# Barron's Sump, Nenthead, Cumbria



## Coal Cutter (Mar 12, 2010)

Barrons Sump is deep within the western reaches of Smallcleugh lead mine. Smallcleugh is such a vast mine that you could explore every week for six months and still see every nook and cranny. I had been planning this trip for over a year having seen pics of it and I just had to see the sump chamber for real.

Unfortunately not a lot is known about it. It is deep underground and the chamber is about 40 feet high. It is built from brick and mortar and has an excellent curved brick roof. In the centre of the floor of the chamber is a 200 feet deep sump. The chamber would have been intended as a pumping house. The rods from the pumping engine would have went down the central sump where water drained to. It seems trhat it was never completed, possibly due to the mine closure when lead prices fell in the late 1800s.

The journey to Barrons is very strenuous. Two crawls involved would not be suitable for anyone with a chest size over 44 inches. There are several free climbs up and down shafts and its generally a lot of fun. Heres a few snaps:



First junction on the way there:









The second crawl. This is the easiest one, the other is a bit tighter:








Some huge massive flats we found by accident. For scale, the pipe on the right is about 5 feet high:








Barron's Sump chamber. Photos can really not show how big it is:








The other end of it showing the arch where we entered, note the caving bag and tripod for scale:








An old ore kibble. Only the skeleton remains, the wood has long rotted:








Hand cranked ventilation fan:








Some workings next to the chamber:








The wooden boxes on the left are old ventilation trunking:








A nice tub chassis. It still rolled!








Self portrait, showing the gorgeous ochreous mud:








Thanks for looking folks


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## Krypton (Mar 12, 2010)

Wow this looks amazing Deano.
Id love to do a mine but i wouldnt fancy the tight squeezes.
Top marks


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## smileysal (Mar 12, 2010)

Excellent pics mate, love all the equipment still in there.  Not so sure about those tight squeezes either. 

Nice work chap, 

 Sal


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## Vintage (Mar 12, 2010)

Great pics CC. Would love to do a mine. would be a bit nervy about those tight squeezes though too haha.


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## Foxylady (Mar 12, 2010)

That's an incredible explore, CoalC. I've never seen a report with a sump chamber in before, AFAIK. I assume that's a pretty unusual thing.
Love the remains in there. Fabulous stuff.


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## dead pigeon (Mar 13, 2010)

Mines=B**ls! that couldn't have been easy and the conditions not ideal to take photographs. I imagine its a risky business going underground so i take my hat off to you.


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## hnmisty (Mar 13, 2010)

Absolutely amazing pics! If you hadn't said how long that pipe was, I'd have thought it was a couple of feet and that the ceiling would scrape my head (I'm 5'1") but wow!
Kudos for going through those holes- that pic gave me the wiggies!
Its amazing that its 200 years old and still in such good condition.


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## Parkus. (Mar 13, 2010)

Top marks Coal Cutter, some nice artifacts down there aswell


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## Lightbuoy (Mar 13, 2010)

Quality Report and pics -no. 4 really puts a perspective on the size of some part eh?

Ta for sharing!


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## Sabtr (Mar 13, 2010)

This is one of the few places I'll never see - me and my muscular bulk. 

What a shame I would never squeeze through there. It's a beautiful place mate. I never stop marvelling at that incredible stonework. 

I'm pleased you took the time to post this set on here. I don't think those crawls will be open for much longer.....


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## Parkus. (Mar 14, 2010)

Was it the turn of the 20th century that the Nenthead complex ceased production?

I've explored Smallcleugh and Rampgill a bit but never actualy been into the museum to look into the full history


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## pollen101 (Mar 14, 2010)

Absolutely brilliant!!!!

What a fantastic place,that probaby most people wont get to see - wonderful!!!!

Kudos for those squeezes!!!

Love the rocks and the tunnels hewn out,the vastness of the chamber is ace,ah.........so much underground and so little we know about it........love it!!!!!!!!!!!!


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## Coal Cutter (Mar 14, 2010)

Parkus. said:


> Was it the turn of the 20th century that the Nenthead complex ceased production?
> 
> I've explored Smallcleugh and Rampgill a bit but never actualy been into the museum to look into the full history



Yes the lead prices fell towards the end of the 19th century. Then the Vielle Montagne Zinc comapny reworked a lot of the mines in the early 1900s. Wherever you see cast concrete shoring up the roof, thats the work of the VMZ co. By the 1920s they were pretty much abandoned.

Thanks for a;ll the nice feedback folks


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## swanseamale47 (Mar 14, 2010)

Smashing explore with great pics thanks for sharing.
Wayne


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## Andymacg (Mar 14, 2010)

absolutley fantastic pics chap , wouldnt have the bottle to do that crawling through small gaps like that


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## Engineer (Mar 14, 2010)

*Barons Sump.*

Nice pics, well worth the effort.


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