The Slow Decay of Belmont Mine

It is disheartening to see the old mine buildings at Belmont Ironstone Mine partially collapsed. Built around 1909, they may not be the grandest examples of industrial architecture, but they are likely the most intact surface remains of any ironstone mine in the Cleveland area. Remarkably, some sections are still used as stables. In the 1970s, I recall them serving as a piggery—or at least pigs wandered about behind them.

The mine operated from 1907 to 1931, though extraction ceased in 1921. It was run by Bolckow, Vaughan and Company, which was later absorbed into Dorman, Long and Company, the firm that came to dominate the industry.

This was not the first mining attempt into the Chaloners’ Belmont royalty. Back in 1853, the Weardale Iron and Coal Company leased the mineral rights and opened a drift about 600 metres further east, between Belmangate and Butt Lane. That venture folded in 1886 when trade declined, and the site lay dormant until Bolckow, Vaughan returned in 1907 to drive a new drift into the old workings.