Did you post this on another forum a few years ago- possibly derelict places- ? I believe I had a look in here a while back after stumbling across another report like this one - it looked to me and my fellow explorers as if it had been dammed up and used as a water supply for quite some time- there was no timber or stonework beyond the first or second wall and most of the roof and a lot of sediment on the floor- eventually found myself in about 3-ft tall passage way which only seemed to get tighter as far as my torch could reach ,other than that I am none the wiser as to exactly which mine it belongs to-

don't recall posting it anywhere ever??

not sure what it could have supplied water to if anything, as the burn runs right outside the door, and its a fair way from any houses

---

Ah sorry- upon reading your description there would be no mixing them up once inside the mine the one I found was quite a mess no easy clear routes as such

- indeed the adit I accessed appears to be very close by this one and there was evidence of a 3 inch steel pipe running down stream possibly to a farm? mine yard?? and the same pipe could be seen inside the internal dam within the mine

The adit I found was on the stream level possibly slightly below the water line - there was a drop down to get inside the entrance.

There were also remnants of a small building or buddle made of a mix of dry stone and some bricks thrown in just down stream from it

After a tip-off by the then landlord of the local pub, some explorer friends and I went into this one years ago and apart from finding an armchair in front of the walled up section it was as you have described, including the wooden ladder. But the poor state of the roof gave us serious concern, so much so in fact that we didn't stay in there very long.
I never did find any reference to the origin of the level, but it must have owed it's existence to the nearby Boltsburn mine.

The site is first mentioned on the 1914 O.S map as 'old level' Presumably it's Bolts Burn Lead Mine but I have not checked the wider area? This might help;
http://www.aditnow.co.uk/documents/Boltsburn-Lead-Mine/boltsburn.pdf 

...Lister;~)

Edit; I see it's not Bolts Burn Lead mine now as thas is to the SW of this location. Will carry on searching 😞

---

hi ebgb
I have some knowledge of the level you describe having explored it a few years ago with some pals, we went under the large rock with a crack running through it and through the tight squeeze and turned left on to the vein, reasonably decent roof here although a bit wet,we abseiled down a sump on the right after about 80 yds in. Sump was approx 60 ft in 2 stages and gave access to the East level, but it was flooded almost to the roof and in rotten condition and could not be accessed further, very disappointing, prussicking back up we carried along the level and crawled into a backfilled cross-cut which gave access to a stope and shaft going down and appeared to rise to surface, I think this may correspond with an air shaft.We retreated back to the level and explored it to a large collapse about another 100yds on, there where a few more back filled cross -cuts that amounted to nowt. There's another level called Redway higher up the incline which we explored to try and gain access to Redway internal shaft, this level is very silted up at the entrance but does improve slightly with a solid bottom but thigh deep water, about 80yds in you go through what we presumed to be a ventilation door and then the level deteriorates, you end up crawling along what used to be the roof with your back bring down lumps of shaley sandstone, we must have gone on for about another 80yds or so but did not see the shaft which we estimated would be about another 40 or 50 yds but the ground was too bad to continue. Boltsburn mine continued to Stanhope burn and beyond where an adit was driven to intercept the Hopeburn shaft which was for ventilation, this shaft has collapsed at surface and resembles a large water filled crater, the adit is also collapsed at its entrance. We got permission to do a dig in the East level as we had heard there was also a spiral horse way, similar to the one at Allenheads mine , down on to Watts level, but after weeks of digging we gave up in the end as there were huge blocks to shift and too much water, the entrance has now been covered over in the garden of the new house on the site but I think it still drains into boltsburn via a pipe. Hope this provides a bit of extra info.

Dalesman

I went on a Friends of Killhope field trip years ago that took us from the head of the valley down as far as the Boltsburn mine. As you follow the road behind Boltsburn House and just before you cross the Rookhope Burn on your way to the shaft, there's a row of single storey buildings on your right and behind these is the entrance to a spiral horse level. As the way in is in an outhouse it's easy to miss it, but on this occasion as the door was open it was possible (without trespassing) to see the top of the flooded level.
I came away with the impression that there's more to Rookhope than meets the eye, but you have to search hard and use local knowledge, if you can find a willing local.