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Between 206 and 150 Million Years, in the Jurassic era, the rocks forming the Cleveland Hills were deposited in a warm, shallow sea, which was later the site of a river delta. Over geological time, these sediments were compacted to form mudstones, shales, siltstones and sandstones. Of importance to us is the Cleveland Ironstone Formation, in the Lower Jurassic, which is around 29 metres of shales with silty shales and with hard beds of sideritic and chamositic ironstone. There are five main iron-rich horizons, or seams, as follows from the lowest upward: Avicula, Raisdale, Two Foot, Pecten and Main Seam. Higher parts of the Jurassic sequence include the Jet Formation, Alum Shales and sometimes coal seams, all of which had an economic value.

Ironstone has long been exploited in the area. There are, for example, extensive heaps of slag around Rievaulx Abbey, which was supressed in December 1538. The abbey and its ironworks were acquired by the earl of Rutland who continued working the latter. By 1545, four furnaces were smelting iron ore under the management of John Blackett, vicar of Scawton. The vaulted undercroft of the refectory was used to store the charcoal used as fuel. A blast furnace was added in 1577 and a forge was re-equipped between 1600 and 1612. Local supplies of timber for charcoal were all but exhausted by the 1640s, however, and the ironworks closed. Other remains from this period are found in Bilsdale, Bransdale, Rosedale and near Furnace House in Fryup Dale. Many of these early working appear to have concentrated on the Dogger Seam.

There were various attempts to mine ironstone in the early nineteenth century, with ore being quarried on the coastal outcrops. The Pecten seam was discovered at Grosmont during the making of a cutting for the Whitby and Pickering Railway and the newly formed Whitby Stone Company sent a cargo of ironstone to the Birtley Iron Company in 1836. It was rejected as being of poor quality, and it took the company some time to get its product right. Nevertheless, the following year the two companies agreed a sales contract.

It was not until August 1850 that Bolckow & Vaughan made a trial of the Main Seam was made by quarrying near Eston. Soon the workings moved underground, using pillar and stall, and became very large scale with over half a million tons of ironstone being raised annually in the mid 1850s.

Around 35 mines opened between Eston, Great Ayton and Hinderwell on the coast. There was a small group of mines at Grosmont and others in Rosedale. Railways were extended to the mines, and settlements built for the labour sucked into what had been a very rural area. After the initial rush of companies opening mines, a period of consolidation was needed as iron companies absorbed smaller ventures and workings were rationalised. Marginal mines closed. This process was helped by a down-turn in trade in the early to mid 1870s. Soon, a new generation of iron works was being built on Teesside. These used Bessemer convertors to turn the iron into steel, which was increasingly in demand. By 1883, therefore, production of Cleveland iron ore peaked at six and three-quarter million tons.

The quarter century before World War I saw many older mines close, further consolidation of companies and some new sinkings. Rock drills and mechanised haulages were used to increase efficiency and trim costs. Around twenty mines closed in the inter-war years. Many of the old companies were absorbed by Dorman, Long & Co. Ltd, which dominated the industry at the start of World War II. Only nine mines, all in the area between Guisborough and Brotton, survived the war. Efforts were made to make mining more efficient, diesel haulage was introduced below ground, as were compressed air loading shovels. The mines could not, however, compete with imported ore or that worked by opencast around Scunthorpe and Corby. North Skelton Mine was the last to close in January 1964.

