Fire, Fumes, and Fatality: Scugdale’s Calcining Kiln

In the early 19th century, Scugdale was an unremarkable little dale where people busied themselves with weaving and bleaching fine linens. The local economy depended on at least four water mills, all fed by the ever-reliable Scugdale Beck. That is, until 1857, when progress arrived in the form of a two-mile railway branch between Swainby and Potto¹NYMNP HER No: 6160 Railway from Potto to Swainby. Its purpose? To transport iron ore from newly opened mines further up the dale. Naturally, this was not enough; a calcining kiln had to be built as well²NYMNP HER No: 6596 AILESBURY MINE CALCINING KILN. Here, the ore from the Ailesbury Mine was roasted to drive off carbon dioxide, turning it into an oxide fit for smelting. The process also removed water and other impurities, breaking the ore into more manageable pieces. In other words, it was a filthy, backbreaking business.

On a previous visit, I made the mistake of coming in the summer. The undergrowth was impassable, the trees blocked out the sky, but stepping stones provided a dry way across the beck. This time, on a spring morning, birds chirped, the beck gurgled, but those stepping stones had vanished, no doubt washed away in some flood. It is difficult to picture the scene when the kiln was in operation, but it would have been anything but tranquil.

The working day started before dawn, with men trudging in from Swainby to prepare the kiln. First, the fire had to be ready; then came the ironstone, trundling down on a tramway from the mine. The men loaded the kiln in layers of ironstone and coal, a task requiring considerable strength. The fires had to be stoked and carefully tended, with the airflow and fuel supply constantly adjusted to ensure the process worked correctly³Hollins Mine and Bank Top iron calcining kilns. Historic England. List Entry Number:1018982. https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1018982?section=official-list-entry⁴Rosedale East Mines calcining kilns and iron mines. Historic England. List Entry Number:1018981. https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1018981?section=official-list-entry.

The heat was intense, the air thick with smoke and fumes. The workers endured these conditions for hours on end while the impurities burned away, sending noxious gases up a tall chimney. Whether the chimney did its job depended entirely on the wind. Once the ironstone was sufficiently calcined, it had to be extracted from the bottom of the kiln—blistering hot and dangerously heavy—before being loaded onto railway trucks. The dust from the ironstone and coal filled the air, coating everything, including the unfortunate men who worked there.

Then, in 1886, silence returned to Scugdale. The mining operations ceased, Lord Ailesbury sold his estate, and the rail lines to Swainby were dismantled. Peace, however, came at a cost. One of the last mineral trains that year ran down a farmer’s wife, Mrs White, as she walked along the track to Potto station, hoping to catch a train to Stockton market. The wheels passed clean over her arm, severing it entirely. She died about two hours later⁵Manchester Evening News – 17 June 1886. “A Durham Farmer’s Wife Killed on the Railway”. https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000272/18860617/041/0003.

• 1
  NYMNP HER No: 6160 Railway from Potto to Swainby
• 2
  NYMNP HER No: 6596 AILESBURY MINE CALCINING KILN
• 3
  Hollins Mine and Bank Top iron calcining kilns. Historic England. List Entry Number:1018982. https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1018982?section=official-list-entry
• 4
  Rosedale East Mines calcining kilns and iron mines. Historic England. List Entry Number:1018981. https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1018981?section=official-list-entry
• 5
  Manchester Evening News – 17 June 1886. “A Durham Farmer’s Wife Killed on the Railway”. https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000272/18860617/041/0003