Cowshill

In a hollow between Cowshill and Nenthead lies Killhope Mine. The Pennines have been worked for their mineral riches, lead in particular, since Roman times but until the 18th century the industry remained relatively primitive and small scale.

Mechanisation in the late 18th and early 19th century allowed the mining industry to grow until it was second only to coal as a major extractive industry in the region. Now the country’s best-preserved lead-mining site, Killhope Mine is the focal point of what is now the North of England Lead Mining Museum, dominated by the massive 34-feet water wheel. It used moorland streams, feeding a small reservoir, to provide power for the lead ore crushing mills, where the lead ore from the hillside mines was washed and crushed ready for smelting into pigs of lead. Much of the machinery in the Museum has been carefully restored by Durham County Council over recent years, together with part of the smelting mill, workshops, a smithy, tools and miners’ sleeping quarters. The Museum stands on the site of the former Park Level Mine alongside Killhope Burn, off the A689 between Stanhope and Alston. Open for visits April to October.