The ironstone-rich landscape around Rosedale was totally transformed in Victorian times as demand for iron grew. So valuable was Rosedale Ironstone that 19th-century mine owners made every effort to extract it, even in remote areas.

Bank Top was where all the ironstone came for processing and transport. There would have been a railway, processing works, houses, plus more at this spot in the mid-19th century. Today, the crumbling kilns, chimneys and other ruins here are testament to a bygone industry. You get some breathtaking views at Bank Top, too.

RichD

February 17, 2024

From Landofiron.org.uk: This landscape was utterly transformed during Rosedale’s Victorian ‘iron rush’ when Bank Top was a centre for the processing and transport of ironstone. Mining began in 1856, with ironstone hewn from nearby Hollins Mines and hauled by a steam winding engine up an inclined tramway to Bank Top. Vast quantities of ore – over 300,000 tonnes a year – were then processed in giant kilns, before being carried by moorland railway to blast furnaces in County Durham and Teesside. The Bank Top site also included coal depots, railway workers’ cottages and an engine shed. Production at Hollins peaked quickly and in 1885 the mines were abandoned, having largely exhausted their iron reserves in just 29 years.

Stuart Maher

October 26, 2018

Amazing views from the top of the kiln.

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Elevation 350 m

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Location: Spaunton, Ryedale, North Yorkshire, Yorkshire And The Humber, England, United Kingdom

Bank Top Iron Kilns

1. Ironstone Industry & Ana Cross loop from Rosedale Abbey — North York Moors National Park

2. Bank Top Iron Kilns – Rosedale East Iron Kilns loop from Rosedale Abbey

3. Bank Top Iron Kilns – Hutton-le-Hole Village loop from Hutton-le-Hole

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