Settlingstones Mine

Newbrough, Northumberland, England, UK

Settlingstones mine is a former lead and witherite mine near Hexham.

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The mine was originally opened as a lead mine, likely in the 17th century. In later years, this changed and the mine became the worlds largest commercial source of witherite, a barium carbonate mineral.

Of course, by far the most well known mineral from this locale is witherite, with specimens from this locale found in prominent mineral collections around the world.

The Scottish Geology Trust has a good writeup of the site available – linked below in PDF.

The Co-curate service from Newcastle University has a range of photos of the site available, particularly historical images. They date the mine as existing between 1690 and 1969.

The Durham Mining Museum website articles are also well worth a look if you are interested in the history of this site.

 

Further reading

 

 

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