Travels In Time: Magpie Mine

A short walk around the Magpie Mine site, Sheldon near Bakewell

Magpie Mine near Bakewell is said to be one of the best preserved 19th Century mines in the UK. It is not an easy place to get to by public transport. The nearest railway stations are Buxton, Grindleford or Matlock, all around 10 miles or more away. I cycled from Grindleford, though this was hard work on a warm and humid day. After my visit I chose to travel back via Matlock to avoid some hill climbs. Most people will arrive at Magpie Mine by car. There is a layby on Grin Low to the south of the site from where it can be accessed on foot.

Lead mining in the area is likely to have gone back hundreds of years. Satellite images show the area pockmarked with what look like early Bell Pits that were simple holes in the ground, when they were dug out to an extent that they might collapse a new hole was dug nearby, the spoil tipped from the new pit tipped in to the abandoned shaft. A cross section of the pit would have had a bell shape, hence the name. These appear as clusters of dips in the ground as the spoil in the filled in shafts settles.

The later 19th Century mine featured a Cornish style pumping engine to clear water from the workings. Before steam winding engines were used to extract the ore it would have been brought to the surface using Horse Gins and a replica of one has been constructed on the site. The site has two chimneys and two engine houses from the winding engine and the pumping engine. The engine houses date to 1869 when earlier engines were replaced, though they were connected to the chimneys built for the original engine houses in 1840. Between the two engine houses is a pit headgear and tin huts, this is from the final phase of the mine around 1950. A former trawler engine was housed in the tin hut to wind the cage that can be seen at the top of the shaft.

The Magpie Mine site is managed by the Peak District Mines Historical Society and more information about the site can be found on their website.

1898 Map

Google Map

Below - Arriving from the footpath from Grin Low the first building seen is the Agent's House. Adjoining it is the single story Smithy built to maintain the mine's equipment. It is now used as a visitor centre when volunteers are on-site for occasional events such as group visits and heritage open days.

Below - The pit site with the winding engine on the left and pumping engine on the right. A small embankment can be seen between the winding engine house and chimney where an underground flue was built to connect the 1869 engine to the 1840 chimney. The original engine house would have been next to the chimney.

Below - Next to the chimney some information boards about the site have been provided.

Below - The winding engine house and chimney.

Below - The winding engine with the drum still in situ.

Below - The winding engine house and the tin sheds and headstocks of the final phase of the mine.

Below - The two engine houses with the later headstocks between.

Below - The pumping engine house. This was replaced when an underground channel was dug to drain the water by gravity in to a nearby river.

Below - The later headstocks and the pumping engine house.

Below - The headstocks. At either side were auxiliary hand winches that could be used to bring the cage up by hand if the engine in the tin hut failed.

Below - The headstocks and the pumping engine house. The engine would have been in the main building with the boilers in the side building to the right.

Below - Remains of the boiler house for the pumping engine.

Below - The pumping engine house.

Below - At a sensible distance from the engine house is the round building of the 1840 powder store.

Below - Next to the powder store the old shaft shown on the above old map can be seen.

Below - The mine viewed from the Horse Gin replica.

Below - Though the horse gin is a replica it is situated adjacent to an original shaft which can be seen through the grille. The original gin here would have had pulleys on the left hand side. The wooden beam on the floor would be attached to the axle so that when the horse was driven in a circle around the drum it would wind or unwind a rope going down the shaft.