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The History of Kettlewell Village - Arthur Raistrick
Mining and smelting
The later phase of Kettlewell's history was opened by the sale of the manor in 1656 to the eight trustees. During the next few years the Trust Lords "discharged their trust" by completing the sales of the various properties to the tenants and by taking on the management of the manor.
An asset which received early attention was the presence within the manor of veins of lead ore. Mines were granted to Humphrey Wharton and at the sale of 1656 they passed to the Trust Lords. By 1663 they had been leased to Francis Smithson of Countersett and he and Philip Swale of Richmond took a new lease in 1669 which included the
"Smelting Mylne near Kettlewell with the wheel, bellows, hearth and kyln holes for drying chopwood....."
for a rent of £17.13.7, which was actually the whole of the ancient rent of the manor. In addition to the rent a royalty of 1/13th of all the ore got was to be paid. Robert Barker of Derbyshire was brought into a new partnership with them and came to live in Kettlewell.
This lease was a fortunate one for Kettlewell freeholders as Smithson, Swales and Barker were all experienced miners, concerned in many other mines in Swaledale and Derbyshire. Mines were opened up in Dowber Gill, the earliest being the Brackmint and others were opened on Cam Pasture and on Langcliffe. The big hushes near the smelt mill belong to this period.
At about the same time the mines on Conistone Out Moor were being developed and their ore was smelted at Kettlewell mill and it was this joint use of the mill which made it a success. The years of greatest activity however came later in the nineteenth century. In 1862 the Providence Mining Co. struck a rich vein in Dowber Gill and in the next nine years produced over 800 tons of ore.
Near the Moorend farm a large mine was opened out. All the ore from this mine was smelted at Kettlewell. This mine had a deep shaft wound by a waterwheel, with another wheel for the dressing floors, and a level, the Charlton level, some 266 fathoms long.
After 1750 there had been a depression in the local mining and the smelt mill fell into disrepair. In 1831 the Trust Lords decided to build a flue and chimney to the mill, following complaints that fumes were destroying the surrounding pastures, but this was not done until 1867. The whole mill was redesigned and new furnaces built then, but it had only a short life, closing down finally in 1886. The buildings were demolished in 1942, though the remains are still to be seen.
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