Florence iron mining pit head

Florence Iron Mining Pit Head

This iron mining pit head was built in the 1940s for the Millom and Askam Hematite Company. The installation comprises a steel-framed head frame rising from a heapstead building that encloses the shaft head, with associated structures arranged around it: a winding engine house to the south-east, an ore processing plant extending north-east and connected by belt conveyors, a fan house to the south-west, a compressor house to the east of the winding engine house, and a workshop beyond that.

The head frame is of steel girder construction, rising from the heapstead with backstays extending from the engine house to the south-east. The western backstay supports a stepped access to the platforms at the top of the frame. The frame carries a pair of spoked winding wheels, and the run for the lift cages between the roof of the heapstead and the platform above is enclosed with corrugated iron sheeting.

The heapstead is three storeys tall, steel-framed with brick infill panels and a flat concrete roof. The top floor, accessed via an external staircase, is lit by picture windows divided into twelve panes. On the north-east side, a large door gives access to the head of an ore conveyor. Just below this is a single-storey flat-roofed projection forming part of the ore processing plant. On the north-west side, a pair of ore chutes extends out at second-floor level, originating from the top floor. On the south-east side, a single-storey lean-to provided access to the ground floor for miners entering via the shaft and remains uncapped. The interior retains much of its original equipment and fittings, including cages, guides, railings and gates forming the working parts of the headframe and shaft.

The winding engine house has a concrete and brick basement supporting a large, lightweight steel-framed shed clad and roofed with corrugated iron, with a low-pitched roof supported by fink trusses. The building retains most of its original equipment and control gear, including an electric-powered winding engine with its electrical equipment and operator's cabin. The winding engine is thought to be the earliest surviving electrical winding engine nationally still in situ. The building also includes a travelling crane for maintenance work and retains many smaller details such as signage.

The ore processing plant extends north-eastwards from the heapstead and includes a first-stage jaw crusher, vibrating screens, trommel, secondary crusher, ball mill and final-stage screens, all belt-driven. Some equipment is housed within a single-storey projection on the north-east side of the heapstead, with further equipment in small corrugated iron sheds to the north-east, linked to the heapstead by two conveyor belts, one enclosed.

The fan house includes a concrete-walled fan drift descending at an incline north-eastwards to join the shaft below the heapstead. A short, square-section brick chimney rises from the head of this drift, serving as the evasée for the fan. Attached on the north side of the drift is a small single-storey brick building with a corrugated iron roof retaining a ridge ventilator, housing the electrical motor for the fan and associated equipment.

The compressor house lies immediately east of the winding engine house and is a low single-storey corrugated iron shed lit by square windows, retaining its equipment with the air reservoir tank sited immediately outside.

The workshop, lying immediately east of the compressor house, is a larger brick-built building with two large openings in its northern gable end. It retains a simple forge along with some pumping equipment.