On this page are reports, in reverse chronological order, on guided walks that took place in 2025. To jump to any one report, click the relevant link:
Sept – Possible Viking site on Bellerby Moor
Aug – Middleton Tyas Copper Mines Walk
Jul – Mining on and around Grinton Moor
Apr – Dicky Edge Early Medieval Settlement on Feldom Range
Sept – Possible Viking site on Bellerby Moor led by Mike Woods
On Saturday 27th September a group of SWAAG members participated in a guided walk over Bellerby Moor led by Mike Woods. Although the was relatively short, there were many features to investigate. The group visited one of a number of Burnt Moulds located on the moor. There was plentiful evidence of burnt stones and burning activity.
Moving west across the moor, the group visited the ruins of a structure that could have been a farm house, barn or even a structure connected to the local mining activities.
Traveling along the trackway, we approached an area of hut circles and enclosures. It was a little difficult to make out the features due to the bracken and vegetation present at this time of the year.
The last site to be visited is a possible Viking Long House.
Mike had photographs of a piece of pottery that found close to this site. It was currently away for dating, this could prove the feature to be Viking in date.
Thank you Mike for taking the group on a very interesting walk.
Aug – Middleton Tyas Copper Mines Walk led by Jane Harrison
Thirteen members joined Jane Harrison for a short walk around Middleton Tyas to look at what still remains of the 18th century copper mines. There was an unexpected guest – a ginger tom cat who followed the group around for most of the walk and sat down whenever we stopped!
Although mining only took place from the 1740s to the 1780s, it generated considerable wealth for local landowners and the village expanded in size. Many of the houses around the Shoulder of Mutton were built or extended during that period. We looked the houses around the village green and then walked down to an exposure of the limestone by the road. Jane reminded the group about the formation and distribution of copper ore in Swaledale, which she had covered in an earlier talk. For more information see: https://new-swaag.org/talk-reports-2025/#copper
We then headed towards to St Michael and All Saints Church, which is on the edge of the village. The remains of shafts from the copper workings can be easily seen from the tree-lined avenue. The avenue itself was created from spoil from the mines. There are more spoil heaps in the field to the west.
The ore had a very high copper content and occurred in veins, nodules and flats. There is only one contemporary map of the ore field, which was drawn by Richard Richardson, in 1754. This shows some of the workings near the church. T. R. Hornshaw (1975) identified nearly 60 shafts in total. To see what remains today, see the National Library of Scotland website’s georeferenced maps, which allow the 6 inch to 1 mile Ordnance Survey maps to be viewed next to the LiDAR (DTM) images.
The mines were located on land owned by the Milbankes, the Shuttleworths, and the Hartleys. A partnership of Lady D’Arcy, Andrew Wilkinson, John Hutton and John Yorke worked mines in fields leased from the Shuttleworths. Those on the Glebe lands benefited the Church. The Rev. Dr. Mawer had received royalties of £4,000 before he died in 1763.
The mining was carried out by small groups of men, some of whom came from Cornwall and Derbyshire. Expertise was no doubt gained from lead mining in Swaledale. Shafts measured 42 inches square and miners climbed down using the wooden cross pieces on each side. Buckets were then raised using hand winches. Contemporary documents describe the harsh conditions faced by the miners but the parish records from the period do not record any fatalities.
The workings in North and South Layberries can be observed from the public footpath going down Parson’s Bank to the Kirk Beck. At the bottom of the slope there is the remains of an adit or level together with a spoil heap. The field parallel to the stream is called Buddle Bottom, a reference to the initial washing and sorting of the copper ore from the ‘gouge’ following crushing. Further along the field the remains of an engine house and other buildings can be seen over the stone wall. These are on private land. The steam engine was connected to a system of flat rods and cylindrical rollers which enabled the motive power to be transferred uphill. The shafts on Parson’s Bank could then be drained enabling the miners to reach the richer ores near the water table.
Retracing our steps we then walked briskly along Cow Lane to look at the bottom of South Main before it started to rain. This land was owned and leased out by the Shuttleworth family. Under the trees the ground is very uneven and covered with rough grass and ivy. Pieces of stonework outcrop. This was the likely location of a smelt mill and/or refinery. Processing the ore was a complex process involving repeated roasting and smelting. Contemporary records point to there being at least three smelt mills in Middleton Tyas, but little evidence remains on the ground today. There were also two refineries in the village, although some of the ore was sent to Derbyshire for refining.
