Ecton Mines
Coordinates: 53°07′18″N 1°51′22″W / 53.121678°N 1.856139°W
A group of mines on Ecton Hill, Staffordshire, are unusual for the Peak District in producing predominantly copper rather than lead and zinc. The most important, Deep Ecton mine, has been mined since the Bronze Age, and in the 18th century was a major producer of copper, and the deepest mine in Britain. Mining below river level ceased in the 1850s, and all production stopped in the 1890s. The mine is now a significant educational resource, managed by the Ecton Mine Educational Trust, and with teaching provided by the Ecton Hill Field Studies Association.
Ecton Hill is a historic mining area at Ecton, formerly a group of important copper producing mines in central England. It is now a scheduled monument. It is located in the Staffordshire Moorlands area, where the valley of the river Manifold cuts through Lower Carboniferous limestones which have been subjected to folding and faulting during the Hercynian and Alpine orogenies. There is locally intense hydrothermal copper-lead-zinc mineralisation, unusual for the region in its inclusion of substantial quantities of copper.
From Bronze Age times, the copper deposits on Ecton Hill were worked for over 3500 years, ceasing in 1891. During this time fortunes were made and lost. In the 18th century the Duke of Devonshire made a profit of over £300,000, said to have financed the building of the magnificent Crescent in Buxton. Total ore production is estimated at over 100,000 tonnes, mainly of copper ore.
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