Grassington Moor has a long history of lead mining with records dating back to the 15th Century at a time when the monks of Fountains Abbey worked a smelt mill. The medieval monastic estates secured their share, but the industry really took off in the 18th and 19th centuries when large numbers of people were employed in the mines, smelt mills and dressing floors at Yarnbury and on Grassington Moor.
The mineral rights here were held by the Duke of Devonshire, and he provided the capital investment that allowed the mines to flourish. He built a large smelt mill and provided vital drainage systems for the deep mines.
The mines were very poor during the first 20 years of the 19th century, but in 1818 John Taylor was made the Duke's Mineral Agent. He built dams and brought water to a 15 metre diameter waterwheel, which he used to drive pumps in the Coalgrovebeck Mine, allowing production to resume 10 years before the drainage adit driven from Hebden Gill reached it.
Taylor also sank new, deep shafts which were accessed by ropes wound by
horse powered winding machines. These shafts were linked by roads to mechanised
dressing mills where the ore was crushed and separated before going on to be
smelted.
The mines entered their most prosperous phase between 1821 and 1861, when they produced 20 273 tons of lead, averaging 965 tons a year and employed about 170 people. During this prosperous period, deeper trials were made to find new reserves of ore, but, apart from a rich strike at Sarah's Shaft, they were disappointing. After 1861, output fell steadily as the mines became exhausted
By 1881, the population of Grassington had fallen by 400 according to the census. These problems were made worse by the impact of rising imports, mainly of Spanish lead, which kept prices low by underselling English lead. Work around the Engine Shaft, at Yarnbury and Old Moss Shaft stopped in May 1880. The smelt mill kept going a little longer using up stocks of ore mined previously
There has been no serious attempt to reopen the mines since 1880 but
barytes, fluorspar and some lead ore has been recovered from the waste dumps
The largest of these operations were the Grassington Lead Mines Ltd between
1916 and 1920 and the Dales Chemical Company between 1956 and 1963.
The installation of the Grassington Moor Leadmlning Trail was carried out in partnership with the Yorkshire Dales Millennium Trust using funds from the Millennium Commission
High Grinding Mill
Wheel House
The chimney is well preserved
.
A Victorian Story - "Lead Mining Days" gives an insight into what life was like in those days - see link for more details Out of Oblivion
A fascinating area and well worth exploring
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