Magpie Mine

Magpie Mine is well-preserved disused led mine and a industrial heritage site in the Peak District, Derbyshire. It was the last working lead mine in the Derbyshire orefield and is one of the best surviving examples in the UK of a 19th century lead mine. Mining has existed in the Peak District since before Roman times, with this mine having a history that spans more than 200 years. Tales include bitter disputes and fights resulting in the “murder” of three miners, and also a Widows’ Curse that is said to remain to this day.

Magpie Mine is located near the village of Sheldon in the Peak District, west of Bakewell. The mine is situated on Open Access Land and  is crossed by several public footpaths.

There are numerous mineshafts which are all now blocked, or capped off. Featues of the site include the ruined Cornish Engine House which dates from 1869, and the adjacent circular chimney (built in 1840 to serve an earlier engine, but then re-used). In front of the Cornish Engine House is the 728ft deep Main Shaft, marked by the pit-head lifting gear from the mine’s last phase of operation in the 1950s. The corrugated iron shed housed the winder and has the distinction of being one of only three corrugated iron buildings in the country.

Other features include the circular powder house and a replica horse gin which was erected on the Redsoil Engine Shaft. Another gin circle can also be seen to the west of the site, serving the original Shuttlebark Engine Shaft (1760). The Agent’s House and adjacent Smithy were built in the 1840’s and are now used as the Field Centre of the Peak District Mines Historical Society.