True Blue Mine

Overview

True Blue Mine, run at times by the same company as its more famous neighbour Magpie Mine, has stood virtually undisturbed within its walled enclosure since production finally ceased in the early 1910s, preserving an unusually complete small lead-mining and ore-working complex.

History

True Blue Mine, on the limestone plateau south of the Wye valley, sits within an extensive and important lead-mining zone that includes Magpie Mine to the west and Magshaw Mine to the east, set among a landscape of field barns and smallholdings reflecting a mixed mining-and-farming economy. The mine has close historical associations with Magpie Mine and was at one time run by the same company; some of its workings indicate an 18th-century date, though its surviving buildings are documented as dating from the late 19th century, when the mine was worked by George Goodwin of Monyash. In 1913 it was taken over by E. Garlick and worked by the Magpie and True Blue United Mining Company until production ceased shortly afterwards, leaving the site virtually undisturbed since around 1840 by one account and into the early 1910s by another. Within its walled enclosure survive a good gin circle and a washing meer, along with the collapsed remains of small drystone coes -- a pair built against the western boundary, and a range of three more, each about 3 metres square, running east to west across the middle of the enclosure, most likely used in ore processing given their position beside a dressing floor. A further coe stands against a walled gin circle about 10 metres across near the mine's south-west corner, its centre post depression still visible, with a nearby shaft capped by concrete sleepers over a well-preserved stone-lined shaft top. On the enclosure's north side, a sub-rectangular pit about 3 by 2 metres is interpreted as a settling tank for separating lead ore from waste; a circular pond on the east side, by contrast, was not used for ore washing but belongs to an earlier phase of mixed mining and farming use. To the north, the walled greenway Trueblue Lane, once a packhorse route, connects westward towards Sheldon and eastward towards Magshaw Mine, with a small enclosure at its junction with Kirkdale Lane possibly serving as a packhorse corral. The mine became a scheduled monument on 15 November 1985, valued as a compact, well-preserved and reasonably well-documented example of a small enclosed lead-mining operation surviving within its wider mining landscape.

Geology

Part of an extensive lead-mining zone on the Derbyshire limestone plateau, between Magpie Mine to the west and Magshaw Mine to the east.

Workings

A walled enclosure containing a gin circle, a washing meer, a settling tank, a circular pond, and around five to six coes including a probable ore-processing range beside a dressing floor.

Closure

Worked by George Goodwin of Monyash in the late 19th century; taken over by E. Garlick in 1913 and run by the Magpie and True Blue United Mining Company until production ceased shortly afterwards.

What remains

Scheduled as a nationally important monument since 15 November 1985; a good and reasonably well-documented example of a compact, largely undisturbed lead-mining site.

A walled gin circle with its centre-post depression, a capped shaft, a settling tank, a circular pond, coe ruins including a probable ore-processing range, a hollow way, and the walled Trueblue Lane greenway survive.

Related mines

• Magpie Mine — Named directly in both sources as historically run by the same company (the Magpie and True Blue United Mining Company, from 1913) and part of the same lead-mining zone.

Nearby mines

• Magpie Mine — 0.6 km NW
• Hubberdale Mines — 1.8 km SW
• Knotlow Mine — 2.3 km S
• Lathkill Dale Mine — 2.7 km SE
• Seedlow Lead Mine — 2.9 km NE

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.

• True Blue Lead Mine has close associations with Magpie Mine and was at one time run by the same company; some workings indicate an 18th-century date, though its buildings are documented to the late 19th century when the mine was worked by George Goodwin of Monyash. ¹
• In 1913 the mine was taken over by E Garlick and worked by the Magpie and True Blue United Mining Company until production ceased shortly afterwards; the mine forms part of an extensive lead-mining zone including Magpie Mine to the west and Magshaw Mine to the east, mixed with field barns and smallholdings from a mixed mining/farming economy. ²
• The monument includes a range of three coes about 3m square each, extending east to west across the middle of the enclosure, likely used in ore processing next to a dressing floor; a further coe stands against a walled gin circle about 10m in diameter near the south west corner, with a depression marking the centre post of the winding gear. ²

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (primary) Derbyshire HER: True Blue Mine Nucleated Lead Mine, Ashford (MDR1300) — Derbyshire Historic Environment Record
2. (primary) True Blue nucleated lead mine, 600m ESE of Magpie Mine, Ashford in the Water, Derbyshire — AncientMonuments.uk (mirroring the Historic England scheduling record)

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