Yatestoop Mine

Overview

A deep lead mine on the Yatestoop Pipe at Winster, worked by five or six Newcomen engines including the earliest in the orefield, drained by a sough that took 21 years to drive, and from 1782 by an engine built 200 yards underground.

History

Yatestoop worked the Yatestoop Pipe, a near-horizontal cavity between the limestone beds running north from Painter's Way Farm towards Birchover, reached by a crooked vein. Its large hillocks mark engine shafts, two still open, and five or six Newcomen pumping engines stood at the surface, among them the earliest in the orefield. The Yatestoop Sough, begun about 1743 to drain the Yatestoop and Portaway mines, ran some two and a quarter to three and a half miles from the Derwent near Darley Bridge, took 21 years to drive and cost more than £30,000.

In 1777 Francis Thompson of Ashover built a 70-inch atmospheric engine at Yatestoop that lifted water 30 yards by two pumps to the sough level, 200 yards below the surface, working on 200 yards of dry rods. After five years it was replaced in 1782 by an engine with a 64½-inch cylinder built at the level itself, in a chamber cut 1,200 cubic feet out of the shale at a cost of £300, every stone let down 200 yards from the surface. The main shaft was 230 yards deep.

Geology

The Yatestoop Pipe, a flat cavity between limestone beds in shale and the first limestone, fed by a crooked rake vein; rich in lead.

Workings

Engine shafts on the Yatestoop Pipe, two still open; five or six Newcomen engines at surface; from 1782 an underground engine at the 200-yard sough level; the Yatestoop Sough from the Derwent.

Closure

Unknown.

What remains

Large hillocks with engine shafts, two still open, possible gin circles and a ruined building survive; one shaft at Stoop Plantation has a partly collapsed beehive cap.

Hillocks, open engine shafts, a beehive-capped shaft, possible gin circles and a ruined coe or farm building; the arched tail of the sough near Darley Bridge.

Redevelopment

Unknown.

Related mines

• Millclose Mine — The Yatestoop Sough leads to two large shafts at Millclose Mine.
• Placket Mine — Placket and Yatestoop appear together on the 1769 plan of the interlinked Winster mines.
• Portway Lead Mine — The Yatestoop Sough was driven to drain both the Yatestoop and Portaway mines.

Recorded claims

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

• Five or six Newcomen pumping engines stood at Yatestoop's surface, including the earliest in the orefield. ¹
• The Yatestoop Sough, built about 1743, was designed to dewater the Yatestoop and Portaway mines. ²
• The sough was 21 years in driving and cost upwards of £30,000. ³
• In 1777 Francis Thompson of Ashover built a 70-inch atmospheric engine at Yatestoop, lifting water to a level 200 yards below the surface. ³
• In 1782 it was replaced by a 64½-inch engine built underground at the 200-yard level. ³
• The Yatestoop shaft was 230 yards deep. ³

Sources

1. (secondary) MDR8366 Mine shaft, Stoop Plantation, Winster — Derbyshire Historic Environment Record
2. (secondary) MDR3881 Yatestoop Sough, Darley Bridge, South Darley and Stanton — Derbyshire Historic Environment Record
3. (primary) A front view of Yatestoop engine underground by Frs. Tompson (JS/3/172) — The Royal Society

Record created: 19 October 2026 · Last researched: 19 October 2026