Monument record MDR5080 - Gregory Mine, Ravensnest Cottages, Ashover

18th century lead mining workings at Gregory Mine. (1-2) Lead mining remains, Gregory Mine. A square gritstone chimney and waste heaps mark the site of Gregory Mine. These are by far the most significant lead-mining remains in Ashover. (4) Gregory Mine is marked by waste heaps known locally as 'white hillocks', a square gritstone chimney and the stagnant pools of the run-in shafts. Between 1758 and 1806 this highly productive mine yielded an average of 511 tons of ore per annum and shareholders had a clear profit of £100,000 after spending £23,000 on prospecting for a new vein. Several steam engines were installed and worked by the Thompsen family. The shaft north west of Ravensnest House was 120 yds deep. (5) Name evidently derives from the Gregory family of Ravensnest near Overton. Under this specific name, the mine can be said to date from 1758 with the formation of a partnership comprising the Banks-Hodgkinson family, Isaac Wilkinson and others, but operations in the Gregory vein had started at least 50 years earlier. The mine was closed in 1806. (6) The Peak District Mines Historical Society bought the White Hillocks flurospar treatment plant at Gregory Mine in Ashover, though the site is not suitable for public access and so the society has investigated a number of options for moving and re-erecting the plant as a working exhibit. None of these have come to fruition, so it has become necessary to put the plant into storage. A full archaeological record has been made of the plant. During 1999 and 2000 the plant was dismantled and smaller components put into crates and onto pallets. A secure and weatherproof storage site was finally found (underground at Middleton Limestone Mine). (7)