Wood Mine

Overview

Left unbarred and full of household rubbish for decades after its 1877 closure, Wood Mine was only properly sealed in 1964 -- by a demolition expert known, appropriately, as 'Blaster' Bates.

History

Wood Mine was worked between 1857 and 1877, with the bulk of its extraction taking place during the 1860s, yielding chiefly copper carbonate alongside viable quantities of lead in the form of galena and cerussite. Ore was broken out using black-powder blasting and hand tools, then trammed out of the mine in wooden tubs on wheels to be treated at the mill together with ore from West Mine. Although mining ceased in 1877, the mine's entrances were left unbarred, and ill-equipped visitors suffered many accidents there over the following decades; the local council eventually dumped household rubbish and builders' rubble down the shafts in an attempt to seal them, but the mine was only properly secured in 1964, when its entrance was blasted shut by 'Blaster' Bates, a demolition expert of some note. The mine was reopened by the Derbyshire Caving Club in the autumn of 1970: with National Trust permission, a small shaft was dug through the roof of the original adit, which for years remained the only way in until the club reconstructed the adit entrance itself. In 2001 a further entrance, Timber Shaft, was secured and opened, giving the mine a third point of access. Since reopening the mine, the Derbyshire Caving Club has connected it underground to the Hough Level, meaning it is now possible to travel continuously from Wood Mine through Brynlow Mine and Engine Vein to emerge at the foot of the Edge. Entered today via a hinged steel lid in Windmill Wood, the mine's passages run from a T-junction near the entrance north to the North Boundary Fault and North End Chambers, and south across a bridge to Sand Cavern, from which routes lead on to Rabbit Caverns, a lower hauling level joining the Hough Level, a flooded stope called Blue Lake, and the mine's deepest trial workings to the north-west. The Railway Level, followed through Key Chamber and the Stream Passage, links back round to North End Chambers, while Junction Shaft drops from Sand Cavern into a further complex of passages beneath it.

Geology

A copper-carbonate working with viable galena and cerussite lead ore, worked alongside West Mine and connected underground via the Hough Level to Brynlow Mine and Engine Vein.

Workings

Passages from a T-junction near the entrance to North End Chambers, Sand Cavern, Rabbit Caverns, Blue Lake, and the Railway Level via Key Chamber and the Stream Passage; three points of access (an adit and two shafts).

Closure

Worked 1857-1877; left unbarred and subject to informal rubbish-dumping for decades before being properly sealed by blasting in 1964, then reopened by the Derbyshire Caving Club in 1970.

What remains

Owned by the National Trust; entered via a hinged steel lid, access open to the public by prior arrangement with the Derbyshire Caving Club.

A hinged steel entrance lid in Windmill Wood and an alternative adit door survive at the surface; underground, named chambers and levels including Sand Cavern, North End Chambers and the Railway Level survive.

Related mines

• Alderley Edge Mines — One of the named workings within the wider Alderley Edge Mines complex, worked 1857-1877 alongside West Mine by the same company.
• Brynlow Mine — Directly connected underground via the Hough Level, restored by the Derbyshire Caving Club, allowing continuous travel between the two mines.
• Engine Vein — Directly connected underground via the Hough Level, restored by the Derbyshire Caving Club, allowing continuous travel between the two mines.
• West 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

• Hough Level — 0.0 km S
• Alderley Edge Mines — 0.2 km SW
• Doc Mine — 0.2 km W
• Pillar Mine — 0.2 km W
• Twin Shafts — 0.2 km SW

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.

• The product of this mine was chiefly copper carbonate but lead in the form of galena and cerussite was often found in viable quantities; the ore was removed by blasting with black powder and dug out with picks and shovels, then trammed out of the mine in wooden tubs on wheels to be treated at the mill with the ores from the West Mine. ¹
• Although the mine was closed all its entrances were left unbarred; accidents by ill equipped visitors were many, and the mine was eventually secured in 1964 when the entrance was blasted in by Mr 'Blaster' Bates, a demolition expert of some note, the shafts having been sealed with household rubbish and builders rubble dumped by the local council. ¹
• The mine was re-opened by the Derbyshire Caving Club in the autumn of 1970; with permission from the National Trust a small shaft was dug in the roof of the original adit, and in 2001 timber Shaft was secured and dug and now provides a third point of entry or exit, with the DCC connecting the mine to the Hough Level so it is now possible to travel from Wood Mine through Brynlow Mine and Engine Vein and emerge at the foot of the Edge. ¹
• Wood Mine mostly consists of 19th-century tunnels; it is around 2,400 metres long and 30 metres deep, at an elevation of 160 metres. ²

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (primary) Derbyshire Caving Club: Wood 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