Ailesbury Ironstone Mine

Another visit to an old favourite, almost 7 years ago. I read that some conservation work had been done to the mine entrance, some trees cleared and the ditch cleared out. It looks as though some of the stones on the parapet have fallen.

Ailesbury Ironstone Mine operated from 1857 to 1885 and named after the landowner, George Brudenell-Bruce, the 2nd Marquess of Ailesbury¹George Brudenell-Bruce, 2nd Marquess of Ailesbury. Wikipedia. Available online at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Brudenell-Bruce,_2nd_Marquess_of_Ailesbury [Accessed 10 Jul. 2022]..

Although the family seat was at Tottenham House, Wiltshire, the Marquess was one of the large landowners of Yorkshire, totalling 15,369 acres in the county including Jervaulx Abbey in Wensleydale²Johansen, Leslie E. “A Prospect beyond History: The Contextual Analysis of the Designed Landscapes in the North Riding, Yorkshire during the Long-Eighteenth Century”. Volume I.  Page 53. PhD thesis. University of York Archaeology. 2009..

In 1886, George William Thomas Brudenell-Bruce, became the 4th Marquess of Ailesbury, known to all as Willie³Wikipedia Contributors (2022). George Brudenell-Bruce, 4th Marquess of Ailesbury. [online] Wikipedia. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Brudenell-Bruce,_4th_Marquess_of_Ailesbury [Accessed 10 Jul. 2022].. He was already a habitual gambler, forcing the sale of five Yorkshire properties including the  6,000 acre Whorlton Castle estate, which included the whole of Scugdale⁴Lord Ailesbury’s Yorkshire Properties | Devizes and Wiltshire Gazette | Thursday 07 January 1886 | British Newspaper Archive. [online] Available at: https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000360/18860107/011/0003 [Accessed 10 Jul. 2022]..

The buyer was our old friend, James Emmerson of Easby Hall, who has appeared many times in these posts⁵Sale of the Whorlton Castle Estate. | Hartlepool Northern Daily Mail | Friday 19 August 1887 | British Newspaper Archive. [online] Available at: https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000377/18870819/014/0003 [Accessed 10 Jul. 2022]..

• 1
  George Brudenell-Bruce, 2nd Marquess of Ailesbury. Wikipedia. Available online at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Brudenell-Bruce,_2nd_Marquess_of_Ailesbury [Accessed 10 Jul. 2022].
• 2
  Johansen, Leslie E. “A Prospect beyond History: The Contextual Analysis of the Designed Landscapes in the North Riding, Yorkshire during the Long-Eighteenth Century”. Volume I.  Page 53. PhD thesis. University of York Archaeology. 2009.
• 3
  Wikipedia Contributors (2022). George Brudenell-Bruce, 4th Marquess of Ailesbury. [online] Wikipedia. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Brudenell-Bruce,_4th_Marquess_of_Ailesbury [Accessed 10 Jul. 2022].
• 4
  Lord Ailesbury’s Yorkshire Properties | Devizes and Wiltshire Gazette | Thursday 07 January 1886 | British Newspaper Archive. [online] Available at: https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000360/18860107/011/0003 [Accessed 10 Jul. 2022].
• 5
  Sale of the Whorlton Castle Estate. | Hartlepool Northern Daily Mail | Friday 19 August 1887 | British Newspaper Archive. [online] Available at: https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000377/18870819/014/0003 [Accessed 10 Jul. 2022].