Echoes in the Vale: The Ghostly Rise and Fall of Leven Vale Cottages

By the mid-1850s, “Ironstone Fever” had Cleveland in its grip. The success at Eston tempted the Trustees of the young Robert Bell Turton to open up the Kildale Estate through an 1855 Act of Parliament. Investors fell for the “rabbit hole theory” — the tall story that John Marley had stumbled upon Eston’s underground riches by literally falling down a rabbit hole. Joseph Bewick, a surveyor, was having none of it, warning that the ironstone here was “entirely wanting.” Into this gulf between hard geology and wild hope stepped John Watson, leasing the minerals in 1864 to impress his wealthy London circle.¹Anthony, Cedric. Glimpses of Kildale History. Val Anthony, 2012.²Cleveland Industrial Archaeology Society and North York Moors National Park Authority. Cleveland Ironstone. 1998. Section 1.3.

Watson’s 42-year lease began in 1866 and was in ruins by 1868. The Leven Vale Co. Ltd. staged a brave recovery in their “peak year” of 1872, but the ground simply refused to play ball. Their 220-foot shafts swallowed money and returned disappointment; the Main Seam turned out to be a geological booby trap, its ironstone carved up by nearly two feet of “useless shale.” Cornered, the company gave up on the depths and scratched around in the thin Top Seam instead.

A small community briefly appeared — two rows of ten stone cottages and a “Tommy Shop” where miners were quietly robbed through tokens and truck systems³25” OS map. Yorkshire XXIX.12. Surveyed: 1892, Published: 1894. https://maps.nls.uk/view/125624920#zoom=4.6&lat=9033&lon=3645&layers=BT. The 1874 liquidation put paid to all of it. In a rather neat twist, the ruins were knocked down in the 1930s and the stone used to build Kildale Village Hall.

Today, a lone brick chimney stands watch over a few scattered foundations. Had the ironstone greed won out, Kildale might now be an “urban blot” like Liverton⁴Marsh, Elizabeth Caroline. The Impact of the Decline of the Cleveland Ironstone Industry. University of York, 2021.. Perhaps we only treasure the North York Moors because the speculators made such a thorough mess of things.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

• 1
  Anthony, Cedric. Glimpses of Kildale History. Val Anthony, 2012.
• 2
  Cleveland Industrial Archaeology Society and North York Moors National Park Authority. Cleveland Ironstone. 1998. Section 1.3.
• 3
  25” OS map. Yorkshire XXIX.12. Surveyed: 1892, Published: 1894. https://maps.nls.uk/view/125624920#zoom=4.6&lat=9033&lon=3645&layers=BT
• 4
  Marsh, Elizabeth Caroline. The Impact of the Decline of the Cleveland Ironstone Industry. University of York, 2021.