Smittergill Head Mine, Ousby, Eden, Cumbria, England, UKi

Regional Level Types
Smittergill Head Mine	Mine
Ousby	Civil Parish
Eden	District
Cumbria	County
England	Constituent Country
UK	Country

Smittergill Head Mine lies at the confluence of Gate Sike and Cooper Sike where they come together to form Smittergill Burn. This small lead mine was started around 1851 and worked the Smittergill Hill Sun Vein which was a continuation of the Rotherhope Fell Vein on the east side of Smittergill Burn. Mark Armstrong’s level, now run in, was driven east on this vein and stoped to the surface. There is a collapsed level/opencut and a number of flooded pits on the fell overlooking the site. On the eastern side of Gate Sike there is a large hush and opencut on an extension of the Knapside Vein which was worked over on Melmerby Fell. There are still the remains of several buildings including the crushing mill, mine shop and office and the water wheel pit which was fed by a leat that ran along the ridge between Gate Sike and Cooper Sike. There are also supposed to be two shafts, the Smittergill Head shaft and Hethorn’s shaft, one on either side of the ridge but both are now grassed over and there exact locations are unknown. Despite the size of the site and the extensive remains the mine was considered a failure and it was last worked about 1873 only producing around 300 to 400 tons of lead ore. It is probably due to the site remoteness that so much still remains.

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