Recent past

The North York Moors is an important area for industrial archaeology. Mining (for alum, iron, coal and jet) and quarrying (for stone, sands and gravel) have always played a part in the local economy.

Alum quarries have left great scars in the landscape from Osmotherley, around the northern fringes of the National Park and down the coast, with further sites in the Esk Valley and Little Beck. One of the earliest chemical industries, alum was important in the textile industry – England’s main export at the time - where it was used to ‘stick’ vegetable dyes to fibres. The industry operated in this region from c.1604 until 1871 and, with the exception of one works in Lancashire, produced the entire supply of English alum until the early years of the 19th century.

Iron ore has been sought and processed since later prehistoric times but there was a boom in the industry from the middle of the nineteenth century. There were dozens of ironstone mines within the National Park, together with several short-lived blast furnace sites. Quantities of high grade magnetic ironstone were found in Rosedale and between 1856 and 1926 a huge industry was based in this remote valley. The effects were dramatic – in 20 years the population rose from 558 to nearly 3,000; many new buildings were erected including a school-cum-hospital; great kilns were built to process the ore and a railway was built around the head of the dale to serve the mines.

Coal, although of poor quality, was mined extensively across the Moors from the early 18th until the 20th century, as evidenced by numerous shafts with their encircling collar of spoil.

Jet has been exploited on the coast since prehistoric times and the North York Moors area is the only source for British jet. The modern industry developed from the middle of the 19th century – leaving many scars in the landscape – until the mid 1880s when cheap imports and alternative materials caused local production to decline.

The Cleveland Way passes numerous alum quarries and works on the coast, including the Peak Works, near Ravenscar, which has been excavated by the National Trust and is open to the public.

A concessionary cycle route runs around the railway in Rosedale, passing the kilns at the East and West Mine sites.

The Sandsend Trail and Peak Alum Works leaflet explore important alum sites.

Walks around Rosedale Abbey helps you discover traces of its ironstone history.

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