Crisp Delph Sandstone Mine - UpHolland
History
Crisp Delph Mine is a sandstone mine near Skelmersdale, one of a network of flagstone quarries and underground workings in the immediate area, dating from the early 19th century. It included a tramroad that headed east along the line of Farley Road to Roby Mill. The tramroad was worked until 1860.
Throughout the quarry the roof is heavily supported by the use of concrete blocks, the area of unsupported roof is quite staggering, it is thought that the blocks were installed when the quarry was reputedly used as an ammo dump?
The mine is a classic example of the 'Pillar and Stall' technique, but far less pillars than I'm use to seeing. The miners cut away at the good sandstone which is in layers as it's a sedimentary rock, and leave pillars to hold the roof up as well as the poor rock and soil above and below.
What did surprise me about this mine was the steep incline, probably between 30 and 40 degrees, all the other similar mines I have visited are on the same level without a slope. I presume this must be down to the geography of the site and the sandstone layers are inclined themselves.
My Visit
After a brief good start to the year I've struggled to get much done. The usual work and life getting in the way, but when I have got out exploring I don't think I have ever had such a run of bad luck. A couple of recent fails meant it was time to head underground again.
I love the sandstone mines of Lancashire and when I first saw photos of Crisp Delph I knew I'd have to visit, the huge concrete 'Jenga' blocks are unique as far as I know. Some of the mines have been modified and strengthen over the year, but none to this extent.
A big thanks to @The Kwan who was down there last, confirmed what I had found out and added a bit of extra information.
Mind you I still messed up as I descended too quickly, which involved vertical mud and me wondering if I could get back up the way I came in. I found what looked like a suitable entrance, but after crawling up small loose passages for about 40 minutes I was going to call it a day, sore knees and a mucky camera bag had taken the fun out of it as I hadn't seen a Jenga tower.
A brief wander around the quarry on the way out and I had that Haleluya moment, a very small entrance was found, and after dropping in, it soon opened up into a large passage, almost Tardis like.
Looking down the steep incline after the Alice in Wonderland entry
After about 50 meters you see the first of the concrete towers, fantastic structures. At this point I didn't know how complex the mine was so started drawing a map. If it was anything like Facit Mine I may be useful to get back out.
The concrete towers are so unique, some have been infilled with rock and others are empty.
The rock strata in here is stunning, as is the colours from iron deposits.
Evidence of rock falls from the roof are all about, but hard to guesstimate how frequent these occur, in the main the mine felt safe when compared to other sandstone mines and the passages I was in earlier.
Because on the incline the mine is made up of a series of steps, all are accessible from the central incline which was probably used to remove the stone.
The concrete pillars keep coming, many no longer make contact with the roof, not sure if they ever did?
There wasn't much machinery or plant left in the mine, best I could find was an old tricycle and a bucket.
A quick selfie to give some sense of scale of the towers and the mine.
Again the concrete 'Jenga' towers and rock architecture was stunning.
More pillars and a good photo to show the incline of the rock strata in the mine.
More pillars, I love these structures.
Toppled Jenga piles, for some reason these 2 pillars have collapsed, but no real evidence of a roof collapse.
More pillar porn in the lower levels.
Another selfie and a quick explore of one of the Jenga towers.
Looking back up the incline from the lower levels, the safe exit.
I managed to visit all the large areas, but there are many small adits heading off at most levels. After visiting the wrong tunnels initially, being on my own and realising no one actually knew where I was I decided to leave these for another visit.
Crisp Delph is a fantastic mine, enjoyed finally managing to get there myself.
I managed to find the easy way out of the quarry on the way back too.
Cheers,
TLR.
History
Crisp Delph Mine is a sandstone mine near Skelmersdale, one of a network of flagstone quarries and underground workings in the immediate area, dating from the early 19th century. It included a tramroad that headed east along the line of Farley Road to Roby Mill. The tramroad was worked until 1860.
Throughout the quarry the roof is heavily supported by the use of concrete blocks, the area of unsupported roof is quite staggering, it is thought that the blocks were installed when the quarry was reputedly used as an ammo dump?
The mine is a classic example of the 'Pillar and Stall' technique, but far less pillars than I'm use to seeing. The miners cut away at the good sandstone which is in layers as it's a sedimentary rock, and leave pillars to hold the roof up as well as the poor rock and soil above and below.
What did surprise me about this mine was the steep incline, probably between 30 and 40 degrees, all the other similar mines I have visited are on the same level without a slope. I presume this must be down to the geography of the site and the sandstone layers are inclined themselves.
My Visit
After a brief good start to the year I've struggled to get much done. The usual work and life getting in the way, but when I have got out exploring I don't think I have ever had such a run of bad luck. A couple of recent fails meant it was time to head underground again.
I love the sandstone mines of Lancashire and when I first saw photos of Crisp Delph I knew I'd have to visit, the huge concrete 'Jenga' blocks are unique as far as I know. Some of the mines have been modified and strengthen over the year, but none to this extent.
A big thanks to @The Kwan who was down there last, confirmed what I had found out and added a bit of extra information.
Mind you I still messed up as I descended too quickly, which involved vertical mud and me wondering if I could get back up the way I came in. I found what looked like a suitable entrance, but after crawling up small loose passages for about 40 minutes I was going to call it a day, sore knees and a mucky camera bag had taken the fun out of it as I hadn't seen a Jenga tower.
A brief wander around the quarry on the way out and I had that Haleluya moment, a very small entrance was found, and after dropping in, it soon opened up into a large passage, almost Tardis like.
Looking down the steep incline after the Alice in Wonderland entry
After about 50 meters you see the first of the concrete towers, fantastic structures. At this point I didn't know how complex the mine was so started drawing a map. If it was anything like Facit Mine I may be useful to get back out.
The concrete towers are so unique, some have been infilled with rock and others are empty.
The rock strata in here is stunning, as is the colours from iron deposits.
Evidence of rock falls from the roof are all about, but hard to guesstimate how frequent these occur, in the main the mine felt safe when compared to other sandstone mines and the passages I was in earlier.
Because on the incline the mine is made up of a series of steps, all are accessible from the central incline which was probably used to remove the stone.
The concrete pillars keep coming, many no longer make contact with the roof, not sure if they ever did?
There wasn't much machinery or plant left in the mine, best I could find was an old tricycle and a bucket.
A quick selfie to give some sense of scale of the towers and the mine.
Again the concrete 'Jenga' towers and rock architecture was stunning.
More pillars and a good photo to show the incline of the rock strata in the mine.
More pillars, I love these structures.
Toppled Jenga piles, for some reason these 2 pillars have collapsed, but no real evidence of a roof collapse.
More pillar porn in the lower levels.
Another selfie and a quick explore of one of the Jenga towers.
Looking back up the incline from the lower levels, the safe exit.
I managed to visit all the large areas, but there are many small adits heading off at most levels. After visiting the wrong tunnels initially, being on my own and realising no one actually knew where I was I decided to leave these for another visit.
Crisp Delph is a fantastic mine, enjoyed finally managing to get there myself.
I managed to find the easy way out of the quarry on the way back too.
Cheers,
TLR.
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