Mine	Location	Opened	Closed
Ailesbury Mine	Whorlton	1872	1887
Aysdalegate Mine	Lockwood	1863	1880	Closed 23/10/1880.
Ayton Banks Mine	Great Ayton	1910	1929	Standing 1922 to 1928. Abandoned July 1929.
Ayton Mine	Great Ayton	1908	1930
Bagnall and Co Mines	Eskdaleside cum Ugglebarnby	1862	1864
Beckhole Mine	Egton	1857	1864
Belmont Mine	Guisborough	1854	1928	Abandoned 11/11/1886. Reopened in 1907. Abandoned 20/02/1933.
Birds Mine	Eskdaleside cum Ugglebarnby	1858	1866
Birtley Mine	Eskdaleside cum Ugglebarnby	1858	1878
Blakey Mine	Farndale East	1873	1881
Boosbeck Mine	Skelton	1872	1901
Boulby Mine	Easington	1903	1934	Abandoned July 1934. Boulby Potash Mine sunk here in the late 1960s.
Brotton Mine	Brotton	1865	1921
California Mine	Eskdaleside cum Ugglebarnby	1863	1881
Carlin How Mine	Kilton	1873	1924	Part of Lumpsey until 1946.
Chaloner Mine	Guisborough	1872	1939	Part of Eston.
Cliff Mine	Brotton	1866	1881	Abandoned October 1887.
Coate Moor Mine	Kildale	1866	1876	Abandoned 19/07/1876.
Cod Hill Mine	Guisborough	1853	1865
Commondale Mine	Commondale	1863	1876
Craggs Hall Mine	Brotton	1871	1893
Easington Mine	Saltburn		1877	See also: Port Mulgrave
East Rosedale Mine	Rosedale East Side	1866	1926
Esk Valley Mine	Egton	1859	1883
Eskdale Mine	Eskdaleside cum Ugglesbarnby	1906	1908
Eskdale Mine	Eskdaleside cum Ugglesbarnby	1856	1870
Eskdaleside Mine	Eskdaleside cum Ugglesbarnby	1871	1876
Eston Mine	Guisborough	1856	1950
Farndale Mine	Farndale East	1872	1897	See Blakey.
Fryup Mine	Danby	1863	1874
Farndale Mine	Farndale East	1872	1897	See Blakey.
Fryup Mine	Danby	1863	1874
Glaisdale Mine	Glaisdale		1879	Abandoned 30/03/1875.
Goldsborough Mine	Lythe	1912	1915
Grinkle Mine	Hinderwell	1872	1934	Abandoned 1934.
Grosmont Mine	Eskdaleside cum Ugglesbarnby	1858	1892	West Side - Abandoned 15/05/1886.
Hays Mine	Eskdaleside cum Ugglesbarnby	1836	1866
Hinderwell Mine	Hinderwell	1854	1862
Hob Hill Mine	Marske	1864	1874	Abandoned 17/04/1875.
Hollin Hill Mine	Lockwood	1864	1880
Hollins Mine	Eskdaleside cum Ugglebarnby	1863	1879
Hollins Mine	Rosedale West Side	1856	1879
Huntcliffe Mine	Brotton	1872	1905	Abandoned 1906.
Hutton Mine	Hutton Lowcross	1854	1867
Ingelby Mine	Ingleby Greenhow	1858	1865
Kildale Mine	Kildale	1866	1878
Kilton Mine	Kilton	1871	1963	Sinking in 1871. Closed 31/12/1963.
Kirkleatham Mine	Tocketts	1873	1885	Abandoned 31/12/1886.
Lane Head Mine	Rosedale West Side	1876	1881
Lease Rigg Mine	Eskdaleside cum Ugglesbarnby	1837	1850
Leven Vale Mine	Kildale	1864	1871	See Warren Moor.
Levisham Mine	Levisham	1863	1874
Lingdale Mine	Moorsholm	1877	1962
Liverton Mine	Loftus	1866	1921	Abandoned 1923.
Loftus Mine	Loftus	1848	1958	Abandoned 1959.
Longacres Mine	Skelton	1873	1954	Closed 17/07/1915 and reopened from 1933 until 27/11/1954.
Lonsdale Mine	Kildale	1865	1874
Lumpsey Mine	Brotton	1880	1954	Sinking in 1880. Closed 27/11/1954.
Margrave Park Mine	Skelton	1863	1874
Mirkside Mine	Eskdaleside cum Ugglebarnby	1856	1861
New Bank Mine	Guisborough	1850	1950
Normanby Mine	Normanby	1856	1898	Abandoned in 1899.
North Loftus Mine	Brotton	1872	1905
North Skelton Mine	North Skelton	1865	1964	Closed 17/01/1964.
Port Mulgrave Mine	Hinderwell	1856	1893
Postgate Mine	Glaisdale	1870	1876
Raithwaite Mine	Newholm-cum-Dunsley	1854	1858
Roseberry Mine	Great Ayton	1880	1924
Rosedale East	Rosedale Abbey	1866	1925	Abandoned 1928.
Rosedale on Coast Mine	Hinderwell	1854	1876
Rosedale West	Rosedale West Side	1860	1911	Abandoned March 1911.
Sheriffs Mine	Rosedale West Side	1874	1911
Skelton Mine	Skelton	1860	1938	Abandoned November 1938.
Skelton Park Mine	Skelton	1868	1938	Abandoned April 1938.
Slapewath Mine	Lockwood	1864	1899
Sleights Bridge Mine	Sleights Bridge	1856	1859
South Belmont Mine	Guisborough	1863	1875
South Skelton Mine	Stanghow	1870	1954
Spa Mine	Stanghow	1864	1904	Standing in 1903. Abandoned in 1904.
Spawood Mine	Guisborough	1865	1930	Closed 28/06/1930. Abandoned April 1934.
Staithes Mine	Hinderwell	1838	1860
Stanghow Mine	Boosbeck	1872	1926
Swainby Mine	Whorlton	1856	1868
Tocketts Mine	Tocketts	1874	1877	Abandoned in 1880.
Upleatham Mine	Marske	1851	1923
Upsall Mine	Upsall	1866	1927	Merged with Eston from 1870.
Warren Moor Mine	Kildale	1864	1874
Waterfall Mine	Tocketts	1892	1901
Wayworth Mine	Commondale	1866	1867	Sinking 1866 to 1867.
West Rosedale Mine	Rosedale West Side	1856	1911
Whitecliffe Mine	Loftus	1871	1884
Wintergill Mine	Egton	1871	1883
Wreckhills Mine	Hinderwell	1856	1864

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