Monument record 1446/1/1 - Saddlebole

The first documentary reference to mining at Alderley Edge is in 1693, but earlier activity is shown by the identification at Saddlebole of a 'bole'- a smelting hearth with wind draught only. In Derbyshire these date to the 16th and 17th century (1). During 1693-1856 mines were worked at Alderley Edge, at first by a partnership involved in opencast mining and c.1706 by Mr Abbadine, who drove a tunnel from Dickens Wood to the Engine Shaft. From 1758-1768 the mines were leased by the Macclesfield Copper Company. From 1857-1878 mining was carried out at Alderley Edge and Mottram St Andrew and between 1911 & 1919 intermittent operations were carried out at Alderley Edge (2).
According to (3), the supposed site of the bole smelting site (a hill-top wind-blown furnace) could not be found by a survey conducted at the time using remote sensing geophysics equipment (portable XRF). The location appears differently on the 1901 and 1905 maps produced by Roeder & Graves. Roeder claimed to have found 'calcined ore in abundance' at the site even though no samples or descriptions appear to exist. From Derbyshire parallels, the site would be Medieval or earlier in date.
Recent archaeological work at Saddlebole (Kidd and Taylor) suggests that Saddlebole is at the north end of an asbolite fault which stretches to Finlow Wood in the south. Asbolite is a low-grade mineral containing cobalt which was probably mined during the Napoleonic Wars, when the supply of cobalt from Europe dried up (4).

<1> Ordnance Survey, 1870-1982, Ordnance Survey Archaeological Record Card, SJ87NE2.1/1964 (Index). SCH2487.

<2> Chester Archaeological Society, Journal of the Chester Archaeological Society, Warrington G 198164/47-73 (Journal/Periodical). SCH1595.

<3> 1998, Alderley Edge Landscape Project Archive (Unpublished Report). SCH4334.

<4> Dibben, Nigel, 2006, Personal Communiication (Written Communication). SCH4768.