Scheduled Monument
Ironstone Mine,mine & surface workings 800m NNE of Well of the LechtSM5945
Status: Designated
Documents
Where documents include maps, the use of this data is subject to terms and conditions (https://portal.historicenvironment.scot/termsandconditions).
The legal document available for download below constitutes the formal designation of the monument under the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979. The additional details provided on this page are provided for information purposes only and do not form part of the designation. Historic Environment Scotland accepts no liability for any loss or damages arising from reliance on any inaccuracies within this additional information.
Summary
- Date Added
- 07/03/1994
- Supplementary Information Updated
- 22/06/2015
- Type
- Industrial: engine, engine house; iron and steel; mines, quarries
- Local Authority
- Moray
- Parish
- Kirkmichael (Moray)
- NGR
- NJ 23812 15926
- Coordinates
- 323812, 815926
Description
The monument comprises the remains of an iron-manganese mine and associated surface workings and structures.
The mine produced iron and manganese ores between 1730-37 and 1841-46.
The surviving visible elements include the mines themselves, comprising pits, shafts, adits and dumps, all contained in the area on the E side of the Allt Choire Buidhe; the crushing mill (a stone and slate-roofed structure extensively renovated, including a new roof, in 1983), mill lade and other grass-covered foundations of
surface buildings, all contained in an area to the W of the Allt Choire Buidhe; and the grass-covered foundations of three buildings, which may be associated with housing for the mining community and lying between the mine workings, the Allt Choire Buidhe and the Allt na Broighleig.
The area to be scheduled is irregular on plan and measures a maximum of 500m NNE-SSW by 160m E-W, to contain all of the surface and underground workings and associated surface buildings, as marked in red on the accompanying map extract.
Statement of National Importance
The monument is of national importance as the largest and most active manganese mine ever worked in Scotland, and as such has a particular distinction in the nation's industrial heritage. In addition, the well-preserved surface remains of the 19th-century workings and surface buildings provide an excellent insight into the workings of a mine of that period, with greater ease and safety than is normally possible. The underlying archaeological remains, and geology, have the potential to provide a fuller understanding of the processes of the 19th-century venture and its 18th-century predecessor.
References
Bibliography
No Bibliography entries for this designation
About Scheduled Monuments
Historic Environment Scotland is responsible for designating sites and places at the national level. These designations are Scheduled monuments, Listed buildings, Inventory of gardens and designed landscapes and Inventory of historic battlefields.
We make recommendations to the Scottish Government about historic marine protected areas, and the Scottish Ministers decide whether to designate.
Scheduling is the process that identifies, designates and provides statutory protection for monuments and archaeological sites of national importance as set out in the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979.
We schedule sites and monuments that are found to be of national importance using the selection guidance published in Designation Policy and Selection Guidance (2019)
Scheduled monument records provide an indication of the national importance of the
scheduled monument which has been identified by the description and map. The description and map (see ‘legal documents’ above) showing the scheduled area is the designation of the monument under the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979. The statement of national importance and additional information provided are supplementary and provided for general information purposes only. Historic Environment Scotland accepts no liability for any loss or damages arising from reliance on any inaccuracies within the statement of national importance or additional information. These records are not definitive historical or archaeological accounts or a complete description of the monument(s).
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