| Summary : Dam and leat at Greenburn Mine. Field investigations by English Heritage in 2000 found both the dam and leat top be well preserved. Construction took place at some time between 1847 and 1861 to supply the water wheels at the main processing area. The dam, more like a weir in form, was sited on the Greenburn Beck and allowed water released from the contemporary Greenburn Reservoir (NY 20 SE 31) to be directed to a pen-pond (NY 20 SE 32), from where it was fed to the largest water wheel at the mine, and so on to a series of three more wheels. The system was probably not used after circa 1885, and the leat was eventually deliberately blocked by a low earthen bank. This was probably done circa 1906, since the blocking is depicted as a gap in the line of the leat on the Third Edition Ordnance Survey 6-inch map surveyed in 1912. |
More information : Between mid September and late November 2000, English Heritage carried out an analytical field investigation of the surface remains of Greenburn Mine; the survey was requested and partly funded by the landowners, the National Trust (Event record 1335820) (1). The best-preserved building, which comprises an accommodation block, office and workshop (NY 20 SE 9) serves as a parent record for the other components of the complex.
A fairly well preserved dam and associated leat built at some point between 1847 and 1861 to supply the water wheels at the main processing area. The dam (more like a weir in form) was sited on the Greenburn Beck and allowed water released from the contemporary Greenburn Reservoir (NY 20 SE 31) to be directed to a pen-pond (NY 20 SE 32), from where it was fed to the largest water wheel at the mine, and so on to a series of three more wheels. The system was probably not used after c.1885, and the leat was eventually deliberately blocked by a low earthen bank. This was probably done c.1906, since the blocking is depicted as a gap in the line of the leat on the Third Edition Ordnance Survey 6-inch map surveyed in 1912.
For further information, see the report at Level 3 standard available through the NMR archive, which includes reproductions of 19th-century documents, extracts from the survey at 1:500 scale, photographs and interpretative drawings. (1)
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