Bollihope Mill – NZ01623525
Christopher Wall built this mill, under licence from the bishop of Durham, in 1667. It was in the hands of George Bowes, of Gibside, by the 1740s, when annual output was around 40 tons of lead. Much of the ore at this time came from Lunedale until Bowes built the Wemmergill mill in 1756 and gave Bollihope Mill up.
Thomas Hopper, of Newcastle, who had lead mining interests in Teesdale, Swaledale and Nidderdale, had Bollihope mill in the early nineteenth century. When it was advertised for sale in 1831 it had a roasting furnace, a smelting furnace, two smelting hearths, a slag hearth, a refining furnace and a reducing furnace. Three Pattinson pots, for de-silvering the lead, had been added by 1842.
J. Walton and company, who also ran the Castleside smelt mill, had Bollihope by the end of the 19th century, but it soon closed.
Further information and references can be found in:
- Fairbairn. R.A. (1996) The Weardale Mines (British Mining No.56)
