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This 300ft (100m) chimney was an important part of the Langley Lead Smelting Mill located near Langley Garden Station mile away to the west. The Mill was built by Greenwich Hospital in 1768 to allow retired seamen to smelt lead carried from the mines on Alston Moor. Because the fumes where so dangerous in the location of the smelter, an arched horizontal flue, partly underground, was constructed in 1802. The flue was extended several times, rebuilt to its final size (7ft by 5ft) and the Stublick Chimney completed after 1859 after a pay dispute by the local mason, Nicholas White of Catton. A steam powered condenser was installed before 1865.

The smelt mill was closed in 1887. Little is visible today apart from the chimney, several parts of the flue NY8361 : Old lead smelting flue near Langley, a 'flue-bridge' over the Hexham to Allendale Railway near Langley Station NY8261 : 'Flue Bridge' at Langley, reservoirs and watercourses.

The lower two thirds of the tapering chimney are built in stone, with the top section in brick. The Grade II Listed Stublick Chimney was restored in 1986.

Langley and Blagill lead smeltmills, flue and chimney. List Entry Number: 1018211 Link

Stublick Chimney and Flue on Vimeo: Link

"The Langley smeltmill was built in 1768 by Greenwich Hospital and expanded in the 1770s to include two refining furnaces (for extracting silver from lead ore), a reducing furnace (to convert waste lead into metallic lead) and a slag hearth (for resmelting waste slag from the ore hearths). A second smeltmill was built at Blagill in the 1780s. Both shared the same flue system, the first section of which was built between 1801 and 1803. By 1805, each smeltmill had three ore hearths, a double refining furnace, a slag hearth and roasting and reducing furnaces. By 1817, zinc was also being smelted at Langley and, although initially successful, it could not compete with competition from Germany and these works closed in 1822. Langley Mill had expanded during this period and between 1845 and 1860 the flue system was also extended. Most of Blagill Mill seems to have been demolished by about 1860 with some of the remaining buildings being converted into cottages. The last section of the flue system and the chimney were completed by 1882. The smeltmills finally closed in 1887 and much of the works were demolished by 1896. The entire layout of Langley Mill survives as earthworks which together with the Blaghill Mill site, represent a complex lead works of two separate smeltmills. This is a Scheduled Monument and the chimney is also a Grade II Listed Building protected by law."
Keys to the Past (Reference number: N7649) Link


Scheduled Monument (List Entry 1018211) Link

Langley Lead Smelting Mills and James Mulcaster's description of 1806 SM Linsley: Link Archive Link

Listed buildings and structures are officially designated as being of special architectural, historical or cultural significance. There are over half a million listed structures in the United Kingdom, covered by around 375,000 listings.
Listed status is more commonly associated with buildings or groups of buildings, however it can cover many other structures, including bridges, headstones, steps, ponds, monuments, walls, phone boxes, wrecks, parks, and heritage sites, and in more recent times a road crossing (Abbey Road) and graffiti art (Banksy 'Spy-booth') have been included.

In England and Wales there are three main listing designations;
Grade I (2.5%) - exceptional interest, sometimes considered to be internationally important.
Grade II* (5.5%) - particularly important buildings of more than special interest.
Grade II (92%) - nationally important and of special interest.

There are also locally listed structures (at the discretion of local authorities) using A, B and C designations.

In Scotland three classifications are also used but the criteria are different. There are around 47,500 Listed buildings.
Category A (8%)- generally equivalent to Grade I and II* in England and Wales
Category B (51%)- this appears generally to cover the ground of Grade II, recognising national importance.
Category C (41%)- buildings of local importance, probably with some overlap with English Grade II.

In Northern Ireland the criteria are similar to Scotland, but the classifications are:
Grade A (2.3%)
Grade B+ (4.7%)
Grade B (93%)

Read more at Wikipedia Link