Stone Edge Cupola – Chesterfield, England - Atlas Obscura
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Stone Edge Cupola

Chesterfield, England

This chimney is the oldest free standing industrial chimney in Britain. 

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Stone Edge Cupola Chimney Jonathan Clitheroe (Creative Commons)
Stone Edge Cupola Chimney Jonathan Clitheroe (Creative Commons)
Stone Edge Cupola Chimney Andrew Hill
Air photo of the site. Richard Bird
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Constructed in 1770 to serve a lead-smelting cupola furnace, this is the oldest free-standing industrial chimney in Britain.

Lead was not mined on site, but was imported from the nearby mining areas around Matlock to take advantage of the draught generated on the hilltop site.

The remains of the other buildings at the site are buried under vegetation but there is evidence of various types of lead-smelting slag. This slag was often re-smelted in a slag mill. This required an air blast provided by water-powered bellows. The storage ponds for the water are still visible.

The chimney was associated with an underground flue, which can also be identified on-site. The chimney was restored by the Peak District Mines Historical Society in 1979.

 

mining industrial ruins history & culture
Community Contributors
Dr Alan P Newman
Added by
Dr Alan P Newman
Published
July 10, 2021
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Nearby
Chesterfield's Crooked Spire
4.10 miles
Bailey's Tump
4.15 miles
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4.32 miles
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