Lead or Rumour info - Crisp Delph Mine March 2025

[DryTiger69]

Hi all,

The main entrance to the crisp delph mine is still sealed with concrete, however the soil around the entrance looks to have been backfilled recently, and with a bit of perseverance I think it’ll be possible to gain entry to this stunning mine. The last time I know of anyone going in this mine was around April 2024, and even then there was the same concrete block that is currently blocking the entrance, only without the backfilled soil.

Around 50 feet away from the main mine, there is a large opening in the ground with 3 previously filled small caverns. After shining a torch down the one furthest to the right, we decided it was too blocked to even attempt (many stones were blocking the path). The middle passage was more interesting, and lead to a large flat portion of rock which fell from the ceiling. This passage was very narrow but opened up more as you went in. There appeared to be smaller passageways in some places but they looked infilled by someone (maybe the army with gunpowder?). There were also stone deads holding up the roof in some sections, and after a tight squeeze into the deepest section, we arrived at a dead end blocked with fallen stone.

The left most passageway was partially blocked by corrugated metal board, but once you get over this, it gets wider. This passageway was similar to the middle one, but it seemed like it was in better condition. There were also stone deads holding up the ceiling and there were many different adits which were blocked off. Some looked natural, but others looked to be filled with small stone and silt. Once we crawled to the end of this passage, it is evident there was another entrance to our left, but it was completely sealed. The passage narrowed too much for us to continue at this point.

There are also reports that crisp delph mine leads to dalton quarry? Does anyone know if there is any truth to this?

Thank you for reading my post

 

[Exploring with Andy]

Moved to leads and rumours section as this is more info than a report

 

[mikedelaney]

I've had a good dig around the main entrance after landowner tipped the soil, I got about 3/4ft down and hit a solid concrete shelf. This was previously the last known access point to the main caverns, the concrete is a few ft thick and looks to have been patched up before the soil was tipped. On a more promising note the side tunnels you mentioned sound really promising. I've been in all 3 and like you say it gets quite dangerous but they do continue onto something big. (there's actually a 4th tunnel if you count the slit to your far right hand side as you drop into the opening) The far left hand tunnel with the corrugated board seems the most promising to link up to the main caverns. I've noticed a cool breeze flowing out of that entrance on warm days. I've gone as far as I felt comfortable as you reach a point where you can only crawl forwards without room to turn around. Didn't push it further for obvious reasons but would be interesting to see where it goes.
Last time I went in the main entrance, I explored a small room directly to the right as you dropped through the original entrance. It turned into a very narrow crawl space and carried on as far as I could see, heading straight towards the same direction as the entrance with the corrugated boards! I also saw a couple of bats flying in & out of that crawl space. Did make me wonder back then if there was a connection! I'd love to find another way into there as it is a beautiful mine, it's one of my favourite explores, despite it being a small mine it has loads of character. I doubt that it ever continued to Dalton Quarry as the main drive runs towards Roby Mill, but it wouldn't surprise me if there was other similar workings to Crisp Delph in the nearby area which did link up.
Have you ever been to the old fireclay mine just off Lee's Lane in Dalton? Really interesting place, it was a bootleg mine so has no plans and very little info on the scale but appears to have been quite a big operation in the early 1900s. It has some accessible underground bits to see, not sure how much as I was ill equipped to explore them when I last visited the site. It's on my list this year to explore, as there is barely any information or footage of the place to be found online.

 

[DryTiger69]

Moved to leads and rumours section as this is more info than a report

Im new to this

 

[tigger]

Im new to this

Everyone is at some point

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Whilst it's always good to have extra information about sites it is usually best to stay away from adding much detail about access. This is especially true of sites where the owners are clearly making atempts to prevent access, as the family have done at Crsip Delf.
It's a shame they didn't make arangements for permitted access but it seems very unlikely they'll ever do that now.