Weardale
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Weardale is a dale, or valley, of the east side of the Pennines in County Durham, in England. Its principal villages include St John's Chapel, Stanhope, and Wolsingham. The River Wear flows through Weardale before reaching Bishop Auckland and then Durham, meeting the sea at Sunderland. Running roughly parallel to Weardale to the south is Teesdale. The Wear Valley local government district covers much of the valley. From 1894 to 1974 there was a Weardale Rural District.
[edit] Mining History
Weardale was historically important for lead mining, and there is a lead mining museum incorporating the preserved Park Level Mine at Killhope [1] (pronounced "Killup").
The first documented evidence of mining in the Northern Pennines dates from the 12th century, and records the presence of silver mines in the areas of what are now Alston Moor, just west of Weardale, and Northumberland. Weardale was, at this time a forested area, and belonged to the Bishops of Durham, who used it as a hunting preserve. The villages of Eastgate and Westgate mark the former entrances to this forest preserve (King, 1982).
Lead mining in Weardale reached its greatest levels during the 18th and 19th centuries, when the London Lead and Beaumont Companies dominated mining throughout the region. During the 1880’s the declining prices for lead forced both companies to give up their leases in the area, though the Weardale Lead Company continued lead mining and smelting until 1931. According to Dunham (1990), 28 separate lead smelting operations were active in the region during the height of mining in the 19th century, but by 1919 the last one had closed.
[edit] Economy
After the closing of the lead mines, there were few sources of income for the local population left. Its large large cement works at Eastgate is currently being decommissioned and the major industry in Weardale is now cattle and sheep farming. Only one mine is currently being prospected for non commercial (mineral collecting) purposes.
Weardale had a railway open as far as Wearhead for a brief period in the 19th century, but the section of the line above Eastgate soon closed due to the decline of the lead industry. The remaining line was kept open by cement traffic until the 1990s, after which it was taken over by the Weardale Railway. Passenger services recommenced briefly in 2004, but in 2005 the project went into administration. Trains began running again in 2006, under a new ownership structure.
