Scheduled Monuments›England›Blakethwaite Smelt Mill and dressing floors

Blakethwaite Smelt Mill and dressing floors

England
List entry 1015857
Nation
England
The designation
Reference
List entry 1015857
Authority
Historic England (NHLE)
Status
Scheduled Monument
Scheduled area
0.65 hectares
Grid reference
NY 93687 01820, NY 93822 02108
Boundary

Scheduled area

© Mapbox · © OpenStreetMap contributors · Boundary data © Historic England (NHLE)

Overview

History & significance

Blakethwaite Smelt Mill and dressing floors is a scheduled ancient monument located in Yorkshire that represents the industrial heritage of lead smelting in the region. The site comprises the remains of a smelt mill and associated ore dressing floors, dating from the post-medieval period when lead mining and processing formed a significant part of the local economy. The physical structures reflect the technological practices of lead extraction and refinement during this period, with the dressing floors representing the preparatory stages of ore processing before smelting. Such installations were integral to the mineral extraction industries that characterised many upland areas of northern England during the sixteenth to eighteenth centuries.

Blakethwaite Smelt Mill and dressing floors is a scheduled monument protected by Historic England under reference 1015857. View the official record →

About this monument

Questions & answers

What is Blakethwaite Smelt Mill and dressing floors?

Blakethwaite Smelt Mill and dressing floors is a scheduled ancient monument located in Yorkshire that represents the industrial heritage of lead smelting in the region.

Who is responsible for protecting Blakethwaite Smelt Mill and dressing floors?

Blakethwaite Smelt Mill and dressing floors is a Scheduled Ancient Monument, legally protected by Historic England (NHLE) — the body responsible for designating and safeguarding heritage sites in England. The official designation reference is 1015857.

What other scheduled monuments are near Blakethwaite Smelt Mill and dressing floors?

Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including Gunnerside Gill lead mines and ore works (0.7 km), The Blakethwaite Dams (0.9 km), Moss Dam (2.1 km).

Unlimited access

Everything a full report reveals about Blakethwaite Smelt Mill and dressing floors

This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 15 strands of Blakethwaite Smelt Mill and dressing floors's history, each drawn from the record and mapped to the exact spot:

Overview
An interactive map of the location with every monument and battle plotted, and a plain-language history built only from what the record holds.
Monuments
The legally protected scheduled monuments around the location, each with its period, type and significance.
Battlefields
The battles and sieges fought on this ground, mapped and set on a timeline of the wider conflict.
Roman Britain
The Roman roads, forts and towns near here, and the Iron Age people who held the land before Rome arrived.
Domesday
The settlement's entry in the 1086 Domesday Book: who held it, what it was worth, and the people who worked the land.
Civil War
The Civil War fighting, garrisons and recorded militaria in this area, woven into the arc of 1642 to 1651.
Geology
The bedrock beneath the site, its age and rock type, reaching back hundreds of millions of years.
LiDAR
Laser-scanned terrain that reveals earthworks hidden under fields and woodland, with likely features flagged.
Local Names
What the street and field names around here actually mean, and the history buried inside them.
Historical Maps
Ordnance Survey maps from the 1800s, layered over the location as it stands today.
Literature
The books, county histories, charters and archives that mention this place, quoted with their sources.
Legal
The protected sites nearby and the metal-detecting, access and treasure laws that apply to this ground.
Spotlight
A deep dive into the most remarkable, lesser-known history of the place, traced back to the record.
Target Zones
For detectorists: the most promising ground to search nearby, ranked by confidence, with what to expect.
Timeline
The whole story of the location told era by era, from prehistory to the present day.
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Nearby

Other scheduled monuments within 10 km

Gunnerside Gill lead mines and ore works
0.7 km
The Blakethwaite Dams
0.9 km
Moss Dam
2.1 km
Sir Francis Level ore works, Gunnerside Gill, west of Winterings Pastures
2.5 km
Beldi Hill Low Level lead mine and ore works
3.8 km
Lead mines, ore works and smeltmills at Old Gang on Reeth High Moor
3.9 km
Lead mines and smeltmills at Moulds Side west of Langthwaite
3.9 km
West Stonesdale lead mine and ore works
5.4 km
The ground beneath

The bedrock under Blakethwaite Smelt Mill and dressing floors

Blakethwaite Smelt Mill and dressing floors stands on Yoredale Group, bedrock that formed in the Bashkirian. The rock here is limestone with subordinate sandstone and argillaceous rocks.

The wider landscape

Around Blakethwaite Smelt Mill and dressing floors

CatterickRoman town · ~17.8 miles
Domesday entry for Reeth, Yorkshire →
All Scheduled Monuments