Geograph - photograph every grid square

Most buildings associated with the Cleveland ironstone mines have either been long since demolished or converted into private dwellings (e.g. see NZ6514 : Former Mine Buildings, Aysdalegate Ironstone Mine). South Skelton Mine is the one exception because I suppose it went into agricultural use. The farm has now been abandoned and the site must now be a candidate for development.

Operations began in 1872 with Thomas Vaughan and Company and continued with a few periods of idleness into the 1950s when it was owned by Dorman, Long and Company. (Thomas Vaughan having went bankrupt in 1878). Unlike most Cleveland ironstone mines which are drift mines, "Van's Pit", as it was known locally, was worked by two shafts of approximately 216' depth. It was electrified in 1912 and underwent substantial modernisation in the 1930s when Dorman Long took over. Output was considerable, at its height 300,000 tons annually with 450 employees.