There were prayers and hymns deep in the Gillfield lead mine at Greenhow Hill near Pateley Bridge in North Yorkshire as the Bishop of Ripon (pictured far right) and the Archdeacon of Richmond and Craven (pictured left with, centre, Vicar of Upper Nidderdale, Revd Darryl Hall) joined the first ever parish visit into the 18th century mine this week.
But it emerged that the visit deep into the mine by Bishop Helen-Ann Hartley came as something of a surprise to her.
“In my diary I had judging hounds with the Young Farmers, not going into a mine!” she said. “This is probably going to rank as one of the more memorable evenings of my time as bishop!”
Despite discovering that she was joining the first parish visit to take place down the 18th century mineshafts (and despite a previous promise to herself never to go underground again) Bishop Helen-Ann said the visit had been ‘awesome’.
“It was amazing – truly breath-taking,” said Bishop Helen-Ann afterwards. “We got a real sense of the history bound up in this place. It’s not just what happens on top of the land, it’s what happens inside it and this evening we had a tangible sense of going into the ground which was pretty awesome!”
Visiting groups can rarely have had such a dramatic introduction to the mines below Greenhow Hill. The evening visit began in darkness with gale force winds, sleet, rain and heavy mist on the remote moorland enveloping the mine as the group of 12 intrepid visitors entered in the pitch dark.
Once inside, in the calm of the mine, the low narrow passageways were lit only by helmet lamps as the group followed tunnels hewn out of limestone, shale and gritstones more than two centuries ago.
The visit was the idea of Vicar of Upper Nidderdale, the Revd Darryl Hall. “I came down for the first time last year as chaplain to the local Young Farmers club,” he said. “It was such a wonderful experience that I thought we should open it up to the parish.”
It’s the first time a parish group have been down the mine and the first time an impromptu service has been held with a bishop and an archdeacon, the Ven Bev Mason, both on hand to pray for the mine and those who work to maintain it.
In the depths of the earth, Bishop Helen-Ann led a prayer of blessing. She added, “I wasn’t expecting this at all, but I am very grateful to Darryl for leading me down the path into the mountain, up a ladder or two and over one or two interesting obstacles.”
Mining at Greenhow began in the 1780s producing both lead, and later fluorspar. Commercial production ended in the 1960s and in the 1970s the mine was leased to Leeds University Department of Mining and Mineral Engineering to provide a place where budding mining engineers could practice their underground surveying.
The mine is now looked after by the Greenhow Local History Club, and Mine Manager Richard Clayton led the group.
Vicar, Darryl, added, “Greenhow is the highest church in Yorkshire and is part of our heritage, but Greenhow only exists because of the lead mines. So it made sense for us to come down here and give thanks for this wonderful inheritance. This is an area of outstanding natural beauty – both outside and inside as well. Despite being stark and bleak there’s something quite beautiful about it.”