37 1970’s EXCAVATIONS In the first part of this three-part series introducing This Exploited Land of Iron we investigated the industrial history of the Esk Valley hamlet. In this second part we explore a number of interesting discoveries made during the 1970’s excavations at Esk Valley Mine. The excavations initiated by John Owen in the late 1960s expanded through the 1970s with the help of Peter Tuffs amongst others. Their discoveries relate to two phases in the history of the mine: the first phase was the first shaft at the mine, sunk in 1859, made of stone and unusually rectangular in shape. The second phase was a second shaft, sunk in 1872, made of brick and circular in shape. FIRST PHASE Engine house – The remains of the engine house (pictured above) are still the most prominent feature today. It was constructed of large, quality sandstone blocks. As the name suggests it housed the steam engine used to haul the iron ore up the rectangular shaft. Boiler house – Red brick was used for the construction of the flue, but a raised line of good quality fire bricks created the foundations on which the boilers would have stood. Each boiler would have been approximately 7.32m x 1.83m. Masses of thick black soot was found at the foot of where the chimney would have been and the stone slabs where the fireman would have stood were worn. Introducing This Exploited Land of Iron (Part 2) Lunch at the Esk Valley Ironstone Mine excavation c.1973. Photograph courtesy of Peter Tuffs. Reproduced from Edition 31 (2012) Cleveland Industrial Heritage. www.cihmag.com
Transcript
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1970’s EXCAVATIONS
In the first part of this three-part seriesintroducing This Exploited Land ofIron we investigated the industrialhistory of the Esk Valley hamlet. In thissecond part we explore a number ofinteresting discoveries made during the1970’s excavations at Esk Valley Mine.The excavations initiated by John Owenin the late 1960s expanded through the1970s with the help of Peter Tuffsamongst others. Their discoveries relateto two phases in the history of the mine:the first phase was the first shaft at themine, sunk in 1859, made of stone andunusually rectangular in shape. Thesecond phase was a second shaft, sunk in1872, made of brick and circular in shape.
FIRST PHASE
Engine house – The remains of theengine house (pictured above) are stillthe most prominent feature today. It wasconstructed of large, quality sandstoneblocks. As the name suggests it housedthe steam engine used to haul the iron oreup the rectangular shaft.
Boiler house – Red brick was used forthe construction of the flue, but a raisedline of good quality fire bricks created thefoundations on which the boilers wouldhave stood. Each boiler would have beenapproximately 7.32m x 1.83m. Masses ofthick black soot was found at the foot ofwhere the chimney would have been andthe stone slabs where the fireman wouldhave stood were worn.
Introducing This ExploitedLand of Iron (Part 2)
Lunch at the Esk Valley Ironstone Mine excavation c.1973. Photograph courtesy of Peter Tuffs. Reproduced from Edition 31 (2012) Cleveland Industrial Heritage.www.cihmag.com
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First phase site. The Esk Valley Mine, Holme House site. Drawing by J. B. Riley, 1978.Reproduced from Volume 11 (1979) of The Cleveland Industrial Archaeologist (published by The Cleveland IndustrialArchaeology Society). www.teesarchaeology.com/partners/CIAS/CIAS.html
Second phase site. Esk Valley Ironstone Mine, ‘New Shaft’ site. Drawing by J.S. Owen, 1978. Reproduced from Volume 11 (1979) of The Cleveland Industrial Archaeologist (published by The Cleveland IndustrialArchaeology Society). www.teesarchaeology.com/partners/CIAS/CIAS.html
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Single shaft ventilation – A brick-linedpassage 0.40m wide, 0.66m high and22.7m long was discovered. It runs rightunder the earth bank behind the enginehouse and had a light covering of soot onits bricks. It is thought that this was howthey ventilated the single shaft.
Emergency winding system – There isa circular stone structure on the bankabove the back wall of the engine housewith an internal diameter of 3.05m. Italso has a small slightly raised square inthe middle which is believed to be apedestal bearing into which a verticalwindlass shaft would have been fitted.The area is too small for a horse to havebeen employed and the bricks are notworn from such use. It is believed to bean emergency winding system operatedmanually by two or more men when thesteam engine was not available.
Other discoveries – There is also apossible weighing machine to the northof the shaft. A slotted weight that slidesalong the steel yard of a typical weighingmachine was found here.
The levelled way for the branch railwayis still clear. It has been suggested thatrelatively small wagons (8–10 tonnes)were used to bring in coal and take out
ironstone. The different levels weredesigned to make it more efficient toempty and fill the wagons.
SECOND PHASE
Circular brick-lined shaft – During thissame series of excavations a weighted linewas lowered into the second shaft andsettled at 43.3m. The original shaft wouldhave been much deeper but has filledwith debris over time. Next to thiscircular shaft, iron brackets, bolts andlarge wooden beams were also found. Itis believed that these were for the cagethat operated in this shaft. Duringinstallation of a steel grid in 1977 they cutaway most of the timber (as it was rotten)and its cast iron brackets.
Weighing machine – A pit for aweighing machine, approximately 1.2m2,was found between the loading bay andshaft. A rusted miner’s token was foundhere. The token was unique to eachworker and would have been hung on thecarts they filled, so that a particular minercould be credited with the work done.◼
By Kim Devereux-West,Cultural Heritage Assistant
Larger scale reproductions of the drawings shown in this series of articles can be seen atwww.eskvalleynews.co.uk
Next month, in the final part of this series, we will introduce the environmental side of the projectas well as voluntary opportunities and community grants. If you would like to know more aboutThis Exploited Land of Iron please visit our webpage: www.northyorkmoors.org.uk/looking-after/landofiron. To contact the team please email [email protected] or phonethe programme manager, Tom Mutton, on 01439 772700. Note: This is a very brief summary ofthe history and archaeology of the Esk Valley Mine as detailed in the extensive articles by J.S.Owen and P. Tuffs in The Cleveland Industrial Archaeologist (Volume 7, pp 1-15 and Volume 11,pp.13-24), www.teesarchaeology.com/partners/CIAS/CIAS.html.
