Sykes Smelt Mill was a mediaeval mill located between Sykes and Hareden in

Bowland Forest High Bowland Forest High is a civil parish in the Ribble Valley district of Lancashire, England, covering some of the Forest of Bowland. According to the 2001 census, the parish had a population of 163, falling to 144 at the 2011 Census. The parish ...

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancashi ...

, England. It stood on the banks of

Langden Brook Langden Brook is a watercourse in the Trough of Bowland, Lancashire, England. A tributary of the River Hodder, its source is near the summit of Hawthornthwaite Fell, which has an elevation of . From there, it flows down the fell's southern face ...

. A "Smelt Mill Clough", but not the mill itself, appears on the 1841

tithe map The term tithe map is usually applied to a map of an English or Welsh parish or township, prepared following the Tithe Commutation Act 1836. This act allowed tithes to be paid in cash rather than goods. The map and its accompanying schedule gave the ...

for the Upper Division of the

Trough of Bowland The Trough of Bowland is a valley and high pass in the Forest of Bowland Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, Lancashire, England. The pass, reaching above sea level at the head of the valley, links to Wyresdale, dividing the upland core of Bowl ...

. The site is now believed to be occupied by a group of small buildings, known as "Smelt Mill Cottages", one of which is the home of Bowland Pennine

Mountain Rescue Team Mountain rescue refers to search and rescue activities that occur in a mountainous environment, although the term is sometimes also used to apply to search and rescue in other wilderness environments. This tends to include mountains with tec ...

. One of the buildings sits on an old foundation. There is some evidence that

smelting Smelting is a process of applying heat to ore, to extract a base metal. It is a form of extractive metallurgy. It is used to extract many metals from their ores, including silver, iron, copper, and other base metals. Smelting uses heat and a ch ...

was being done in the early 17th century, during which period

Bevis Bulmer Sir Bevis Bulmer (1536–1615) was an English mining engineer during the reigns of Elizabeth I and James I. He has been called "one of the great speculators of that era". Many of the events in his career were recorded by Stephen Atkinson in ''The ...

was working at the King's Silver Mines on Brunghill Moor, near

Newton-in-Bowland Newton or Newton-in-Bowland is a village and civil parish in the Ribble Valley district, in the county of Lancashire, England, formerly known as ''Newton-on-Hodder''. The civil parish had a population of 237 in 2001, according to the United King ...

. It is possible that Bulmer also worked at Sykes mill (or nearby Ashnott) under a "blanket lease" held by the

Society of Mines Royal The Society of the Mines Royal was one of two England, English mining monopoly companies incorporated by royal charter in 1568, the other being the Company of Mineral and Battery Works. History On 28 May 1568, Elizabeth I of England, Elizabeth ...

. It is not known whether Bulmer had a smelt mill on his mines, but in 1630 Charles Coare, from

Bashall Eaves Bashall Eaves is a village and civil parish in the Ribble Valley district of Lancashire, England, about four miles (6 km) west of Clitheroe. The placename element ''eaves'' is Old English and refers to Bashall's location on the borders of ...

, was the smelter at Thievley Mine.

References

Industrial buildings in England Buildings and structures in Ribble Valley Smelting {{Lancashire-struct-stub