'Egremont - Florence Mine Heritage Centre'

Egremont, Cumbria. CA22 2NR. Tel: 01946 820683
Email: info@florencemine.co.uk

Location : Egremont
Map - Ordnance Survey - NY 017103

The Florence Mine is the last working iron ore mine in Europe, part of the rich mining history of West Cumbria. The rich iron ore deposits, known as haematite, are found in abundance in the limestone layers of West Cumbria. The red ore is the distinctive colour of the mine, its buildings and the people who still work there.

At the Mine Heritage Centre you can learn about miners and how they lived and worked, and extracted the ore from the ground. The Museum contains the clothes they wore, the shovels they used, and the clay pipes they smoked. You can visit a reconstruction of a drift, and find out what life was like down Florence Mine at the beginning of the century.

Underground tour at Florence Mine. Photo by Roger Savage, ABIPP, Greystoke, Penrith

Underground at Florence Mine. Photo by Roger Savage, ABIPP, Greystoke, Penrith

The ore was originally used for the production of pig iron, which was made into steel. Demand diminished with the arrival of new technologies, and now most of the small amount of ore produced is annealing ore, used to extract carbon from castings. It is also used in the manufacture of pigments for paint and cosmetics.

As Well as the mining museum, there are geology, rock, fossils and mineral displays, and a shop where a wide selection of geological samples from all around the world, books about the mine and jewellery made from haematite may be bought. Contact the mine for information about the underground tours (which are suitable for children). For more information see www.florencemine.co.uk.

Excellent specimens may be seen in the Natural History Museum in London. The entrance to the Earth Galleries contains a huge example of Florence Mine kidney ore :