Blagill Mill at Blagill – NY74054752
It could be easy to confuse the Blagill mill, near Blagill, and Blagill Mill at Langley, because they are both are referred to by the same name. The mill at Blagill, however, had closed before the mill at Langley was built.
It was a small mill, with one or two hearths, and was built at the beginning of the 18th century. All that remains of it are some small heaps of slag on the south side of the level, just above the old roadway. This agrees with G. Liddle’s description that “There is a Top Level brought up near the Cheifs Smeltmill …”.
Wallace says that Blagill mill was built at the beginning of the 18th century, and the London Lead Company used it to smelt 160 bings [64 tons] of ore in 1730. Liddle, however, never mentions the mill as a working one, and went on to built his own at Nenthead.
In 1789 the Newcastle Chronicle carried an advertisement for the “Sale of 1/40th share in Blagill Lead Mine, together with 1/40th share of a Smelt Mill, situated in Alston Moor, Cumberland”. Though by then Blagill ore was smelted at Langley, Fairbairn interpreted this as referring to the mill at Blagill. It seems more likely that the mill was the one at Langley, and that, after a short life, the mill at Blagill closed in the early 18th century.
Further information and references can be found in:
- Fairbairn, R.A. (1993) The Mines of Alston Moor (British Mining No.47)
