in the late 19th century: Spa Wood on the Guisborough side of Alumwork Beck and the separate Spa mine on the Skelton side. In 1935 a picking belt was taken from Spa Wood to the South Skelton mine, which places the dismantling of its surface plant in the mid-1930s.

Geology

The mine worked the Cleveland ironstone of the Lias, as its neighbours did, but the ore here was poor: low quality from the first stone won, which is the reason given for the mine's repeated stoppages rather than any difficulty in reaching it.

Geological setting: Sedimentary Beds and Seams (well documented example)

Workings

Drift mining into the escarpment, with travelling and main drifts side by side, both now bricked up. The surface arrangement ran west from the drifts: offices and workshops, a chimney, two fan houses for ventilating the workings, and at the far west an electrical sub-station from the later years of electrification. The powder house, storing the black powder used in the ironstone mines, was built with thick walls set into the hillside a good distance from everything else, so that an explosion would do as little damage as possible.

Closure

Ironstone extraction ended in December 1928 on Hidden Teesside's account; Buddlepit gives the mine as worked to 1930 and Dorman, Long & Co. as holding it until 1934. The picking belt went to South Skelton in 1935.

What remains

The site was bought as a private residence and, in the words of the account that recorded it, should no longer be visited. When it was accessible the offices and workshops were still largely intact, having been part of a scrapyard until recent years; a chimney that stood among them was demolished not long before. The remote powder house in the woods remains the most complete thing on the site. The neighbouring Spa mine is covered by a large scrapyard.

The powder house set into the hillside, the bricked-up travelling and main drifts, the offices and workshops, the remains of two fan houses and an electrical sub-station, approached from the east through large spoil heaps.

Related mines

• Aysdalegate Mine — Aysdalegate's shafts were taken into the Spa Wood mine as ventilation shafts after its own working ended.
• Belmont Mine — Spa Wood and Belmont were leased together from the Gisborough estate in 1853 by the Weardale company, and passed through several of the same lessees afterwards.
• South Skelton Mine — A picking belt was taken from Spa Wood to South Skelton in 1935, after Spa Wood had stopped working.
• Spa Mine — Spa and Spa Wood lay within a hundred metres of each other on opposite banks of Alumwork Beck at Slapewath, worked by different companies on different royalties; each lost a man on 7 June, seventeen years apart.

Nearby mines

• Spa Mine — 0.3 km E
• Stanghow Mine — 1.7 km E
• Aysdalegate Mine — 1.8 km SE
• Waterfall Mine — 1.8 km NW
• South Skelton Mine — 2.0 km E

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.

• Spa Wood was leased by the Weardale Coal and Iron Company from the Gisborough estate in 1853 along with Belmont, and eleven years passed before the first stone was gained; the ore proved to be of low quality. ¹
• Ironstone was extracted between March 1853 and December 1928 on one account, while Buddlepit gives the mine as worked from 1866 to 1930. (disputed) ^2,3
• Tow Law Coal & Iron from 1866, the Weardale companies from 1870, Sir B. Samuelson & Co. Ltd from 1889 to 1922 and Dorman, Long & Co. Ltd from 1923 to 1934. ²
• A powder magazine, the bricked-up travelling and main drifts, largely intact offices and workshops, the remains of two fan houses and an electrical sub-station were recorded on the site, which has since become a private residence. ³

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (observational) Spawood Mine Powder House — Out & About (fhithich.uk)
2. (secondary) Spawood Mine — Buddlepit Mine Database (from Northern Mine Research Society data)
3. (observational) Spa Wood Ironstone Mine — Hidden Teesside

Record created: 12 September 2026 · Last researched: 12 September 2026