Monument record MDR7549 - Millstone quarries, Gardom's Edge, Baslow
Type and Period (1)
- MILLSTONE WORKING SITE (Post Medieval - 1540 AD to 1900 AD)
Protected Status/Designation
- None recorded
Full Description
There are at least eight working areas on Gardom's Edge where millstones were manufactured. A number of stones are still visible today. They are of plano-convex cross-section, varying in diameter from 1.1m to 2m. (1)
A series of important millstone quarries are spaced along the Chatsworth Grit outcrop of Gardom's Edge. The main quarries cut the cliffs at the scarp, but there is also widespread evidence for working the extensive boulder-strewn area below and there are complex arrangements of access tracks. The multiple working areas probably reflect the activities of more than one master mason. However, it is unclear how many faces and delves were in operation at any one time. The access tracks indicate that stones were taken both to the top of Gardom's Edge for transport eastwards and also westwards down into the Derwent Valley. Within and immediately below the quarries are millstones in various stages of construction - roughouts, part-finished and finished. Domed millstone production started at least as early as the 14th century reaching its peak in the 16th and 17th centuries and dying out in the early 19th century. Millstone makers at Baslow are recorded from the 14th to the 17th centuries, although production here seems to have tailed off by the end of the 16th century. However, the possibility that some of the larger quarries along Gardom's Edge are of 17th to 19th century date needs consideration. (2)
This is a major millstone manufacturing site, with many 'mushroom-type' millstones visible, a type that pre-dates the 19th century. (3)
Photographic record. (4-5)
Quarry tracks and old style millstones still visible. Site of smithy is also in the vicinity. Evidence as well for water supply troughs and tool test zones. (6)
Sources/Archives (6)
- <1> SDR18280 Index: NDAT. NDAT 0242. 0242.
- <2> SDR13367 Article in serial: Radley, J. 1963-4. 'Peak millstones and Hallamshire grindstones', Transactions of the Newcomen Soc.. Volume 36, pp 165-173.
- <3> SDR15814 Article in serial: Tucker, D. 1985. 'Millstone making in the Peak District of Derbyshire: The quarries & the technology', Industrial Archaeology Review. Vol 8, pp 42-58. p55.
- <4> SDR18970 Photograph: Peak District National Park Authority (PDNPA). Black and white photograph collection. 1991: 420.1-11; 424.13a-19a.
- <5> SDR18971 Photograph: Peak District National Park Authority (PDNPA). Slide Collection. 1991: 1305.1-19; 1976: 20-21.
- <6> SDR18788 Bibliographic reference: Fowkes, D (ed.). 1997. Derbyshire Industrial Archaeology. A Gazetteer of Sites. Part IV. Derbyshire Dales. p 9.
Map
Location
| Grid reference | Centred SK 2719 7323 (274m by 1173m) (Centre) |
|---|---|
| Civil Parish | BASLOW AND BUBNELL, DERBYSHIRE DALES, DERBYSHIRE |
Related Monuments/Buildings (0)
Related Events/Activities (1)
- EDR3835
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External Links (0)
Record last edited
Sep 1 2016 10:20AM