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Frolar Meadows, Allendale Smelt Mill Flues
Archaeological watching brief at Allendale, Northumberland
Allen Smelt Mill Flues
In July 2024 Vindomora Heritage Solutions began an archaeological watching brief during repair and consolidation works at Frolar Meadows, Allendale, Northumberland (Allen Smelt Mill Flues). Led by the North Pennines National Landscape (and funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund and Historic England), with the works undertaken through Scheduled Monument Consent, the project aims to repair and consolidate the remains of the industrial flues as part of the Land of Lead and Silver project.
The works have been undertaken by Heritage Consolidation Ltd in conjunction with Doonan Architects and Historic England. The flues, and the Smelt Mill they served, are protected as a Scheduled Monument, List entry 1016817.
The history of the flues is summarised below:
"An innovative system of horizontal flues was developed for the smelt mill running from the furnaces to open, higher land to the south. Constructed as semi-sunken stone-walled tunnels, their vaulted roofs covered with soil and turf, the flues vented noxious fumes away from the site and, probably more importantly for WB Lead, allowed the collection of lead which condensed from these fumes on their interiors. Construction of the first flue began in 1808. This extended from the smelt mill along the south side of what is now the B6295 before turning west and terminating at Cleugh Head. A second flue was constructed in 1853 which ran on a bridge over the line of the B6925 and continued southwest for 3.5 km to Flow Moss. The original flue was also extended to the moss, both venting through tall chimneys."
The repair works
The works have been undertaken along an approximate length of 1km of the western flue. This section includes some of the remaining extant structure, but over recent years the flue has become unstable and prone to collapse, posing a danger to livestock and causing further strain and degradation on more stable adjoining sections.
The flues were constructed by first digging into the clay and forming side walls from stone. A dry stone arch was then built, springing from the side walls, presumably built initially over a timber frame that was then moved forward once the arch was stable. The excavated clay and earth was then packed against the sides of the stone arch, and earth placed over the top to stablise the structure. Initially, small vents were also placed in high points along the flue, but the works also showed that a number of semi-regularily spaced ‘hatches’ were punched through the top of the arch at a later date. These ‘hatches’ likely served a number of purposes – to provide light and ventilation to those souls whose task it was to walk the flues and peel the lead off the walls (deposited by the fumes) and then also possibly to aid in the draw from the smelt mill to the chimney when firing the system up again post-peel.
Due to the contamination in the flue and safe working practices, repair of a number of sections was not possible. In these cases (in order to make the structure safe and also to potentially prevent further loss through natural collapse) the individual sections were collapsed under archaeological supervision and the flue blocked to prevent entry and to aid in structural stability. In the case of the ‘hatches’, in many cases these holes provided a health and safety risk to livestock, with the repairwork blocking them with concrete. Once the repairs were done, the areas were topsoiled and grass seed spread.
Frolar Meadows, showing the deliberate collapse of an unsafe section of flue
Hopefully, the works undertaken will aid in the preservation of the structure for years to come. Please note, that while the flue structure is visible from the road and bridleway, the flue undergoing repair lies within private land with no public access.
For more on the project, please see the North Pennines National Landscape website’s post: “Consolidation and repair work North Pennines lead mining sites.”
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Is evaluation trench a new name for 'bunker on the 7th' ? 😉
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Frolar Meadows, Allendale Smelt Mill Flues | Vindomora Solutions Ltd
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Allen Smelt Mill Flues. In July 2024 Vindomora Heritage Solutions began an archaeological watching brief during repair and consolidation works at Frolar Meadows, Allendale, Northumberland. Funded by N...0 CommentsComment on Facebook
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Quite spectacular!