A HISTORY OF CUMBERLAND 



soletrees, about 30 feet in length, and placed 

 about 5 feet apart, the inside size of the 

 troughing being as follows : width of bottom, 

 2O feet ; width across top, 29^ feet ; and 

 vertical depth, 9 feet. The first section of 

 troughing was built by the Crossfield Co. 

 in the year 1878, when about 60 yards of 

 the river bed were boxed over, and from time 

 to time other sections of varying lengths were 

 added by this company. Mr. Stirling also 

 extensively troughed the river bed running 

 through his royalty, until the combined length 

 of troughing in the two properties was about 

 528 yards. Although the first outlay was 

 considerable, a great saving was effected in 

 the cost of pumping from the mines in the 

 low-lying ground in each royalty, whilst the 

 ore immediately under the river bed with 

 that forming the adjacent parts of the deposit 

 has been worked out. This large body of 

 ore, representing probably over a million tons, 

 would, without the protecting troughing, have 

 had to be left unworked. At the south end 

 of the parish a portion of the river had to 

 be diverted near to the junction of the rivers 

 Ehen and Keekle. This work was jointly 

 carried out by the Messrs. Lindow and Messrs. 

 Bain & Co., in order to admit of the work- 

 ing out of the ' rise ' ore resting on the slate- 

 rock and to ensure the safety of the Longlands 

 and Woodend mines. As will be seen from 

 Table No. VI., the output of haematite 

 from the Cleator parish during the three 

 decades ending 1900 shows a large falling 

 off, the decrease between the first and last 

 decades being 51*94 per cent. Occupying 

 as it does a central position in the Whitehaven 

 district, this area has been well proved, and 

 although it may continue to produce ore for 

 many years, future mining operations will in 

 all likelihood still continue to show a very 

 material declension. 



EGREMONT PARISH. Although it was in 

 this parish that some of the earliest mining 

 of haematite took place, we find from Table 

 No. VI. that during the decade ending 1880 

 it only occupied the fourth place among the 

 ore producing areas of the Whitehaven dis- 

 trict, Cleator, Arlecdon and Salter and Eskett 

 taking the lead in the order named. Prior 

 to and during this period the most important 

 mines in the parish were the old Bigrigg 

 mines of Lord Leconfield, the Woodend, 

 Gutterby, Ironriggs and Peile pits of Messrs. 

 Lindow, the Woodend mines of Messrs. 

 Bain & Co., the mines of the Ehen Mining 

 Co., Robin Benn, Billy Frears and Fletcher 

 pits on Postlethwaite's Moor Row estate, and 

 the Moor Row mines. Up to the year 1880 



very little had been done in the way of 

 mining near the town of Egremont, but 

 operations are now being conducted there 

 on an extensive scale. 



The Wyndham and Gillfoot Park mines, 

 which have produced the highest outputs in 

 the Whitehaven district during the last ten 

 years, only began to raise ore in 1879. From 

 the Gillfoot mines 7,807 tons were returned 

 for that year ; this was followed by an out- 

 put of 72,880 tons for the year 1880, and 

 up to the present time good and regular out- 

 puts have been maintained, the maximum 

 output of 121,742 tons being reached in 

 1889. The Wyndham Co., who started 

 sinking within a short distance of the river 

 Ehen, a little to the south of the Egremont 

 railway station, had a large quantity of water 

 to contend with, their progress for a few 

 years being considerably retarded from this 

 cause. In 1883 however 73,139 tons were 

 raised, while the maximum output up to the 

 present time was attained in 1898, when the 

 output reached 112,501 tons. Some years 

 ago this company had to make a deviation 

 in the river Ehen, owing to a threatened 

 inbreak from the original river bed. This 

 work was satisfactorily completed, and has 

 enabled the company to work out a much 

 larger quantity of ore than they could other- 

 wise have secured. These two mines, which 

 are now worked by the Wyndham Mining 

 Co., are specially mentioned, as it is owing 

 to their large outputs that the Egremont 

 parish has taken the premier position during 

 the last decade, as the largest ore producing 

 area in the Whitehaven district. The 

 Wyndham Co. (who also work the Falcon 

 Mines) are about to commence the sinking 

 of a shaft about 20O fathoms in depth near 

 Orgill in this parish. 



Other mines of considerable importance 

 have for some years past been in operation, 

 of which may be mentioned the Moss Bay 

 Haematite Iron and Steel Co.'s mines, and 

 Messrs. Bain & Co.'s mines at Woodend, 

 the Syke House, and Sir John Walsh mines 

 of Messrs. S. & J. Lindow, the Pallaflat and 

 Southam mines, the Parkhouse mines of 

 Messrs. Charles Cammell & Co. Ld., Postle- 

 thwaite's Moor Row mines, and the mines 

 at Moor Row worked by the executors of 

 the late Mr. T. H. Dalzell. The Town- 

 head Mining Co. in Egremont and the 

 Ullcoats Mining Co. in St. John Beckermet 

 parish have quite recently been added to the 

 list of ore producers, while the Millom & 

 Ascham Haematite Iron Co. Ld. are sink- 

 ing a shaft in a small royalty at Ullbank in 

 Beckermet parish near Egremont. 



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