Monument record MDR9624 - Millclose lead mine, Stanton, South Darley

Millclose Lead Mine. Mine tips and buildings. Sole remaining large scale mining and smelting site of the late 19th, early 20th centuries in Derbyshire. The largest lead mine in Great Britain. (1-2) Mill Close Mine, at Darley Dale, was the most productive lead mine still working in Derbyshire in the early 20th century. In c. 1907 it employed about 240 men. It was worked originally by the Quakers' Company in the 18th century, but it was abandoned in 1786 as the water made it difficult to work. It was re-opened in 1859. "The work is carried on in a far more scientific manner and upon a larger scale than the lead mines in the county usually have been". The ore was smelted at Lea. (3) The remains of the former Millclose Lead mine, now subsumed within the lead-smelting complex of H.J. Enthoven and Sons. The most substantive remains are the base of the engine house and the gritstone ancillary buildings. The Millclose Mine dates back to at least 1684, and by 1720 the London Lead Co were taking an interest, actually acquiring the mine from John Wall of Cowley Hall in 1742. Dewatering the mine was always a problem and this phase of production ended in 1764. E. M. Wass revived mining in the 19th century deepening the Watts Shaft and sinking Warren Carr Shaft (1874) and Lees Shaft (1881). The shafts drained into a branch of the Yatestoop Sough. Mining continued until 1940 when the cost of pumping was no longer viable. The smelter was sold to H.J. Enthoven of London in 1941. (4) Surface interest at Millclose Mine, a once historically very important mine, includes the lower parts of a Cornish pumping engine house and chimney, and a mine office/ reckoning house, all within a modern industrial complex. Two exceptionally large shafts exist, one accessible and leading down to a level branching off Yatestoop Sough [SMR 12729]. (5) Remains of further mine buildings have been identified at Millclose Mine, including a boiler house, part of a second engine house, a workshop range and a 20th century generator house. (6)