THIS IS ECTON

In the 1760s-80s the internationally important Deep Ecton Copper Mine made a fortune for the Dukes of Devonshire. The first copper was mined here long before, in the Bronze Age over 3,500 years ago. The Dukes, who owned northern and western parts of the hill, had their mines worked in-house for over 50 years from 1760. From the 1820s private mining companies embarked on a fruitless search for further rich ore deposits. The mines were finally abandoned in 1889.

Deep Ecton Mine

Geology and Minerals

Mining at Ecton

Significance, Access and Credits

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THIS IS ECTON
Upper dressing floor Engine House The Study Centre Powder House Waste heap Ridge Top THE ECTON MINES

Upper dressing floor

As it is now (left) and artist's impression as it was in the 1880s (right)

This large back wall for a building on top of the massive main waste heap was erected in the 1880s and used to separate the ores from waste rock so that they was ready for smelting. The two hoppers behind were used to store ore ready for processing

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Engine House

To access the engine house as you get to the ridgetop, keep the building on your left and then go through the stile near the top corner of the field at Y, go on to a further stile on the left, take this and then go through the gate to reach the building.

The building on the ridgetop started life as the ‘house’ for a steam engine designed by James Watt and used to bring ores from depth up to river level; it was built in 1788 and is the oldest surviving mine winding house in the world. The engine was used until at least the 1830s and probably to about 1850..

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The Study Centre

The outdoor classrooms of the Geoff Cox Study Centre are used by schools from across Britain. In the 1970s Geoff, a mining engineer, founded this to inspire students to take an interest in minerals and modern mining. Visit https://ectonhillfsa.org.uk and https://ectonmine.org.uk.
In recent years Deep Ecton Mine has been used for scientific research. This has included exploring the vast workings now flooded below the level of the Manifold River using experimental submersible robots developed by a multi-national team. Visit https://unexmin.eu and https://unexup.eu

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Powder House

The powder house, where dangerous explosives were stored 

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Waste heap

At the top of the large waste heap surrounded by trees, behind a steel door, there is a flooded passage that originally ran under much of Ecton Hill, which was created in the 1850s to search without success for more rich ore deposits.

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Ridge Top

The ridgetop had shallow copper workings dug over 3,500 years ago and was mined again in the 17th Century when Ecton was one of the first mines in Britain to use gunpowder to break rock.

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After crossing the stile at A follow the narrow public footpath going diagonally upslope for about 200m, then turn sharply left taking a second narrow path towards the top of the waste heap at C