Belmont Ironstone Mine

Lease Holders

  • 1853 – 1886 : Weardale Iron and Coal Company
  • 1861 – 1877 : (sub-leased) North of England Industrial Company.
  • 1907 – 1929 : Bolckow, Vaughan and Company
  • 1929 – 1931 : Dorman Long and Company

Timeline

  • 1855 – Production starts initially from surface quarries
  • 1861 – Part of royalty sub-leased as South Belmont
  • 1877 – Production ends
  • 1907 – Bolckow and Vaughan take lease and relocate to Hunters Hill site
  • 1909 – Production re-starts
  • 1914 – Picking Belt and Aerial ropeway built and electric sirocco fan replaces furnace ventilation
  • 1921 – Production ends
Charles Atwood of the Weardale Iron and Coal Company

The early mine site at the top of Belmandate included an incline down to the railway.

The original site is now totally obscure by a lake. Although the tell-tale rusty colour can sometimes still be seen.

The 1907 Bolckow and Vaughan site at Hunters Hill survives as a farm with other mining remains in the woodland.

The lease later passed to Dorman Long but no further ironstone was ever produced.

Picking belt on right with railway waggon beneath
Aerial ropeway to carry away waste shale.
Ventilation Fanhouse, demolished in 1970s
Aerial ropeway foundations today.
Picking Belt Foundations today
Mine entrance today with electrical substation behind
Explosives magazine today
Stables still used today for their original purpose.
Old Belmont is the area around the lake at the top of Belmangate, the site of the original 1853 – 1886 Belmont Mine.
New Belmont (West) is the area under Highcliff and beyond, the site of the newer 1907 – 1931 Belmont Mine.

Articles

Charles Herbert Steavenson – Belmont Manager

Belmont Mine Managers House – Sold

Guisborough Mine Maps

Sources

Catalogue of Cleveland Ironstone Mine (Peter Tuffs, Cleveland Ironstone Series, 2003)

Guisborough District Mines (Simon Chapman, Cleveland Ironstone Series, 2001)