Skelton Park Ironstone Mine

October 16th 2023
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Skelton Park Ironstone Mine
Opened by Messrs Bell Brothers Ltd. in 1872 . It was later taken over by Dorman, Long & Co. Ltd. who closed it in 1938 because all the available ironstone had been removed.
The two vertical shafts here were almost 400 feet deep (122m.) to work the Main Seam 10 feet 6 inches (3m.) thick. Ironstone had to be drilled and blasted, at first by compressed air drilling machines, then after 1900 increasingly by hand-operated rotary dills. At one time up to 400 men worked here above and below. ground together with up to 50 horses. In 1881 the output of ironstone was over 425,000 tons for the year, all of it going out by railway, most to Bell Bros!' ironworks at Port Clarence.
PLEASE RESPECT THIS HISTORIC SITE AND ITS BUILDINGS WHICH ARE NOT OPEN TO PUBLIC ACCESS.
CONSERVATION WORK UNDERTAKEN BY VOLUNTEERS OF CLEVELAND MINING HERITAGE SOCIETY WITH THE PERMISSION OF THE SITE OWNER, SKELTON AND GILLING ESTATES.
For a detailed history see "Skelton Park Pit Ironstone Mine" by Simon Chapman, published 1999 by Peter Tuffs and available from local bookshops.
C,M.H.S, 2020.

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