Cavers have rediscovered a cobalt mine in England that was abandoned more than 200 years ago. In this mine, traces and objects of the miners have been preserved almost intact, like in a time capsule. Even fingerprints in candle wax, initials drawn in ashes, an old shoe and a winding reel have been preserved in the old mine. The mine operated during the Napoleonic Wars when cobalt imports from the continent stagnated.
Today, cobalt is mainly used in batteries, as a catalyst and for steel alloys. In the past, however, the heavy metal was primarily sought after as a blue coloring agent for ceramics and glass. Because the British Isles had only a few, rather sparse deposits of cobalt, the metal was mainly imported from mainland Europe. During the Napoleonic Wars from 1803 to 1815, however, this supply faltered. Therefore, at this time, people in England began to increasingly resort to domestic deposits.
Cavers discover abandoned cobalt mine
One of the English cobalt mines was then at Alderley Edge in Cheshire. The local landowner Sir John Thomas Stanley sensed a lucrative source of income in view of the lack of imports from the mainland and therefore awarded the prospecting rights to his mines to contractors for the purpose of cobalt mining. Cobalt was therefore mined in the Alderley Edge mines from 1808 onwards. However, mining was abandoned when cobalt imports from mainland Europe increased again in 1817. Since that time the mines have been abandoned and partially buried. The UK National Trust has leased part of them to the Derbyshire Caving Club, a local caving club.
In the fall of 2021, while exploring a network of tunnels at the bottom of a deep shaft, hobby cavers came across a previously undiscovered, almost untouched cobalt mine. “Over time our club has explored a number of abandoned historic mines and made a number of discoveries,” says Ed Coghlan of Derbyshire Caving Club. “But many of these mines have filled up with rubble or washed-in sand over the years, others were accessible and everything of interest was long since removed.” It is all the more rare to find a mine in such an untouched condition.
Everyday objects, fingerprints and enigmatic initials
In the old cobalt mine, speleologists discovered 200-year-old mining tools, personal objects and traces of the miners who once worked there. Among the finds are a metal button on a jacket, leather shoes, a clay whistle and a clay pot that was stowed in a crack in the wall. The latter, as the National Trust archaeologists explain, was a common custom at the time to thank the mountain for a rich vein of ore. Even miners’ fingerprints in leftover candle wax are preserved. A cloth cast from a miner’s clothing on a wall shows where that miner once leaned.
“One object that has never been found in this area before is a mining reel,” says Coghlan. Made of wood and rope, this winch was used by miners to move heavier loads. The fact that this reel was left behind suggests that the cobalt mine closed relatively abruptly and the miners had to leave without much notice or warning, the archaeologists say. The initials “WS” are particularly exciting, together with the date “20. August 1810” were written on the mine wall using candle soot. “The ‘WS’ is intricately written, but so far we haven’t been able to figure out who it meant,” explains Coghlan. “Was it just a human being to show they were there, or was it a visit from a mine manager or the landowner? Perhaps this was left to mark the last day this mine was operational?”
The speleologists and archaeologists photographed and cataloged all objects and traces found in the historic mine, but left them on site. In this way they can continue to be conserved under the protective conditions deep underground. “In this way, this mine remains a time capsule that allows future generations to explore this site,” says Coghlan. In order to make this old cobalt mine accessible to today’s visitors, however, the researchers digitally mapped the entire interior including all finds and in a virtual 3D model transferred.
Source: National Trust