Old Gang smelt mill

Description

Old Gang smelt mill MYD2458 (c) YDNPA, 2023

East of Gunnerside Gill lie the Old Gang lead mines . Here, the most obvious remains are the smelt mill and peat store which were built early in the nineteenth century when the mines were operating on a large scale.

The huge peat store is a remarkable building. It was reputed to hold 3 year’s worth of fuel. It is around 119 metres long and 6.4 metres wide separated into 3 bays by two internal stone partition walls. It has stone gables and side walls formed from 36 individual stone piers. A heather-thatched roof was supported on timber trusses. Peat stores were open-sided to allow the blocks of peat to dry thoroughly before they were used as fuel in the smelt mill furnaces. A trackway leads down to the peat store from the hillside where the peat was cut. A second trackway leads from the peat store to the smelt mill.

The Old Gang complex also contains the remains of another older smelt mill and a large dressing floor along with levels, hushes, shallow shafts and a massive spoil heap over 500 metres long.

View of Old Gang peat store (c) YDNPA, 2023