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Ayton Ironstone Mine (Monument Mine)
Operated by Pease & Partners from 1909 to 1931 so a comparative latecomer. Because of this it was the most advanced of the Cleveland ironstone mines. It prided itself on its modern equipment and cleanliness and was the first local mine to use electricity.
(Ironstone is a sedimentary rock laid down when Yorkshire lay under a shallow tropical sea 180-210 million years ago. A period known as the Lower Jurassic.)
The mine was officially called Ayton Mine but locally was known as Monument Mine to distinguish it from Ayton Banks Mine on the south side of the Gribdale road (NZ586109).
The mine was created to access the ironstone seams south of the whinstone dyke but also to the north of it under Ayton Moor. This meant cutting through the harder volcanic rock of the dyke. Pease also owned the neighbouring royalties at Hutton Lowcross. It is said you could at one time walk underground from Monument mine to Hutton Lowcross near Guisborough. Due to rock falls it is unlikely to be the case now and in any case ventilation was always a problem for the mine.
At first ventilation was by a fire at the bottom of a shaft located in the wood north of the mine entrance (hot air rises so causes a draft). This shaft is still there hidden amongst the gorse. Then in 1919 a modern electric fan was installed.
Ore from the Monument Mine was carted out of the mine on narrow gauge tubs or wagons and hauled down the self acting incline for loading onto North Eastern Railway trucks at sidings just south of Great Ayton station.
The foundations to the fan house and other various bases can be seen at the top of the incline along with a large spoil heap. The tall building at the bottom of the incline near the modern fish pond housed the old electricity transformer.
(Ironstone is a sedimentary rock laid down when Yorkshire lay under a shallow tropical sea 180-210 million years ago. A period known as the Lower Jurassic.)
The mine was officially called Ayton Mine but locally was known as Monument Mine to distinguish it from Ayton Banks Mine on the south side of the Gribdale road (NZ586109).
The mine was created to access the ironstone seams south of the whinstone dyke but also to the north of it under Ayton Moor. This meant cutting through the harder volcanic rock of the dyke. Pease also owned the neighbouring royalties at Hutton Lowcross. It is said you could at one time walk underground from Monument mine to Hutton Lowcross near Guisborough. Due to rock falls it is unlikely to be the case now and in any case ventilation was always a problem for the mine.
At first ventilation was by a fire at the bottom of a shaft located in the wood north of the mine entrance (hot air rises so causes a draft). This shaft is still there hidden amongst the gorse. Then in 1919 a modern electric fan was installed.
Ore from the Monument Mine was carted out of the mine on narrow gauge tubs or wagons and hauled down the self acting incline for loading onto North Eastern Railway trucks at sidings just south of Great Ayton station.
The foundations to the fan house and other various bases can be seen at the top of the incline along with a large spoil heap. The tall building at the bottom of the incline near the modern fish pond housed the old electricity transformer.
by Mick Garratt
Created: Mon, 7 Oct 2013, Updated: Mon, 7 Oct 2013
2 images use this description: (all images taken in 2007)
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