Lease Holders
- 1872 – 1878 : T Vaughan and Company
- 1878 – 1879 : Trustees of Thomas Vaughan and Company
- 1879 – 1900 : Clay Lane Iron Company
- 1900 – 1929 : Bolckow Vaughan and Company
- 1929 – 1954 : Dorman Long and Company
Timeline
- 1865 – Original lease signed from Mr Wharton
- 1872 – 217ft shafts sunks and mining starts
- 1878 – Thomas Vaughan goes bankrupt
- 1912 – Mine electrified
- 1914 – Sirocco Fan installed
- 1924 – Original wooden head gear replaced by steel
- 1935 – Picking belt from Spa Wood mine installed
- 1954 – Mine closes
- 1956 – Head gear demolished
- 1985 – Fan house and winding house demolished, shafts capped.
The mine was also known as “Van Pit” and contained a fairly complete set of building until the mid 1980s, but much has since been demolished.
The site is now private property and currently being redeveloped for homes, all my photos are taken while the site was abandoned around 2009.
Articles
Down in a mine among the horses – South Skelton 1883
Sources
Catalogue of Cleveland Ironstone Mine (Peter Tuffs, Cleveland Ironstone Series, 2003)
South Skelton Mine (Simon Chapman, Cleveland Ironstone Series, 2010)