Historic England
Tideslow Rake is a 9.7-hectare (24.0 acres) biological site of Special Scientific Interest in the Peak District National Park in Derbyshire, England.[1]
The site occupies the area of a former lead deposit, which was exploited by opencasting and mining from the 12th century; the landscape of “hummocks and hollows” was created by the dumping of lead-rich spoil.[a]Lead rakes are linear mining features along the outcrop of a lead vein resulting from the extraction of relatively shallow ore.[2] As a consequence, the site supports only a thin layer of vegetation specially adapted to the toxic environment, notably spring sandwort (Minuartia verna), also known as leadwort.[1]
In those areas where the soil has lower levels of lead, plant species include eyebright (Euphrasia officinalis), lady’s bedstraw (Galium verum), rough hawkbit (Leontodon hispidus), salad burnet (Sanguisorba minor) and limestone bedstraw (Galium sterneri).[1]
Tideslow Rake is also a Scheduled Ancient Monument. It contains several remnants of its mining past, including a gin-circle
Horse-driven engine used in lead and shallow coal mines. and a collapsed lime kiln; quicklime was used as a cheap alternative to gunpowder for blasting.[2]
Notes
| a | Lead rakes are linear mining features along the outcrop of a lead vein resulting from the extraction of relatively shallow ore.[2] |
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