An intriguing long sunken pit alongside the Glenderaterra River that’s been conveniently used as a dump for rusting stock fencing. It looks like a waterwheel pit to me and probably used to provide power to pump out the shaft of the Blencathra Lead Mine which was last worked in 1875. This is the southernmost working of a series of 30 fathom deep shafts (180 feet) to work the mineral vein which ran roughly down the bottom of the valley. The main ores were those of lead but copper and baryte were also present.
The mine was not particularly successful although the problem seems to be financial rather than operational or geological with several changes of ownership. The proximity of the river would suggest that keeping the workings clear of water would have been a perennial problem hence the need for pumping powered by the force of the water,
A few hundred metres up the valley the Brundholme Mine was comparatively more successful working the vein up into the 1920s.
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