Mines and minerals in Derbyshire (UK): Ecton Hill Copper Mines

The 16th August 2017 found me re-visiting Ecton Hill, located in the midst of one of the most attractive areas in the Peak District National Park, and home to one of the oldest copper mines in the UK.

This is an area I had previously explored having come across it on a walk from the Manifold valley many years ago, where I took the opportunity to explore some of the spoil heaps and take specimens. On that occasion I had no camera with me; so wanted to return again to photographically document the area for this blog.

I subsequently discovered that Ecton Hill and the mines (including most of the spoil heaps) are officially designated as an Ancient Monument and covered by an SSSI (Site of Special Scientific Interest). As such they should not be disturbed or anything removed and taken away! There is even a Trust: EMET (Ecton Mine Educational Trust) based on the hill that provides facilities for field studies for students.

Unfortunately, due to a lack of signage on any of the spoil heaps I was totally unaware of this on my first visit to the hill.

There is ample parking space provided at the foot of the hill in the form of recessed unsurfaced lay-bys. These are labelled as EMET Parking on the map below.

Background

Evidence of mining here dates from the Bronze age (about 1500 BC) and copper appears to have been mined at various intervals right up to late Victorian times, with the mines finally closing in 1890's. The Deep Ecton mine was one of the most productive copper mines in Britain and, at the time, the deepest mine at a depth of 1350 feet.

There were various named mines and shafts on the hill including Deep Ecton mine (which is now preserved and has a visitor centre managed by the National Trust), Dutchman mine, Clayton mine, Waterbank mine and others to numerous to mention.

At around the late 1780's the mines were said to be producing over 4000 tonnes of copper per year and employed over 300 people. Apparently copper from Ecton was used to cover the bottom of ships of the British Navy.

Mineralogy

The Ecton mines contain an extensive series of copper minerals including Chalcopyrtites (Copper pyrites), Malachite, Azurite, Aurichalcite, Galena, Barytes, Calcite, Fluorspar and other rarer minerals.

Waterbank mine has a similar extensive range of minerals. See the references below for detailed information as it's too extensive to detail here.

Minerals found

Malachite, Chalcopyrites, Aurichalcite, Calcite, Barytes, Fluorspar, Galena, Dolomite