is a beautiful place whether you are interested in the mining
heritage of the area or not. The history of the coppermines go
back over 400 years but extraction of copper will go back much
further than this, probably to Roman times or even earlier. The
most prosperous period was the 1850s and by the 1870s the mine
went in decline. For most of the mines history only gunpowder
was used, hand drilling, and only tallow candles as light. The
country rock is volcanic so progress would have been painfully
hard and slow. Getting to the copper veins at depth could only
be done by descending wooden ladders and stagings. Some of the
workings were over 1100ft below the surface and around 500ft
below Anyone interested in a history of the coppermines should
read books by Eric Holland or Cumbria Amenity Trust which are
available at the museum. No one should enter these mines under
any circumstances without a experienced guide and even then your
safety cannot be guaranteed. There are many unstable areas and a
large number of