Force Crag mine sits at the head of Coledale Vale under the rocky ridge of Force Crag and Grisedale Pike. Mining first came to the area in 1564 when German miners working under the auspices of the Company of Mines Royal established a coffin level in the banks of Coledale Beck in search of copper, but it wasn't until the 19th Centaury that the first serious efforts to extract the minerals from Force Crag began.On the 1st of December 1819 Mr John Tebay of Whitehaven took out a mineral lease on the area, although little work was done apart from an exploration of the exposed mineral vein which runs above the present No3 Adit. where my exploration of Force Crag Mine began through the oldest level of the mine. Little was done at Force Crag until Mr Tebay sublet the mineral lease and entered into a partnership with Messrs John Avery, Emmerson, and Cowper on the 23rd of May 1839. The initial terms of the lease were for a one year trial with an option to extend for a further nine years and work began on a trial level where the mineral vein had been exposed by a stream between the crag and Grisedale Pike. This trial level would later become known as No3 Level.

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Within the year Mr Tebay had withdrawn from the joint venture leaving his tenants to continue on alone and although work progressed at a slow place the mine was beginning to pay dividends with 11 and three quarter imperial tons of Lead Ore extracted by september of 1841. The trial level had proved itself but to improve access to the mineral vein a crosscut originally known as the "lower level" but now named No 2 level was driven further down the valley side until it intercepted the vein below the original trial level which allowed the miners to begin stopeing the vein. With a proven supply of ore the company invested in a road between the mine and the village of Brathewate which would improve the transportation of the processed ore to mines customers in Liverpool. The cost of the road and improving the dressing mill had put some strain on the companies finances so an application was made to the land owenr for the suspension of royalty payments until the mine reached full production. The request was met with some understanding and a reduction to the royalty rates. As the mines ore production stabalised the mine was further expanded with a rise names Hall's rise excavated between the No2 and 3 levels which improved airflow and made moving the extracted ore out of the mine easier.

As the new level became established the No 3 level entered a period of disuse as all mining efforts were concentrated on the "lower level" its main purpose was to to provide ventilation through Hall's rise. As the mineral lease of the mine expired a new company was formed in 1848 to take over the management of the mine although many of the old companies directors and shareholders retained their stake in the new enterprise. The mineralisation within the Lower level had proved so good that the company decided to commence driving a horse level nearer to the valley floor to intercept the vein at a greater depth. Work on the "great level" as it came to be known commenced in 1849, but it as only after seven years of driving the level 300 yards into the hill side before the first mineral vein was encountered and stoping could begin.

These years had been hard for the company with all of its resources concentrated on driving the "great level" very little ore had been produced from the mine, but despite decreasing income the amount of money invested in the "Great Level" convinced the directors that a further investment in a new mill building near the adit for the great level could be justified, in order to quickly profit from the lead ore expected from that level in the near future. Along with the mill a 30' water wheel was erected with three leets leading from the southern waterfall to power the mill equipment.

Work continued on the lower levels of the mine until 1865 when a decline in the lead market lead to a collapse in ore prices and the mine was forced to close and the mineral lease was surrendered. A few companies expressed an interest in Force Crag in the following years but nothing came of these enquiries until 1867 when a the new company of Hall, Posstlethwaite and Straughton signed a new lease on the 10th of April. Until then the mine had been worked for Lead ore but the new company was attracted by a large exposed vein of Barytes above No3 level. Most of the work during this period of the mines life took place in the High Force area near the summit of Force Crag and No 3 Level remained idle. Although barytes mining at Force Crag proved to be a success for fifteen years in 1881 the mine was once again making a loss and the mine was closed and abandoned for a second time.

Renewed interest in the mine did not come until 1906 when Mr Joseph Frost Lobb a mining engineer from Keswick and his partner Mr Thomas Crawford Dennison an engineer from Middlesex signed a one year lease on Force Crag. It took them the entire first year just to reopen the lower levels in preparation to begin mining, work progressed well and they must have been confident of future success as they formed a new company The Cumberland Mines Ltd to take on a thirty year lease in december of 1907. As during the earliest years of the mine's life work was concentrated on the lower No1 and 2 levels but Level 3 was also reopened and re examined for ore though no mining took place there. The companies efforts were successful producing 9 tons of Lead, 35 tons of Barytes and 140 tons of Zinc in 1909 but two years later the company went bankrupt and the mine once again closed.

Messrs Lobb and Dennison returned to Force Crag with a new company The Coledale Syndicate in 1912 and returned to working No1 and No2 levels. They also decided to attempt an expansion of the mine by driving a new crosscut 100' below the No1 level from an adit near to the roadside. The rest of the mine was virtually abandoned as the company put all of its efforts into driving the new level, but after several months work they had failed to find the vein. The level quickly picked up a name as the "Unsuccessful Level" and with no income comming from the rest of the mine the company collapsed in 1914 and Force Crag was abandoned again.

