INDUSTRIES 



LAMPLUGH PARISH. This is the most 

 northerly parish in the Whitehaven district 

 where haematite is worked. It is worthy 

 of special notice, inasmuch as it is the only 

 part in Cumberland where hjematite is found 

 in workable quantities in the Skiddaw slate. 

 The properties of Kelton Fell and Knock- 

 murton within a short distance of Ennerdale 

 Lake have been profitably worked for many 

 years by Messrs. William Baird & Co. of 

 Scotland. The ore occurs, as has already 

 been observed, in veins in the Skiddaw slate, 

 having for the most part a north-west and 

 south-east direction. These veins have a 

 considerable extension both longitudinally and 

 vertically, and although the ore deposits are 

 not continuous, they are sufficiently persistent 

 to permit of the mines being profitably carried 

 on. Some idea of the extent of the deposits 

 may be formed from the fact that over a 

 million tons of haematite have been raised 

 from these mines, the maximum output being 

 reached in 1883, in which year it amounted 

 to 61,377 tons. A shaft about 80 fathoms 

 in depth has recently been sunk which will 

 open up a large extent of ore bearing ground 

 and add greatly to the life of the mines. 

 Previous to the Messrs. Baird commencing 

 operations early in the ' seventies,' two 

 attempts had been made to work ore in this 

 locality, one by Mr. Thomas Carmichal, and 

 the other by Mr. John Stirling of the 

 Montreal mines, both ventures proving un- 

 successful. 



The district lying to the north of Lam- 

 plugh parish has hitherto produced very little 

 ore ; this may probably be owing to the fact 

 that the limestone in its extension northwards 

 is intersected by a smaller number of im- 

 portant ' faults ' than is the case in the rich 

 ore bearing ground farther south. The 

 ground here has however not been sufficiently 

 proved, and future explorations may lead to 

 further discoveries in this direction. Ore in 

 considerable quantity was got at Murton in 

 this parish, where mining for a time was 

 extensively carried on, and later, about the 

 year 1880, a vigorous attempt was made to 

 open up mines at Whinnah, but without 

 much success. This district is however still 

 worth attention. Work has now been sus- 

 pended at the Windergill mines at the south 

 end of the parish. These mines have pro- 

 duced in the past a large quantity of ore. 

 The other mines at work here are the 

 Winder mines, worked by the Parkside 

 Mining Co., and Margaret pit worked by 

 Messrs. Ainsworth. At the latter a fine 

 deposit of ore has been worked for some years 

 past. The pit is over 130 fathoms in depth, 



the ore lying at that level on a north and 

 south ' fault,' which outcrops in the Yate- 

 house estate. This deposit is likely to con- 

 tinue to yield good outputs of ore for many 

 years. 



SALTER AND ESKETT PARISH. Consider- 

 ing the small area of this parish, it has pro- 

 duced a large quantity of excellent haematite. 

 The production of ore for the first of the 

 three decades is shown in Table No. VI. to 

 have amounted to over a million and a half 

 tons. Owing however to the limited work- 

 able area, the decrease during the following 

 two decades has been more marked than in 

 any of the other parish areas described. As 

 shown on Table No. VI., the output for the 

 last period of ten years shows a decline of 

 78 - o6 per cent compared with that of the 

 first decade. The older and more important 

 mines in this parish were the Eskett, Salter 

 and Eskett, and Postlethwaite's Eskett mines, 

 from all of which large quantities of ore have 

 been raised. The Salter Hall and Eskett Park 

 mines have also in the past added largely to 

 the output of the district. The bulk of the 

 ore obtained from the Salter Hall mines was 

 worked from a large vein-like deposit lying 

 on a north and south ' fault,' which in its 

 extension northwards formed also the best 

 producing deposit in Postlethwaite's Eskett 

 royalty. Only three mines are at present 

 working in this area. These will be found 

 in Table No. IX. 



ENNERDALE AND KINISIDE, HENSINGHAM 

 AND ST. JOHN BECKERMET PARISHES. 

 Table No. VI. shows that small quantities 

 of haematite have been obtained from each 

 of these areas, but up to the present time 

 these additions to the output of the district 

 have been of little moment. As will be 

 gathered however from the remarks already 

 made about Beckermet and other areas imme- 

 diately to the south of Egremont, these are 

 likely to form a very important mining centre 

 in this part of Cumberland in the near future. 

 The output shown in the table as having 

 been raised from Beckermet parish was worked 

 by the Wyndham Mining Co. of Egremont, 

 and that from Hensingham parish by Mr. 

 Stirling from the Montreal mines. 



Various attempts have been made from 

 time to time to work the ore veins in the 

 older rocks about the hills around the Enner- 

 dale lake, but these have proved abortive, 

 owing to the small size of the veins and the 

 hard nature of the rocks encasing them. 

 Messrs. Charles Cammell & Co., Ltd., some 

 years ago ran a prospecting drift into the 

 hillside near the lower end of the lake, on its 



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