North of England Lead Mining Museum facts for kids
The entrance to Park Level Mine at the North of England Lead Mining Museum
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| Established | 1984 |
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| Location | Nr Cowshill, County Durham |
| Type | Mining |
| Public transit access | Bus, terminates at Cowshill |
The North of England Lead Mining Museum, better known as Killhope, is an exciting industrial museum located near the village of Cowshill, County Durham, England. This museum is built right on the spot of an old lead mine called Park Level Mine. It has been carefully restored to show everyone what a real 19th-century lead mine looked like and how it worked.
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Where to Find Killhope Museum
The museum is located next to the Killhope Burn, which is a small stream. It's about 4 km (2.5 miles) upstream from Cowshill village. You can get there by taking the A689 road, which connects Stanhope, County Durham and Alston, Cumbria.
Killhope is in the middle of the beautiful North Pennines, an area known for its amazing natural beauty. In 2003, this area became the first Geopark in Great Britain, which means it's a special place where you can learn about Earth's history through its rocks and landscapes.
The museum is usually open every day from April 1st to October 31st. It closes during the winter because the weather in this area can be very harsh and snowy. If you want to visit in winter, you might be able to if you book as a group beforehand. There's a bus service that goes through Weardale. It usually stops at Cowshill, but in summer, some buses can go all the way to Killhope if you ask the driver.
A Look Back: Killhope's Mining History
Lead ore in the North Pennines is found in special rock veins within the Carboniferous rocks. For a long time, until the mid-1800s, miners mostly dug for lead from the surface or by digging straight-down shafts.
From 1818, a company called W B Lead Co controlled the mining in this area. This company was started by the Blacketts, a famous family from Newcastle upon Tyne. They rented the rights to mine lead in Weardale from the Bishop of Durham.
Starting the Park Level Mine
In 1853, W B Lead started digging the Park Level Mine. This mine eventually connected with 11 different veins of lead ore! As the mine grew underground, the buildings and workings on the surface also grew.
In 1858, a "mineshop" was built. This was a place for the miners to stay. Before this, miners had to walk a very long way to and from the mine each day because there weren't many people living in this remote area.
Processing the Lead Ore
In 1862, special storage areas called "bouse teams" were built. These were used to store the raw lead ore, which was called "bouse." Then, "washing rakes" were installed. These were places where water was used to separate the valuable lead ore from the waste rock.
In 1878, the Park Level Mill started working. This happened soon after the mine found its richest lead veins. The mill helped to speed up the process of washing the ore. The most important part of this mill was a huge waterwheel known as the "Killhope Wheel."
The End of an Era
Not long after the Park Level Mill opened, the price of lead dropped very quickly. This made lead mining in Weardale too expensive to continue. In 1883, W B Lead closed all its mining operations in the area.
Another company, Weardale Lead, took over the Park Level Mine. They kept it running until 1910, when production finally stopped. The mine was briefly reopened in 1916 during the First World War. After that, it was left abandoned for over 60 years. During this time, the buildings fell apart, and any useful equipment was taken away for scrap metal.
How Much Lead Was Mined?
Between 1818 and 1883, records show that W B Lead took out over 31,200 tonnes of lead from Killhope. Then, from 1884 to 1916, Weardale Lead extracted another 9,000 tonnes. If you include the time before 1818, for which there are no records, it's thought that Killhope might have produced more than 60,000 tonnes of lead in total! Also, about 180 tonnes of zinc were recovered in the 1950s from some of the waste material.
Bringing the Mine Back to Life
By 1980, the famous Killhope Wheel was almost going to be torn down. The washing area had turned into a muddy field, and the rest of the site was falling apart. In that year, the Durham County Council decided to take over the site and start a project to restore it.
The first building to be restored was the "mineshop," which opened to the public in May 1984. The Killhope Wheel was fixed and working again by 1991. The mine itself was opened for visitors in 1996.
The Artificial Mine Experience
At first, people hoped that the original mine tunnels could be restored for public access. While the main tunnel, called Park Level, was mostly in good shape for the first 100 meters, the area where the first lead veins were found had collapsed and was unsafe.
So, instead of restoring the old tunnels completely, they built a new, "artificial" mine. This was done by digging a large chamber from the surface. Inside this artificial mine, the rock surfaces you see are actually made of fibreglass casts. These casts were taken from real rocks not just from Killhope, but also from other mines in the Nenthead area in nearby Cumbria. Even though they are artificial, these casts look and feel exactly like real rock, giving you a very realistic experience!
The Famous Killhope Wheel
One of the most impressive parts of the museum is the Killhope Wheel. This is a huge metal waterwheel that is 10 meters (about 33 feet) across! It was built by a company from Tyneside called William Armstrong.
Even though there were other waterwheels used around the mine, this one was the biggest. It was also the only one that survived after decades of being left alone. Luckily, it has now been fully restored and is working perfectly, showing how it once powered the mining operations.
Awards Killhope Has Won
The Killhope Museum has received several special awards! In 2008, it was named the North East's Small Visitor Attraction of the Year. It was also the very first winner of the Guardian's Family-Friendly Museum award in 2004, which shows how great it is for families to visit.
Other Lead Mining Sites Nearby
If you're interested in learning more about lead mining, there are other places you can visit in the area:
- The Heritage Centre at Allenheads, in Northumberland.
- The Nenthead Mines Heritage Centre, which is a short distance away in Cumbria.
You can still see many signs of the lead mining industry in Weardale today. The Durham Dales Centre in Stanhope even has guides for a "Lead Mining Trail" that takes you to many of these old sites that are easy to access.
Here are some other old lead mines in County Durham that you might find interesting:
- Low Slitt Mine, Westgate
- Middlehope Shield, Westgate
- Brandon Walls Mine, Rookhope
- Rookhope Old Smelt Mill
- Feldon Smelt Mill
- Coldberry Mine, Middleton-in-Teesdale
- Middle Greenlaws, Daddry Shield
- Derwent Lead Mines
- Lady Rake Mine, Harwood
- Greenhurth Mine, Harwood
- Pike Law Mines, Newbiggin, Teesdale
