West Mine

Overview

Alderley Edge's biggest mine reopened three times after its 1877 closure -- rumour, prosecution and a wartime army commission all playing a part -- before six visitor deaths, some in a single decade, finally saw its cathedral-like entrance sealed for good.

History

West Mine is by far the largest of the Alderley Edge mines, its main working carried out alongside Wood Mine's between 1857 and 1877 by the Alderley Edge Mining Company; possible evidence of fire-setting found while excavating the opencast in 1858 suggests the ground had already been worked before that date. Through its main working period the mine, then probably known as the Western Mine, was divided into two sections by a fault called the Great Slide, its ore hauled to the surface by a rope-worked railway and its workings ventilated by two air shafts. After the Alderley Edge Mining Company's voluntary liquidation in 1878, the mine passed through several further spells of activity. Rumours of reopening circulated in April 1909, and by July that year newspapers reported that ore samples taken from the mine had proved 'highly satisfactory'; work to reopen it began in February 1911 but came to little, and the mine was closed again by 1913. In January 1914 a Mr A. Gibb of London took over the copper mines from Lord Stanley -- in 1915 he prosecuted two youths for damaging a gate at the mines, each fined five shillings -- before closing the mine again by the end of 1916, when he took up an army commission. Work restarted briefly in early 1918 under Alderley Copper Limited, whose explosives licence was renewed that March, but the mine was reported closed again by June 1919 and was finally abandoned in 1923; despite this short final reopening, underground evidence shows a number of passages were driven using high explosives during it. The mine's entrance was marked by a large opencast quarry leading into a huge, cathedral-like underground stope, with galleries high in the roof and passages opening onto sheer drops -- a dramatic setting that made West Mine the most notorious on Alderley Edge for accidents, some of them fatal; the entrance was finally sealed and the opencast filled in during the late 1950s and early 1960s. Today the mine is entered via two shafts dug by the Derbyshire Caving Club in 1975 and 2002, and consists of large tunnels on three levels following the vein's dip to the west-south-west before turning north-west along its strike, taking in named features including the Canyon, the Roman Galleries, Sphinx Chamber, the notorious Plank Shaft, the Great Arroyo and Chain Shaft.

Geology

The largest and deepest of the Alderley Edge copper workings, divided into two sections by a major north-south fault (the Great Slide).

Workings

A former cathedral-like entrance stope (now sealed), large tunnels on three levels including the Canyon, the Roman Galleries, Sphinx Chamber, Plank Shaft, the Great Arroyo and Chain Shaft.

Closure

Main working by the Alderley Edge Mining Company ended in 1877; several later reopenings (1909-13, 1914-16, 1918-19) followed before final abandonment in 1923.

What remains

Owned by the National Trust; entered via two Derbyshire Caving Club shafts (1975, 2002), access restricted to insured club members and by arrangement.

A sealed and infilled former opencast/entrance stope survives at the surface; underground, three levels of large tunnels and named features (Sphinx Chamber, Plank Shaft, Chain Shaft, the Great Arroyo) survive.

Related mines

• Alderley Edge Mines — The largest named working within the wider Alderley Edge Mines complex, worked 1857-1877 by the Alderley Edge Mining Company.
• Pillar Mine — Connected underground via Twisted Pillar Cavern, per the Derbyshire Caving Club's own survey.
• Wood Mine — Worked concurrently (1857-1877) by the same Alderley Edge Mining Company, with ore from both mines treated together at the same mill.

Nearby mines

• Saddlebole Mine — 0.1 km NE
• Cobalt Mine — 0.2 km SE
• Engine Vein — 0.2 km NE
• Alderley Edge Mines — 0.3 km NE
• Brynlow Mine — 0.3 km E

Straight-line distance, within 15 km. Show on the map.

Disasters & major incidents

• Alderley Edge West Mine deaths
  May 1929 · Other · 2 fatalities
  Two men, George Etchells and Alfred Hadfield, died after going into the disused West Mine and losing their way in its passages; their bodies were not found for three months.

Recorded claims

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

• The West Mine is by far the biggest mine on Alderley Edge, the main workings being carried out at the same time as those at Wood Mine, 1857-1877, by the Alderley Edge Mining Company; it is probable that this area was mined previous to these dates as possible evidence of fire setting was found whilst excavating the opencast during 1858. ¹
• In January of 1914 a Mr A Gibb of London was reported to have taken over the copper mines from Lord Stanley; work was re-started in early 1918 by Alderley Copper Limited but by early June of 1919 the mine was reported to have closed yet again, and the mine was finally abandoned in 1923. ¹
• Between 1940 and 1960 there was an increase in ill-prepared visitors entering the mines, resulting in deaths in 1946, 1948 and 1954, all in West Mine, and the West and Wood Mines were blocked in the early 1960s partly as a result. ²

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (primary) Derbyshire Caving Club: West Mine (Alderley Edge mines pages) — Derbyshire Caving Club (leaseholders and surveyors of the Alderley Edge mines for the National Trust)
2. (secondary) Alderley Edge Mines — Wikipedia

Record created: 17 September 2026 · Last researched: 17 September 2026