Description and History of Site:-
This lead smelting mill stood in a shallow flat bottomed dry valley which has sink holes into the limestone on its southern side. The stream which drains the Capon Hall and High Trenhouse farm area now sinks to the highest of these which is named Smelt Mill Sink. It was therefore not possible to simply dam the valley to provide water for the mills waterwheel. To counteract the porous nature of the ground, two parallel embankments were built across the valley about 40m (43.7yds) apart. A third embankment was built along the southern side of the valley to prevent drainage to the limestone. The dams water was brought in a leat which began where the road crosses the stream and ran down the north side of the valley. A further embankment built parallel to the north side of the valley formed an overflow channel to protect the mill from any flood surges.
It is difficult to interpret the mill remains now but Dr Arthur Raistrick made some measurements when the mill was in a ruinous state in 1930. He measured 24.4m (80 feet) by 6m (19.6 feet) with the long side adjacent and parallel to the eastern embankment. On the western side of the mill was a small extension located about three quarters of the way along its length which housed the ore hearth and probably also a slag hearth. Its flue ran underground 30m (32.8 yards) to the still extant 5.5m high (18 feet) chimney at SD 8830 6602 There is little recorded evidence for a construction date but due to the parcels of Malham lead being smelted at neighbouring mills until around 1815 and the mill being shown on the Ordnance Survey 1/10,560 map 1st edition, surveyed late 1840's, it is probable that the mill was built by the Malham Mining Company c1840 to serve mines on Pikedaw and Malham Moor.
There is evidence of mining in the locality in the early 1850's, 1872 and 1887 but the mill probably had a short and not very busy life, closing around 1875. An 1888 article by a Professor Miallin in a publication describes ''streams that collect near the old smelt mill.''

Further Reading and References:-
British Mining number 97, The Malham Mines, NMRS, M Gill & M Squirrell pp 82-85
Raistrick, A, Malham and Malham Moor, (1983), 29 62
https://www.nmrs.org.uk/mines-map/smelt-mills/smelting/malham/

Help us improve this entry

The compilers welcome corrections or additional information on all sites.
Any information provided will be verified before appearing on the web site.

Email comments

Key Words :- lead smelt mill waterwheel

Viewing the Site :- Open Access Lane, Public footpaths and Cove Road

Address :- Henside Road, Low Trenhouse, Malham, Settle, North Yorkshire, BD24 9PT
Grid Ref :- SD 88299 66075
Co-ordinates :- Lat 54.090445 , Long -2.180383
Local Authority :- North Yorkshire Council
Pre 1974 County :- Yorkshire - West Riding
Site Status :- Listed - Grade II
Historic England List No - 1295852,
Site Condition :- Site derelict - some buildings remaining
Site Dates :- c1840 - c1875
Record Date :- 10 September 2021

Copyright :- cc-by-nc-sa 4.0 © Andrew Garford