Marrick Lead Smelt Mills and Dams

The monument is situated on the south side of the road between Fremington and Maske, 1.25km north of Marrick. It includes the well-preserved standing remains of two lead ore hearth smeltmills and a pair of peat stores, together with a series of earthwork dams and the buried remains of a third smeltmill. The first smeltmill at Marrick was built by John Sayer in 1574-5. Built near the site of the later Low Mill and shown on a map of 1592 as New Mill, it is thought to have been the first in Swaledale, and one of the earliest nationally. By 1660 a second mill (High Mill) was built 50m uphill and to the west of the first. It is thought that Sayer's mill closed before 1705, but was not demolished as both mills are shown on the 1782 Marrick Estate map. Low Mill was extensively rebuilt in the 1830s by Jaques & Co, and renovated in 1862 by the Hurst Mining Company who installed a second-hand c.6m diameter waterwheel. More can be read at: https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1015824 Source: Objaverse 1.0 / Sketchfab