Longacres Ironstone Mine

Lease Holders

  • 1865 – 1929 : Bolckow, Vaughan and Company
  • 1929 – 1954 : Dorman Long and Company

Timeline

  • 1873 – Shaft sinking started
  • December 1873 – Headgear destroyed by fire.
  • 1875 – Shaft sinking completed at 95m
  • 1916 – Ironstone production ends at site, shafts kept open for ventilation/men/timber in North Skelton
  • 1919 – Winders and ventilators electrified
  • 1933 – Dorman Long reopen shaft for ironstone extraction.
  • 1954 – Closure of site
  • 1955 – Headgear removed
Longacres mine around 1890
Longacres mine around 1920

The mine is known locally as “Parkers Pit” but it was never called this while it was working. Dennis Parker who ran local taxis, rented buildings and land where he kept pigs and sold wood/kindling.

Site in 1970 after mining stopped, John Owen photo from Simon Chapman collection
Guibal fanhouse for the 30ft diameter ventilation fan,
John Owen photo from Simon Chapman collection.

On the site today there are still many remains, the shaft, a explosives magazine (now just behind Aldi) and the foundations of the main winding engine. The name of the mine survives in the new pub.

Powder Magazine long before Aldi and Asda
Mine shaft today.
Position of mine workings under the mine site and modern developments.

Sources

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

Hope To Prosper – A History of Ironstone Mining at North Skelton (Simon Chapman, Cleveland Ironstone Series, 1997)