It is
difficult to find a complete history on the Caplecleugh High Level. On London
Lead Company plans it is shown to extend past Baisbeck's Crosscut in the east
and all the way to the Low Level Rise to the Firestone in the west, dates on
plans show that the forehead of Baisbeck's Crosscut was reached in 1863, and to
the west 1843. This can clearly be seen on LLC plans for Caplecleugh and
Longcleugh mines. In the west the level continues to within 400m of the
Longholehead Whimsey. Graffiti dating to 1776 has been found in the eastern
section.
The extension of the level to the portals that are known today
was carried out by the Vieille Montagne Zinc Company in around 1915, they also
drove the level to Bogg Shaft and used this east end as a spill way for waste
water from the Bogg Shaft compressor installation. The last run to the portals
was rendered in concrete, and many dams along the LLC driven level were built
to divert the water to the portals, rather than having it flow into sumps. The
waste water was diverted to Smallcleugh Dam for reuse in the Brewery Shaft
compressor installation.
Around 500m of open level is accessible from
the adits, before a fall in encountered. The only other known routes of access
to Caplecleugh High are via Caplecleugh Low Horse Level and the hard route via
Archers Rise and via the stopes around Bogg Shaft from Smallcleugh, however
this last route only reaches some 150m of level. Caplecleugh High Level is also
known as Hodgson's High Level.
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Caplecleugh
High Level Surface Features
Views of the landscape and buildings
around the level.
Updated 05/10/07. |
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Caplecleugh High
Survey from Adits
A trip to survey the level from both adits.
(Mike and Pete) 5th October 2007. |
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Caplecleugh
High via Archers Rise
A hard long trip up into the High Level to
see the exploration that Roy Fellows and Ian Hebson carried out in the early
1990's.
(Brian, Karli, Martin, Mike, Paul, Pete, Roy, Sharron, and
Steve) 22nd July 2007. |
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Caplecleugh High
Survey Continuation
Carrying on the survey from October, the really
grotty ground.
(Karl, Mike and Pete) 25th November
2007. |
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