Gunnerside Gill (or Ghyll) is a small valley in the

Yorkshire Dales The Yorkshire Dales is an upland area of the Pennines in the Historic counties of England, historic county of Yorkshire, England, most of it in the Yorkshire Dales National Park created in 1954. The Dales comprise river valleys and the hills ri ...

which branches off

Swaledale Swaledale is one of the northernmost dales (valleys) in Yorkshire Dales National Park, located in northern England. It is the dale of the River Swale on the east side of the Pennines in North Yorkshire. Geographical overview Swaledale runs ...

into moorland to the north of

Gunnerside Gunnerside is a village in the Richmondshire district of North Yorkshire, England. It is situated on the B6270 road, east of Muker and west of Grinton. The village lies between the River Swale and its tributary, Gunnerside Beck, in the Swale ...

. The site of intensive lead mining in the 18th and 19th centuries, the valley still contains much evidence of its industrial past. Streams were dammed, and the water released as a torrent to scour soil off the surface and reveal lead ore (

galena Galena, also called lead glance, is the natural mineral form of lead(II) sulfide (PbS). It is the most important ore of lead and an important source of silver. Galena is one of the most abundant and widely distributed sulfide minerals. It cryst ...

) seams. The resultant scars are known as

hushes Hushing is an ancient and historic mining method using a flood or torrent of water to reveal mineral veins. The method was applied in several ways, both in prospecting for ores, and for their exploitation. Mineral veins are often hidden below ...

(perhaps an

onomatopoeia Onomatopoeia is the process of creating a word that phonetically imitates, resembles, or suggests the sound that it describes. Such a word itself is also called an onomatopoeia. Common onomatopoeias include animal noises such as ''oink'', ''m ...

of the sound that the water made). Bunton, Friarfold, and Gorton hushes are on the east side of the valley, with the North Hush being on the opposite side. Large areas of the upper valley are covered in spoil heaps from the mining activity, and a number of buildings remain. Many of the buildings and mine structures are scheduled ancient monuments. Waterfalls in Botcher Gill, a tributary of Gunnerside Beck, contain numerous fossils. Sir Francis mine buildings Gunnerside Gill

Sir Francis mine buildings Gunnerside Gill

The Sir Francis mine opened further down the valley in 1864 to exploit deeper seams, and was the first to use compressed air drills. It was abandoned in 1882 after failing to make decent returns. The

Coast to Coast Walk The Coast to Coast Walk is a long-distance footpath between the west and east coasts of Northern England, nominally long. Devised by Alfred Wainwright, it passes through three contrasting national parks: the Lake District National Park, th ...

passes through the upper reaches of the valley. As the valley descends southwards the scenery changes from the industrial to become a mixture of woodland and sheep pastures, before the beck joins the

River Swale The River Swale in Yorkshire, England, is a major tributary of the River Ure, which becomes the River Ouse, that empties into the North Sea via the Humber Estuary. The river gives its name to Swaledale, the valley through which it flows. Th ...

in the village of

References

{{reflist Lead mines in England Swaledale