Reasons for Designation
Approximately 10,000 lead industry sites are estimated to survive in England,
spanning nearly three millennia of mining history from the later Bronze Age
(c.1000 BC) until the present day, though before the Roman period it is likely
to have been on a small scale. Two hundred and fifty one lead industry sites,
representing approximately 2.5% of the estimated national archaeological
resource for the industry, have been identified as being of national
importance. This selection of nationally important monuments, compiled and
assessed through a comprehensive survey of the lead industry, is designed to
represent the industry's chronological depth, technological breadth and
regional diversity.
Nucleated lead mines are a prominent type of field monument produced by lead
mining. They consist of a range of features grouped around the adits/and or
shafts of a mine. The simplest examples contain merely a shaft or adit with
associated spoil tip, but more complex and (in general) later examples may
include remains of engine houses for pumping and/or winding from shafts,
housing, lodging shops and offices, powder houses for storing gunpowder, power
transmission features such as flat rod systems, transport systems such as
railways and inclines, and water power and water supply features such as
wheel pits, dams and leats. The majority of nucleated lead mines also included
ore works where the ore, once extracted, was processed.
The majority of nucleated lead mines are of 18th to 20th century date, earlier
mining being normally by rake or hush (a gully or ravine partly excavated by
use of a controlled torrent of water to reveal or exploit a vein of mineral
ore). They often illustrate the great advances in industrial technology
associated with the period known as the Industrial Revolution and, sometimes,
also inform an understanding of the great changes in social conditions which
accompanied it. Because of the greatly increased scale of working associated
with nucleated mining such features can be a major component of upland
landscapes. It is estimated that at least 10,000 sites, exist the majority
being small mines of limited importance, although the important early remains
at many larger mines have been greatly modified or destroyed by continued
working or modern reworking. A sample of the better preserved sites,
illustrating the regional, chronological and technological range of the class,
is considered to merit protection.
Holmslinn mine is a good example of a small single phase north Pennine lead
mine. The remains survive well as there has been no later development on the
site. The engine bed and the wheel pit are of particularly high quality, and
the associated features, which are also well preserved, form an integral part
of the monument. Of particular importance is the mine's wider significance as
one of four shafts on the Blackett Level, designed by the principal engineer
of the company Thomas Sopwith in collaboration with W G Armstrong of the
Elswick Engine Works.
Details
The monument includes the remains of Holmslinn lead mine, situated on the
left bank of the River East Allen. Lead mining began at Holmslinn in 1856 and
continued until the late 19th century. The mine was one of four shafts in the
East Allen valley, owned and operated by the Blackett company, and situated on
the Blackett Level, dug in order to exploit and drain the East Allen mines
between 1859 and 1903.
The remains, standing and otherwise at Holmslinn mine all relate to its single
phase of exploitation. The main entry to the mine was through a shaft which is
situated at the extreme northern part of the monument. The shaft was dug in
1855 and is approximately 70m deep. The shaft is surmounted by the base of a
tower, constructed of good ashlar blocks, which is terraced into the steep
slopes above the River East Allen; this structure supported the base of the
winding gear which lifted the lead ore to the surface and carried mine
personnel through the shaft. The stone portal of an adit, dug in 1859 and
which served to drain the mine, is visible at the foot of the slope below the
base of the winding gear.
The winding gear was powered by an adjacent hydraulic engine. The engine bed
upon which the engine lay is a well preserved structure constructed of good
quality ashlar. Photographs show that the engine was originally housed in a
wooden shed.
The engine was supplied with high pressure water from a piece of machinery
known as an accumulator. Water was pumped into the accumulator from a water
wheel, the remains of both are situated at the southern end of the monument.
There is a stone built wheel pit which contained a large overshot water wheel
and this is also a Listed Building Grade II; it is thought that water was
carried from the south on a wooden launder onto the wheel, although the
reservoirs or dams which provided the source of water have not been
identified. The surplus water left the wheel pit through an arched portal into
a stone lined tail race which carried it northwards into the river. Attached
to the eastern side of the wheel pit there are the remains of a small
rectangular building, visible today as a masonry platform. This building
housed the hydraulic accumulator from which sufficient water, at the correct
pressure, was piped to the hydraulic engine.
The lead ore which was raised from Holmslinn mine, was removed from the site
for processing and subsequently for smelting to the Allen smelting mill at
Allendale, also operated by Blackett.
The lodging house and office building are excluded from the scheduling as are
all fences which cross the monument, although the ground beneath all of these
features is included.
MAP EXTRACT
The site of the monument is shown on the attached map extract.
It includes a 2 metre boundary around the archaeological features,
considered to be essential for the monument's support and preservation.
