Coniston Copper

The Coniston Copper Mines 1

 Chalcopyrite - Sulphide of Copper and Iron

 Secondary Copper Minerals

Chalcopyrite and Malachite are the two Copper ores that you are most likely to find on the old mine tips. Less common is Azurite, a beautiful deep blue mineral but a Carbonate of Copper quite similar in composition to Malachite.

Don't be disappointed if you don't spot any of these minerals straight away - many thousands of pairs of grubby hands have picked over the tips during the last 100 years. Be patient, look carefully, work away from the obvious places and you might be lucky.

Just below Miners Bridge bridge is an impressive waterfall , the largest of many such cascades along its course. A short distance upstream from the bridge are the remains of a shallow dam and sluice. Above this point the valley opens out and the waste heaps of the Bonsor Mill can be seen.

A terrace of cottages built for the accommodation of workers in the copper mines and the slate quarries, known as "Irish Row" , can be seen on the right hand side of the track. This terrace lay completely derilect for many years but now all the houses are refurbished and occupied.

 Before Irish Row is reached a track branches off to the right and this is the track to be followed to reach the workings on the Bonsor vein.. In the distance, at the foot of Red Dell, there appears to be an abandoned chimney but it is actually the remains of the Old Engine Shaft waterwheel, one of several in the valley which provided power for pumping, mine haulage and rock crushing.

A short distance before the Old Engine shaft is reached, the remains of the Bonsor East Shaft and wheel pit can be seen, about 30 feet below and to the left of the track

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 Slightly off our route, down in the valley bottom and lying more or less in line with the Bonsor East Shaft wheel pit, is the entrance to the Bonsor Deep Level . This level was driven to provide haulage access and drainage for the workings on the Bonsor Vein and the workings at Paddy End. The lower workings on the vein are now flooded but continue downwards for a considerable distance below the valley floor. Upstream on the East bank of the stream is Taylor's level.

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The entrance to the Bonsor Deep Level

01015_640 A panoramic view of the workings at the foot of Red Dell

The waterwheel pit at the site of the Bonsor East Shaft. The buildings and waste heaps from the Bonsor Mill can be seen in the distance in the valley bottom.

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A ventilation level on the hillside a short distance above above the Old Bonsor East shaft. There is a very deep shaft not very far in, so don't go exploring! In fact, around here, there are very deep shafts not very far in, in quite a few of the levels, so be warned.

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Further on past the Bonsor East Shaft wheel pit are the remains of the Old Engine Shaft waterwheel and the gaping maw of the Engine Shaft access tunnel. After only a short distance and almost without warning the shaft drops away for hundreds of feet. Only a chain across the access level prevents curious visitors from walking straight over the shaft edge, so don't be tempted to explore - buy a book or join the Cumbria Amenities Trust if you want to see the underground remains.

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The access tunnel to the old engine shaft 01023-320

A waterwheel was used for haulage and also to drive the pump rods which ran into the level and then down the shaft, the horizontal motion of the rods being translated into a vertical motion by means of an angle bob. It was necessary to use long pump rods to drive a force Pump at the shaft foot as a suction pump will only lift water 33 feet.

For the best impression of how a wheel was used for pumping, go and see the Lady Isabella wheel at Laxey, on the Isle of Man.

Behind the Old Engine wheel pit the dry channel of the water race can be seen and followed back to its source. This channel supplied water to the wheel from the fairly substantial stream which rises in the Red Dell .

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Coniston Copper

The Coniston Copper Mines 1