For the village and civil parish in Northamptonshire, see Ecton
Ecton is a hamlet in the Staffordshire Peak District (grid reference SK096584). It is on the Manifold Way, an 8 mile walk- and cycle-path which follows the line of the former Leek and Manifold Valley Light Railway.
It is overlooked by Ecton Hill, which has probably been mined for copper and lead since the sixteenth century. It was leased by the owner the Duke of Devonshire until, in 1760, the fourth duke decided to work it on his own account. Within fifty years, it became the richest individual copper mine in England producing over sixty thousands tons of ore.
Until 1769, when the Duke opened his own works at nearby Whiston in the Churnet Valley, the ore was carried to Denby by packhorse for smelting. Much of the copper was used for making brass, but over three hundred tons was supplied to the Navy to protect the hulls of its ships against boring worms, after being rolled at the works of Thomas Evans in Derby.
By 1790 the mine was employing 400 workers, men, women and children, producing 4000 tons a year. By 1800 the ore had almost been worked out and the Duke relinquished his interest, the mine finally closing in 1891. The Duke's profits had been almost a third of a million pounds and enabled him, so it is said, to build The Crescent at Buxton.
Lead was smelted on the spot and sent initially to Derby by packhorse, but later by the Cromford Canal en route for the lead market at Hull.
Ecton was served by a railway station which was opened by the Leek and Manifold Valley Light Railway on June 27, 1904 whilst being entirely operated by the North Staffordshire Railway.