Romans Mined at Carsington

The picture postcard village of Carsington and its equally attractive neighbour, Hopton, are close to one of Derbyshire’s leading tourist attractions – Carsington reservoir.

In our sister heritage magazine, YesterdayToday, keen walker Denis Eardley, of Littleover, recounts the history of the area and maps out two walks which help people make the most of it.

The villages lie in a wooded valley with Carsington Pasture rising steeply to 1,000ft to the west. Excavations made as part of the reservoir construction revealed that Romans were once present in the area. Many archaeologists think that Carsington was Lutadarum, the centre of the Roman lead industry.

In more recent times, the village was still an important lead mining centre and Carsington Pasture is still littered with disused lead mines.

Mining was still in existence in the 20th Century, with barytes extracted at the Golconda Mine until 1953.

Miners’ Lane, situated on the corner of the road as it bends away from Carsington, was the route the miners used to get to work.

Read more about the villages and Denis’s walk in YesterdayToday, available now, at 60p.

(c) 2008 Derby Evening Telegraph. Provided by ProQuest LLC. All rights Reserved.