Blakethwaite Smelt Mill, Gunnerside Gill

Blakethwaite Smelt Mill, Gunnerside Gill, Swaledale, Yorkshire Dales, North Yorkshire.
This mill was built around 1820 to deal with the galena from the Lowanthwaite and Blakethwaite mines. Here the ore pellets were heated and the molten lead poured into moulds to make ingots of pure metal. The iron pillars that supported the furnace arches are still visible, as are sections of the long flue that ran up the hillside to carry away the poisonous fumes from the hot ore. The limekiln in front of the cliff face provided mortar for the building of the mill.