The Victoria History of the County of Lincoln/Mines and Quarries

by Ethel M. Hewitt

Layout 2

MINES AND QUARRIES

Geologically speaking, Lincolnshire has been declared 'the most neglected of counties.' From its Lower Oolite formation, nevertheless, comes the Ancaster stone, extensively quarried by Messrs. Lindley & Son, to which the commissioners appointed in 1839 to report on building stones for the Houses of Parliament thus refer:

Many buildings constructed of a material similar to the Oolite of Ancaster, such as Newark and Grantham churches and other edifices in various parts of Lincolnshire, have scarcely yielded to the effects of atmospheric influences.^[1]

At Little Bytham there are works for the manufacture of the Adamantine Clinker, a brick made of a siliceous clay, which is remarkable for its strength, hardness, and imperviousness to water.

The chalk of the Humber cliffs maintains its reputation for the manufacture of whiting, but the gypsum formerly brought from the Isle of Axholme has ceased to be quarried.

Ironstone, once extensively worked in the south of the county, is now transferred, as far as the point of operation is concerned, to the northwest area, such area having for its boundaries the three rivers, Humber, Trent, and Ancholme. Frodingham and Appleby, Kirton-Lindsey, Caythorpe, Claxby, and Scunthorpe, are the chief centres at which the Lincolnshire iron deposits, known as 'hydrated oxide,' betray their presence. The workings are mainly open, and the percentage of iron is about thirty-three.^[2]

Frodingham is the most important of the iron fields, the development of which has transformed a mere hamlet into a thriving town of 5,000 inhabitants. Mr. George Dove, jun., in a paper on 'The Frodingham Iron Fields,' read by him before the Iron and Steel Institute,^[3] states that:

The bed is almost entirely free from faults, inclines gently to the east, but where it is now being worked, at and within 1½ miles from the outcrop, the amount of 'bareing' required is very small, in no place exceeding 3ft.

As to labour, that of 'the most unskilful kind' is alone necessary, 'blasting only being required in getting the stronger portions of the bed, the whole operation being simply quarrying.'^[4] The demand for Frodingham iron for forge purposes is good, chiefly for the manufacture of bars, sheets, tin-plates, and wires. For the latter it is especially valuable, owing to the qualities imparted by the presence of manganese. In every instance, however, the preponderance of lime in the ore necessitates the admixture with other ore of a siliceous character, notably such as is raised near Lincoln, at Monk's Abbey and Greetwell. In 1898, 7,848,404 tons of ore were raised at Frodingham, and there were twenty blast furnaces at work, producing about 300,000 tons of iron.^[5] To the total output of iron ore for the whole kingdom (13,774,282 tons) Lincolnshire (with Leicestershire) contributes a third.^[6]

With the laying down and erection in 1861 by Messrs. W. H. and G. Dawes, of the Milton Elsecar Works, the Trent ironworks may be said to have begun. This firm had been previously engaged in developing ironstone deposits elsewhere in the county. At the Trent Works the first ton of pig iron was cast in 1864. In 1866 the Frodingham Iron Company was started by Messrs. ClifF & Hurst, and by 1867 this company had two furnaces in blast; 1867 also saw the inauguration of the North Lincolnshire Iron Company, which had two furnaces at work in 1871. In 1872 the Lincolnshire Iron Smelting Company began operations, followed in 1874 by the Redbourn Hill Iron and Coal Company, and in 1877 by the Appleby Iron Company.

The total output from mines and quarries in Lincolnshire in 1904 is as follows:

	Tons
Chalk	60,133
Clay	134,098
Gravel and Sand	12,791
Limestone	104,476
Sandstone	150
Ironstone	1,406,951
Total	1,718,599

The blast furnaces at present at work in the county are as follows:

Appleby Iron Co.	4
Frodingham Iron and Steel Co.	4
North Lincs. Iron Co. Ltd.	3
Redbourn Hill Iron and Coal Co.	4
Trent Works, Scunthorpe	6
Total	21

The total make of pig iron in Lincolnshire and Leicestershire is 376,674 tons; the iron ore used, 1,261,937 tons; total of coal used, 972,597 tons. The number of persons employed in and about and dealing in the products of mines and quarries, according to the census of 1901, is 1,951.

---

1. Buildings of this stone are Harlaxton Hall, Stourton Hall, the mansion of Westholme, the ancient church of St. Martin at Ancaster, the reredos of the church of St. Denys at Sleaford, the Savings Bank at Grantham, several buildings at Hull, also St. Pancras terminus and hotel.
2. Meade, Iron and Coal Industries of the United Kingdom.
3. Journal of the Iron and Steel Institute, 1876.
4. Ibid. p. 319.
5. Murray, Handbook, p. 3.
6. Report on Mines and Quarries, 1904, p. 225.