Peak District Lead Mining Museum – England - Atlas Obscura

Peak District Lead Mining Museum

This museum houses a unique 19th century fuel-free machine to drain a flooded mine and allows you to explore a real lead mine, last worked in the 1920s. 

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The Peak District Mining Museum is housed in  both the, historic, former, Matlock Bath Pavilion and  at the nearby Temple Mine in Matlock Bath, Derbyshire.

 The Pavilion building has  lots of artefacts and displays telling the story of Derbyshire lead mining. For the more agile there is a set of reproduction climbing shafts illustrating how miners got into and out of the mines. However their water pressure engine is unique and if you are interested in engineering history it really is the star of the show.

 

You could use a steam engine to pump water out of a mine but this required fuel and in Derbyshire (and a few other places) some miners chose to use the pressure of water, from streams, hundreds of feet above.  If the mine is deep enough the volume you need for a lot of power is small. The deep mineshaft to transmit the water to the pump was already in place from earlier mining activities and the exhaust water  could be directed out of a horizontal drainage tunnel to the hillside along with the water pumped up from the workings below. 

These pumping engines were massive and when the mines stopped working they were just left in place to gradually decay but the general public  have the opportunity to see this one at the surface. This is because some very determined, members of the Peak District Mines Historical Society recovered this example from deep within a disused mine at Winster, restoring it for display in their museum. It is certainly the only example of such a engine in the UK and possibly in the world.

The other half of the museum, Temple Mine, is within easy walking distance and provides a fascinating insight into the workings of 19th and early 20th century British lead mines.

Know Before You Go

Matlock Bath railway station is easily in walking distance. The trains to here run from Derby. If you are also a fan of motorcycles visit Matlock Bath on a Sunday when bikers have a regular gathering.

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