A contemporary coloured photograph of what is left of the leadmine which had a working life from 1839 to 1873. During that time there were 50 houses, a school and a store. At the height of the mining operation in the late 1840's a population of over 300 people lived here - the remains of their occupation lies all around. See Heritage Trail 3.
This view shows the school, miners rows and the office row rightat the top of Woodhead Mine. Lead was mined here from 1840 to 1873. During the late1840's over 300 people lived in the village. When this black and white photo was taken the mine was falling into dereliction.
From the road to the mine this sepia photo shows the layout of the mine. The nearest buildings are the smelter houses and assay office with the water wheel behind. Then the waste heaps, or byngs, with the schoolhouse just visible behind the centre of the largest one. Then come two rows of miner's cottage uphill from the schoolhouse with the magazine a very small white building in isolation behind them and finally Office Row behind the row of trees at the top. The mine manager's house, a smithy etc were among these buildings. Lead ceased to be mined in 1873 and by the 1890s the population of the community had shrunk to just sixteen. See Heritage Trail 3
