Marrick lead smelt mills in Swaledale. N.B. Narrative and pictures are as of the times when the pictures were originally added (mostly 1997 to 2004). In 2021, things may look different; conditions, tracks and rights of way may have changed. Click on the Home button for more explanation. The Marrick lead smelt mills, near the village of Marrick in Swaledale are two of the many redundant lead smelters in The Yorkshire Dales. Both can be seen in the picture taken in Summer 2002 by Barry Jones. To see Marrick Low & Marrick High Mills. From Reeth, head for Marrick. Take neither of the two turns for Marrick village, which is on a loop road, but carry straight on. The best view is from a few hundred yards past the second Marrick turn. The Marrick mills are low in a field, on your right. Views are partly obscured by the fall of the land and by trees. Afterwards, a trip to Hurst will bring you to the site of the mines, which over time supplied a lot of the ore smelted at Marrick. Chimneys still stand there. After travelling a few hundred yards along the road towards Hurst, an old lime kiln can be seen set back in a hill on the left. New Mill (later Low Mill) was almost certainly built to process ore from the very early mines on the extensive Copperthwaite lead vein. Copperthwaite deposits are centred about a mile to the West of the Marrick smelt mills. Farther West still are the Jingle Pot veins, which Low Mill could also have serviced. We understand that during a period of about 300 years, Low and High Mills took it in turns to smelt. Low Mill may have been one of the earliest smelt mills in the Dales. High Mill was built later, probably replacing Low Mill. Apparently Low Mill re- emerged on the same site, but the flue (see top picture) connecting the two mills suggests that at times when Low Mill was now working it vented into the High Mill chimney, so it seems unlikely that both ever worked concurrently. Looking down the flues from High Mill. Both mills and the flues which join them together. The chimney of the High Mill, which is directly on top of the building. Working at Marrick's High Mill could have been downright unhealthy. Many other smelt mills had very long flues, terminating in vertical chimneys far away up hillsides and sometimes beyond the horizon, so dispensing most of their fumes well away from the smelters' workers. The construction of the chimney shows that after the smelter was built, the chimney was twice made higher. the first time in brick and later again in stone. The picture shows the different layers. The smelting site is within the confines of a fenced off farm and this may have protected the remains from some of the scourges that have accelerated the deterioration at many other sites, vandals, stone “recyclers” and army manoeuvres. The Dales climate is the ultimate vandal and it is fortunate that the Mines Preservation Society has at some sites, been able to put some work into holding back the ravages of time for a little longer. Look at the arches pictured below. Though assisted by wall ties don’t they look good for a millenium yet? Some grey slag at the site. Looking from behind a hearth. An Ah But: Apparently, High Mill closed down about 1890 and three hundreds of years of lead smelting at the site came to an end. Link to the page on the Octagon Smelt Mill >>>