Rake

The main type of mineral vein in the Derbyshire Peak District — a near-vertical, straight-running fissure filled with ore, often traceable for miles across country.

Historical usage

Rakes have been worked in the Peak District since at least Roman times, and most surviving rake workings date from the 16th-18th centuries, when they were mined as open trenches following the vein along the surface before going underground. Rake-vein mining is the characteristic early, technologically simple form of Derbyshire lead mining, and rakes remain the most common field monument left by that industry across the county.

How it worked

A rake was worked by following the vein's straight course, first as an open cutting where the vein reached the surface, then underground as the ore was chased downward — leaving the long, narrow, often deep trenches and gullies still visible across the Peak District landscape today.

Why it was used

Because a rake ran in a near-straight line and stood nearly vertical between two walls of rock, it could be followed with comparatively simple tools and little surveying skill, making it the most accessible and earliest-worked type of vein in the Derbyshire orefield.

Risks & limitations

A rake's straight course made it easy to trace but also easy to work out — once a rake's ore was exhausted along its length, there was often little left for a mine to fall back on, unlike a broader, less regular ore body.

Regional variation

Rakes are especially characteristic of Derbyshire, generally running east-west across most of the county but north-south in the Wirksworth area; the term and the vein type it describes are rarely used outside the Peak District orefield.

Images

Mines associated with this term

Included only where MineArchive's own research gives a reasonable evidential basis — not every mine where this might plausibly apply.

• Dirtlow Rake Mine — Derbyshire (well documented example)
  The mine's own name, worked as a classic Derbyshire rake vein.
• Long Rake Spar Mine — Derbyshire (well documented example)
  Worked one of Derbyshire's longest rakes for fluorspar, calcite and lead.

Sources

1. (primary) Oxlow Rake lead mines, Peak Forest — Historic England
2. (secondary) A Brief History of Derbyshire Lead Mining — Derbyshire Heritage

Record created: 22 August 2026 · Last researched: 22 August 2026