The first World War came to the mines rescue, as the countries raw material imports dwindled, the Ministry of Munitions began to look for domestic supplies. The mines former manager Mr G.F Wallace entered into a partnership with a Mr C.E Currie and with support from the ministry they formed Braithwate Mines Ltd to reopen Force Crag to exploit its Zinc deposits. No 3 adit was worked again for the first time in years and was driven a further 60', but it was the No1 and 2 levels which were the still the main focus of the mining efforts. Along with a new attempt to drive the unsuccessful level on to the vein, which was still proving elusive. As the war was drawing to its close in 1918 the ministry of supply informed the company that the subsidy on Zinc was about to be removed which signaled tough times ahead, in 1920 the price of zinc had fallen to £11 a ton from a peek of £68 a ton during the war years. The mines prospects were once again looking doubtful, during the war years the company had concentrated on Zinc production but it now tried to diversify in to the Barytes market however even the untouched reserves in the high force workings could not secure the companies future and production ceased in 1922. Within a year the harsh Cumbrian winter had ruined the mill buildings and all the adit's had collapsed except for Level No3 and level No6 up in the High Force. With the mines rents falling into arrears the company made an effort to sell Force Crag but no buyers were forthcoming so in 1928 the Leconfield estate foreclosed and the mine was abandoned once more.

This time it was not long before the mine found new owners in the shape of Mr W.T Donovan and Mr M Newbould who took on a one year lease over force crag in March of 1928. They formed a new company the Derwent Fells Mining Company Ltd to operate the mine and decided to return to the High Force workings in search of Barytes, once again the No 3 Level would be overlooked. The new venture was very successful winning 1,750 tons of Barytes in 1930 alone, but just three years later the mine suddenly closed in unclear circumstances, with large reserves of Barytes still to be extracted and while the market for the ore was buoyant.

Force Crag remained derelict until the eve of the second world war when another company came forward to take up the lease over the mine in September of 1939. Tampimex Oil Products Ltd of London were attracted to mine by the reserves of Barytes in the high force levels, Barytes was commonly used in the manufacture of explosives and with the clouds of war gathering the mineral was highly sought after. The first order of business for the new operators was improving the transport of the minerals from the high force levels down to the mill on the valley floor. This was achieved with the installation of an aerial ropeway. During the years of abandonment the mine's mill had fallen in to complete dereliction so the company also had to construct a new mill building upon the foundations of the Cumberland Mines 1909 mill. The second world war delivered the mines busiest years and over 11 thousand tons of barytes were extracted in 1944. Unlike many mines involved in the armaments industry Force Crag survived the end of the war and although production slowed the future of the mine was looking bright, a new shaft in the high force crosscut had discovered an extensive new pocket of ore and the market for mines products was still delivering a healthy profit. The winter of 1947 would change all of that as it brought the worst snow and storms in recent history. The mine was cut off from the outside world for six weeks by huge snow drifts, and when the miners returned to the work they found the shaft in high force crosscut flooded with the water level rising as the ice and snow melted and seeped into the mine, Without pumping equipment which was not available the mine was lost.

Two years passed before another company became interested in Force Crag, The La Porte Chemical company of Luton, Sheffield and Warrington were also attracted by the large deposits of Barytes which remained in the high force levels. La Porte was large company with its own mining division which had the resources to deal with the flooding that had lead to the mines closure. The high force levels still contained large amounts of Barytes which had been already proven to a depth of 80' below the high force crosscut by the flooded shaft, But the vein also showed traces as deep as the No3 level 500' below the high force crosscut. Mining these reserves would mean pumping out the water in the shaft but because fresh water was now constantly entering the workings a constantly running pump would have been required to keep the shaft dry. The company's solution was to return to the No 3 level and drive a 1,100' long underground incline upwards from the No3 level until it reached the 80' shaft on the high force crosscut. The incline would then be used to drain the flooded workings as well as providing permanent drainage for the high force levels. The incline would also provide a convenient route for transporting the ore from the higher reaches of the mine which would be unaffected by the harsh weather conditions Force Crag was often subjected to. Driving the incline took several years until it reached the 1,100' level where a 200' long level was struck from the head of the incline to reach the mineral vein, the plan was then to construct a rise from the 1,100' level to meet with the 80' shaft on the high force crosscut. Just as the work was about to be completed the company decided to withdraw from the project as the domestic price of Barytes began to fall. In 1952 the mine equipment was sold off and the mine was abandoned again, La Porte had failed to extract a single ton of ore while the mine was under their management.