Last month’s column explored prehistoric mines, and this month I will follow up on the topic by visiting medieval and modern examples that have been examined in past issues of CA. The range is wide: from Welsh slate to English coal, and from salt in the Midlands to tin in the south-west. For those seeking an overview of this subject, the key starting point is Neil Cossons’ exploration of Britain’s industrial archaeology in CA 216 (March 2008); see also the ‘Odd Socs’ column featuring the National Association of Mining History Organisations in CA 266 (May 2012), as well as the article on mining history in CA 352 (July 2019).
Upland ores
I will begin my journey at the same location as last month: Alderley Edge in Cheshire. The prehistory of this site is fascinating, but so too are its more recent mine workings. Current Archaeology first visited in issue 137 (February 1994), and CA 238 (January 2010), CA 315 (June 2016), and CA 352 (July 2019) returned to follow up on the Alderley Edge Landscape Project. There the story might have ended, but Alderley had more secrets to share. CA 390 (September 2022) and 391 (October 2022) recounted the discovery of a time capsule – a 19th-century cobalt mine – by the Derbyshire Caving Club. The club had long been exploring the Edge’s many shafts and tunnels, which usually are either filled with collapsed rubble and rain-washed sand or emptied of anything of interest, but they happened on a 10m-long (30ft) section that had somehow survived unscathed, with wood and metal tools, equipment, and mining infrastructure in situ – a remarkable survival that further reinforces Alderley’s special place in British mining history.
Forty miles (60km) south-east of Alderley is my next site, found amid the mining landscape of the Peak District. CA 239 (February 2010) visited High Rake lead mine near Great Hucklow, 10 miles (16km) north-east of Buxton – the unusual survival of a site-type that once littered these hills and which was explored by the Peak District Mines Historical Society. Mining in the area can be traced back to the Roman period, with output hitting its height in the 17th and 18th centuries; High Rake mine was a late addition, opening in 1834 and closing in 1853. Over a period of eight years, the Society undertook a full excavation there, a rare piece of historical archaeology at an even rarer site-type (for more on the archaeology of the Peak District’s industrial heritage see CA 356, November 2019). Next, 60 miles (100km) further south, is the lead-mining landscape of Sutton Coldfield, on the north-east edge of Birmingham. CA 292 (July 2014) featured the work of the Goodluck Mine Preservation Club at a site with a much longer history than that of High Rake. Goodluck Mine opened in 1830 and closed in 1952, before being reopened to the public (after shifting 30 tons of rock) in the 1970s, offering an exceptional chance to visit underground workings (details at the end of the column).
Archaeology as immersive historical simulation