Lead Mine, Isle of Man
Laxey, on the Isle of Mann, was a quiet hamlet of just a few cottages in the mid 1700s. The main industries then were the bleaching of linen, and perhaps a little smuggling.
Lead was first mined here 1790, but it was not until the 1840s that mining gathered pace with the formation of the Great Laxey Mining Company. A Massive industry grew up in this valley, and at one time more zinc was produced here than from all other mines in Britain put together. Mining reached its peak in the 1800s, with almost ever home in Laxey touched by it in some way. Prosperity - or ruin - followed the successes or disasters in the mines.
Traders supplied the miners and their families with goods, and men came from considerable distances to seek employment here. The Washing Floors worked night and day to crush and sort the ore, employing women and boys. The harbour was developed to allow ships to dock and load up with ore.
At tourist industry even grew up around the mining complex, with summer visitors eager to climb the Great Laxey Wheel.
This first tunnel ('level') was driven into the hillside from about 1790. It is part of the oldest workings in the mine and is known as the Old Adit Level - an adit is a level with one end open to the daylight.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laxey_Mine
Lead Mine, Isle of Man
Laxey, on the Isle of Mann, was a quiet hamlet of just a few cottages in the mid 1700s. The main industries then were the bleaching of linen, and perhaps a little smuggling.
Lead was first mined here 1790, but it was not until the 1840s that mining gathered pace with the formation of the Great Laxey Mining Company. A Massive industry grew up in this valley, and at one time more zinc was produced here than from all other mines in Britain put together. Mining reached its peak in the 1800s, with almost ever home in Laxey touched by it in some way. Prosperity - or ruin - followed the successes or disasters in the mines.
Traders supplied the miners and their families with goods, and men came from considerable distances to seek employment here. The Washing Floors worked night and day to crush and sort the ore, employing women and boys. The harbour was developed to allow ships to dock and load up with ore.
At tourist industry even grew up around the mining complex, with summer visitors eager to climb the Great Laxey Wheel.
This first tunnel ('level') was driven into the hillside from about 1790. It is part of the oldest workings in the mine and is known as the Old Adit Level - an adit is a level with one end open to the daylight.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laxey_Mine