Gilberts Mine (Stage), Spoil heap, Minehouse, railway, Borrowdale

Summary

A further 200m north, up the fellside, is Gilbert's Stage below which is the most prominent of all spoil heaps. This adit was driven in 1798 and when it reached the Grand Pipe in 1800 the guardhouse was built around the entrance

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Description

A further 200m north, up the fellside, is Gilbert's Stage below which is the most prominent of all spoil heaps. This adit was driven in 1798 and when it reached the Grand Pipe in 1800 the guardhouse was built around the entrance (Tyler, I. 1995, 125). The documentary evidence for the mine house is particularly plentiful; two annotated small scale plans of both floors survive as well as a sketch of the exterior, all made by John Farey who began a survey of the mine in 1818 (Dorchester RO; D/BKL, Cumberland - un-catalogued). Other documentary sources suggest that, to increase security, all graphite extracted from the mine - from whatever level - was brought to the surface at Gilbert's Stage (Tyler, I. 1995, 126, 135), which may account for the large size of the spoil heap; it is spread 73 meters down the slope and is 42m across at its widest point. Water run off down the slope has also caused some of the deeds from the bottom of the spoil heap to move down hill. About half way down the western side of the spoil heap is part of a drystone revetment wall which was presumably an attempt to hold the spoil back. The platform at the top of the spoil heap is 10.9m by 7.1m but its front has become quite eroded by water seeping from the mine. In the centre of the platform the erosion has exposed red staining which is probably the rusted remains of a railway shown on Farey's plans of 1821. A few short sections of iron rail are scattered further down the spoilheap. On the north-eastern side of the spoil heap is a drain taking water from the mine, which is 0.8m wide and 0.4m high. It appears that due to the underlying bedrock, the ground floor was largely built to provide a foundation for the main upper floor, although there was room for a smithy at the front of the building, on the southwest side of the adit. The upper story consisted of six rooms of varying sizes (Tyler, I. 1995, 198). The surviving walls of the northeastern side of the building are 0.7m wide and have a maximum external height of 2.1m; the interior is 3.1m by 5.6m. The walls are bonded with mortar and in the northern corner of the room some wall plaster survives. the maximum internal height of the walls is 1.2m, at the back of the building where the walls are protected by a hewn rock face; most of the room, however, is largely filled with debris. During the course of the survey the southern corner of this room fell away, exposing a layer of graphite dust 0.3m thick, which confirms the note on Farey's plan that this was the upper storey wad picking room. The adit is a maximum of 1.0m wide an up to 1.0m high; the interior of the mine is still accessible from here. Adjacent to the adit, at the front of the guardhouse, the base of the stone staircase survives; it is composed of single slabs of stone 0.9m wide. In the southwest half of the building part of the smithy survives. Internally it measures about 2.6m wide although no dividing wall is visible on the southwest side. Internally the wall is 0.6m high and externally 1.2m; the position of a window at the front of the smithy is clearly visible. Farey's plan notes a peat house on the southwestern side of the building but this no longer survives. Neither is there any trace of a privy which adjoined the northeastern side of the building (Lax, A. 1995).

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