Groverake Mine, Rookhope,
Weardale, Durham, OS Ref: Mine Site NY89604420, Firestone Incline NY89614404,
Rake Level NY89564413.
The
Groverake mine site is pretty much located at the convergence of three major
veins, Greencleugh, Groverake and Red. The Burtree Pasture vein also continues
to this point.
Mining at Groverake probably started in the 18th
century, but it was the Beaumont Company who first developed major mining
operations at the site at the end of the 1810's and they continued working the
mine until the early 1880's. They drove adits and the two major shafts on the
site that reached the Great Limestone. At their time they where mining for lead
ore, but this was not that successful in terms of output. When the Weardale
Lead Company took over the mine in the mid 1880's they had more success with
mining for lead and they also mined for fluorspar. The spar operations had
problems in the removal of silica and this limited its success. The mine
changed hands a number of times until the 1940's.
It was not until the
Second World War when the Blanchland Fluor Mines Ltd took over operations and
eventually British Steel Corporation that the production of fluorspar ramped up
with improved treatment techniques. These companies took Groverake to being the
leading fluorspar producer in the ore field. British Steel drove a new level
and extended the existing shafts. The Rake level was re-driven to give access
to the upper levels of the veins and the Firestone level driven for access to
the lower levels. The Drawing Shaft was sunk further into the Great Limestone
to a depth of 91m. The Whimsey Shaft was sunk to the Three Year Limestone to a
total depth of 165m.
In the late 1980's the Weardale Minerals and
Processing Company acquired the mine, but in 1991 its parent company went into
receivership resulting in another change of hands. The mine was then operated
by Sherburn Minerals and worked until 1999. At the time of its final closure,
Groverake was the last commercial fluorspar mine operating in the North
Pennines. |
