Boom and bust on the North York Moors

REBLOGGED – Out and About at Warren Moor Mine – one of the major sites for the ‘This Exploited Land’ Landscape Partnership.

Out and About ...

Warren Moor Ironstone Mine, Kildale

With the success of ironstone mine on the Eston Hills in the 1850s landowners in the North York Moors were keen to be part of the bonanza. Ironstone was soon discovered on the Kildale Estate but the problem was transporting any ore obtained out of the dale. Transport would have been by horse and cart and the roads were simply not good enough. So when the North Yorkshire & Cleveland Railway arrived in Kildale in 1859 ironstone mining in Kildale became a possibility.

The Bell Brothers’, who had been involved in the exploratory work, initially expressed an interest but when that waned the royalty was let to the Warren Moor Iron Company, a group of investors led by the Agent, John Watson. This was in 1866. A year later the company was in financial difficulties and the following year John Watson was declared bankrupt. The…

View original post 146 more words