Description and History of Site:-
A lead smelting mill standing on the south bank of Ashfold Side Beck one mile (1.6km) north east of Greenhow village, 2.3 miles (3.7km) west of Pateley Bridge, and smelted much of the ore from the Prosperous, Provident and Stoney Groove Mines.
The mills internal dimensions were 29' long (8.8m), 21' wide (6.4m) and the smelt house was entered through an arched doorway opposite the hearths. There were two ore hearths each with a stone hood arch 6' wide (1.8m) and smaller arches on either side. Adjacent to the smelting house was a building of similar height which housed a 14' diameter (4.2m) overshot waterwheel powering the bellows to fan the hearths. Alongside this wheel to the west was a further waterwheel powering a drainage pump for the mine.The roasting house adjacent to the north east side of the mill had a lean-to roof open at the front, with a fuel store and chute from the back road. The roasting house had its own short 80' flue (24.3m) terminating in a chimney. Four Bouse Teams (ore storage) adjoin this furnace with washing floors to the front of the mill by the side of the stream.
The ore hearths flue was 2' 6'' wide (0.76m) running as two before merging and running a total of 186 yds (170m). Part way along the flue near its end was a beehive shaped condenser where lead condensate was collected for further smelting.

Two differing mill layout interpretations were drawn by R.T Clough in 1946 and G.M Davies in 1966 both can be seen here in this Upper Nidderdale historic survey and action plan:- http://uppernidderdale.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/Prosperous-Historic-Environment-Survey-Report.pdf Both plans interpret the bellows waterwheel layout in a differing way however when Clough surveyed the mill in 1946 it was only nine years after the mill 'was known to be still complete in 1937' (Arthur Raistrick, p39) so it could be argued, more likely to be accurately surveyed.
Alongside the mill to the west was Smelt Mill Shaft which contained three waterwheels underground, two of which were installed by 1839 and the third lower wheel in winter of 1842-3, all driven by the same stream of water. A leat from the beck would have lead to the shaft, then piped down the shaft and onto the top wheel. The tail water would be lead onto the top of the next wheel and so on. From the bottom wheel water would escape into Wonderful Level thereby draining away into Ashfold Side Beck downstream. The falling water would also encourage air movement, aiding ventilation in the mine. The upper 20' (6.0m) 'smelters' wheel of the three waterwheels supplied power to the bellows at one stage of the mills development, but later changed to supply power to the adjacent dressing mill located alongside to the south west, via a vertical drive shaft and crown wheel at the shafts head through a pinion and horizontal drive shaft. The other two wheels 36' (10.9.m) and 30' (9.1m) diameter drove pumps to lift water to the Wonderful Level 90' (27.4m) below ground. The vertical drive shaft and crown wheel still protruding from the shaft to this day (2016).To the south of the mill lies Provident Shaft which used a steam engine to supplement this pumping when the water in the mine was too great for these wheels to cope alone. The mill was probably built by John Wood around 1814 to replace White's Mill near Eagle Hall, Pateley Bridge. (Prosperous Mill was not shown on Moss's plan of the mines of 1800).
Wood's lease had passed to John Horner by 1816-17 when the Smelt Mill Shaft was sunk onto Wonderful Level.
The mill was still working in 1874 when the right to use it was included in the lease of the Ramsgill Mining Co Ltd, also in 1887 the Bewerley United Lead and Barytes Mining Co Ltd was given permission to smelt ore from its Merryfield Mine there. That company collapsed in June 1889 and the mill probably stopped working then.

Further Reading and References:-
Many thanks to Mike Gill of the NMRS for his invaluable advice on the triple waterwheel arrangement in Smelt Mill Shaft.
Northern Mine Research Society (NMRS), The Greenhow Lead Mining Field, BM 21, J.M. Dickinson, M.C. Gill 1983 p73 p112
The Lead Smelting Mills of the Yorkshire Dales and Northern Pennines, R.T Clough, 1980. pp65-71
Lead Mining in the Mid-Pennines, Arthur Raistrick, Bradford Barton 1973, p39
https://www.nmrs.org.uk/assets/pdf/BM48/BM48-132-151-smelting.pdf p145
Mines and t' Miners, J.M. Dickinson, 1972 p62
https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1017752
http://uppernidderdale.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/Prosperous-Historic-Environment-Survey-Report.pdf

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Key Words :- lead smelt mill

Viewing the Site :- Nidderdale Way public footpath runs past the site

Address :- Hebden Road, Greenhow, Pateley Bridge, North Yorkshire, HG3 5BJ
Grid Ref :- SE 11936 66123
Co-ordinates :- Lat 54.090877 , Long -1.819010
Local Authority :- Harrogate Borough Council
Pre 1974 County :- Yorkshire - West Riding
Site Status :- Listed - Grade II
Historic England List No - 1017752,
Site Condition :- Site derelict - some buildings remaining
Site Dates :- 1814 - 1889
Record Date :- 1 May 2020

Copyright :- cc-by-nc-sa 4.0 © Andrew Garford