On the way back through the village Jane pointed out some of the houses. East Hall was once owned by the Hartley family, and The Rookery was originally the vicarage. Hope Cottage was one of many public houses in the village at the height of the copper boom and was called the Miners’ Arms. We then adjourned to the Shoulder of Mutton for lunch, narrowly missing a torrential downpour!
Jul – Mining on and around Grinton Moor led by Alan & Judith Mills.
On Saturday 19th July we eventually managed to get on to Grinton Moor and visit areas
of lead mining activity in the area. It was lovely to be joined by a number of non members who have an interest in the local history of mining in the area. We visited a number of bales sites located in the area of Grinton Lodge, and the intersection of the Redmire / Leyburn / Grinton roads. These sites are recognised by the presence of slag, and you can make out the circular structures on the ground.
The group then moved to the area of Grinton Smelt Mill – this building and its
associated water management system was investigated. There is a large building
that was used for fuel storage (peat). The Smelt Mill – the furnaces are still visible,
the area for the water wheel and bellows can be identified, also the flue leaving the
mill and heading up on to the moor.
Heading up the valley – leats and dams can be identified, these would have provided
water for separating the ore from the waste and for powering the waterwheels for the
bellows in the smelt mill. Due to the pending storm front, the group did not go further onto the moor to look at other sites including California Level, hush sites and ore extraction sites (Grinton How level).
Returning to the Smelt Mill, the group entered the mill which is in a good state of
repair. We then followed the flue up on to the moor, finding access sites in the flue
where people (probably children) would access the flue to remove lead deposits.
Eventually ending at the site of the chimney.
Returning to the road over the moor we visited the site of Lime Kilns and a potential
Sow Kiln (early Lime Kiln).
April – Dicky Edge Early Medieval Settlement on Feldom Range
Our first walk of the year was to explore a remote and relatively inaccessible series of ancient settlements on Dicky Edge, within the Army Ranges at Feldom. It was with the kind permission of the Army, and through our membership of the MOD Conservation Group, that we were able to visit the area.
We started from Cordilleras Farm built for Thomas Hutton in the early nineteenth century and now used for MOD training exercises. The farm is Grade 2 listed and is a fine example of a model farm from the period when high moorland was becoming enclosed. Although the ranges were active, their fire was eastward.
We headed westward along the public footpath to the top of Dicky Edge from where we had a clear view of Throstle Gill coming down from our right to below Helwith Bank, where it joins Marske Beck. The beck flows past Marske to the Swale. From this vantage point we could see down to the site of an early medieval bloomery on the plain below, then across to our left a series of later lead-mine entrances and pits on the northern edge of Clints.
Our aim was to find the sites first recorded by our president, Tim Laurie, 40 years ago, and described in record no. 187 on the SWAAG database. The report contains an excellent sketch plan of the settlement. The first site was described by Tim as ‘a large, slumped section of chert rock strata that has been quarried to form several small cells, each with an angled entrance passage. There is evidence that these cells were roofed with corbelled stone, now collapsed but presumably once with timber supports.’ The site was just as described.
We then dropped 50 metres down the slope to the main site. This is a group of three rectangular buildings within a slight stone-banked enclosure. The buildings have entrances marked by orthostats in the gable end. One building is at a right angle to the other two. The terrace to the east of the settlement has been cleared and enclosed by rough stone banks. Within one of these banks is a circular structure which may be a corn drying kiln. Tim reported that the site had been disturbed by stone robbing but was generally in reasonable condition. We were pleased to report that little had changed. Though it should be noted that we were there when the bracken had died back. Many of the features will be hidden by undergrowth in the summer and autumn.
From there we followed the fell-side terrace for a few hundred metres to the south. The area had been cleared to form small, enclosed fields, with the possibility of a further one or two huts at the southern end of the terrace. In summary, this was a short 2.5 mile walk that enabled members to see a site that is not readily open to the public, and to confirm that it remains just as surveyed by Tim in the 1980s.
