Rosedale Head Colliery

Rosedale Head Colliery, Rosedale East Side

In the area between the head of Rosedale and the Young and Old Ralph Crosses there are at least forty pits straddling the boundary between the Duncombes’ Westerdale estate and the manor of Spaunton, which included Rosedale and which belonged to the Darleys of Aldby Park.

In 1776 George Sidebottom and Robert Watson are described as having previously mined at Rosedale Head, but it is not clear on which side. On the Westerdale side, however, an attempt by James Maw to reopen the mines is recorded in the List of Mines for 1875. Two years later they are credited to Colonel O. Duncombe.