Where am I? DCC > ALDERLEY EDGE > HISTORY > CHRONOLOGY
CHRONOLOGY
Click on the time bar or scroll down the table of dates.
| EARLY BRONZE AGE MINING | ||
| c. 1900 BC | Dating of charcoal found in smelting pit at Engine Vein. | picture |
| 1750 + or - 50 BC | Age (by carbon dating) of wooden shovel found at Brynlow and of smelting site at Engine Vein. | picture |
| ROMAN MINING | ||
| c. 75 BC | Carbon dating of timber in Roman shaft at Engine Vein | picture |
| 300-320 AD | Age of coins found at Engine Vein in Roman hoard | picture |
| 1598 | Reference to "myne holes" in parish boundary walk. | |
| 17th-18th CENTURY MINING | ||
| (1688/92) | (Repeal of Mines Royal Act) | |
| 1693 | Mr Legh of Ridge | |
| 1696 | Mr Crosse and others. Dispute with Mr Legh | picture |
| 1700 -1710 | Area may have been mined by Mr Abbadine | |
| 1736 | Father and son of London company drove level from Dickens Wood to Engine Shaft | |
| 1736 | London company worked for only one year. | |
| CHARLES ROE ERA | ||
| 1758-1768 | Charles Roe and Macclesfield Copper Company | |
| 1770s | Mr Whitfield and Mr Heaton prospecting | |
| 1780s | Mr Patten from Warrington. Wizard Restaurant built, known at the time as "Miners Arms" | |
| 1791 | Mines were working for copper and lead, possibly by Roe & Co | |
| 1791 | Mr Ratcliffe reports on mining to Sir John Stanley | |
| COBALT MINING | ||
| 1804 | Exploration by James Ashton | |
| 1805 | Lease (1/1/1805) to Ashton and others for 14 years (Alderley Mine Company) | |
| 1806 | Cobalt recognised at Alderley | |
| 1807 | Steam powered crusher in Windmill Wood | |
| 1807 | Offer of £1000 pa for the cobalt. | |
| 1808 | Agreement to sell cobalt to a Yorkshire pottery | |
| 1809 | Experiments with cobalt ore in Wallasey | |
| 1810 | Date marked on roof by WS on 20th August | picture |
| 1810 -1811 | Alderley Mining Company dissolved | |
| 1812 | Seacombe works processing cobalt. Demand from Irish linen bleachers. | |
| MID 19th CENTURY MINING | ||
| 1857 | Area investigated by James Michell | |
| 1858 | Lease taken out (12/4/58), opencast mining at West Mine | |
| 1859 | Alderley Edge Mining Company Limited incorporated (13/8/59) | |
| 1861 | Visit by British Association | |
| 1862 | Michell killed by fall in mine in November | |
| 1863 | West Mine crossing "Great Slide" | |
| 1864 | Possible opening of Wood Mine | |
| 1865 | Visit by Japanese and Stanley family | |
| 1865-66 | Hough Level Driven | picture |
| 1866 | "GL" marked initials in Brynlow | |
| 1869 | Richer ore being worked | |
| 1870 | Substantial drop in output | |
| (1872 | Metalliferous Mines Regulation Act 1872) | |
| 1873 | Drop in quality of ore | |
| 1874 | Working in Field area, Boyd Dawkins visit, wooden shovel found | |
| 1877 | Boiler explosion and mine closed | |
| 1878 | Sale of effects and Company wound up (24/5/1878) | |
| EARLY 20th CENTURY MINING | ||
| 1909 | Rumours of reopening | |
| 1911-1912 | Alderley Mining Company Ltd operating (Mr Richardson) | |
| 1914-1915 | Allan Gibb (300 tons of ore, 35 tons of precipitate) | |
| 1916-1917 | Only one Caretaker at mines | |
| 1918-1919 | Alderley Copper Company Ltd operating | |
| 1926 | Sale of effects - END OF MINING | picture |
| HISTORY 1926 to 1969 | ||
| 1929 | Loss of two men in West Mine | |
| 1933 | Popular area for juveniles, death of Evans | |
| 1940 | Plan to make air-raid shelter in West Mine | |
| 1951 | Cavers visit the mines. Article in British Spelaeological Association Journal | |
| 1955 | Talk of restarting mining at West Mine | |
| 1957 | "Teddy Boys" becoming major problem. | |
| 1957 | Engine Vein side entrance blocked | |
| 1957 | Wood Mine Quarry filled in. | |
| 1960+ | Wood Mine shafts filled. Wood Mine entrance filled. | |
| 1964 | Wood Mine adit entrance blasted in | |
| HISTORY 1969 TO PRESENT | ||
| 1969 | Wood Mine reopened by DCC | |
| 1970 | First visits by the public | |
| 1975 | West Mine reopened | |
| 1980 | Hough Level explored from Stump Shaft | |
| 1981 | Engine Vein capped | |
| 1982 | Brynlow Mine reopened | |
| 1985 | Square Shaft cleared | |
| 1986 | Hough Level reopened at Dickens Wood | |
| 1988 | Bear Pit cleared, Temple Shaft cleared | |
| 1990 | Wood Mine Adit reopened properly | |
| 1992 | Hough Level cleared to Engine Vein | |
| 1994 | Wooden shovel dated | |
| 1995 | Roman coin hoard found | |
| 1997 | Pot Shaft dug archaeologically during AELP | |
| 1999 | Saddlebole dug archaeologically | |
| 2000 | Extensions in Engine Vein. DCC website set up | |
| 2001 | Part of the Edge scheduled as an ancient monument | |
| 2003 | Educational website published by AELPHER | |
| 2005 | Archaeological book published. AELP wrapped up with talks and walks. | |
| 2012 | Revised edition of The Alderley Edge Mines published. | |
| 2016 | The Story of Alderley - Living with the Edge published by AELP and Manchester University Press | |
| 2018 | Reeking Mine extended | |
| 2021 | Cobalt Mine extension (Lockdown Shaft) found | picture |
Return to Time Bar