Land Of Iron Museum Skinningrove

The Land of Iron Museum isn't about any old iron, but rather iron that helped build the Tyne and Sydney Harbour Bridges. It is highly recommended to have a guided tour and enjoy the full experience.

Land Of Iron was formerly known as the Cleveland Ironstone Mining Museum and this is the site of the Loftus Mine. It was the first of 83 mines created in the area from 1848. It was a drift mine where you could walk down and out.

There are plenty of information boards giving you the history and geology of the area. Skinningrove is an old Norse word meaning Skinners pit/grove.

Ironstone was found and collected on the beach in the 1840/50s. This then led to drift mines and a rapid expansion of the area. The mining success depended on how big the seam was, the presence of Shale gas and deleterious elements, particularly Sulphur, which causes the steel to be brittle.

When you look around outside, you can see remnants of buildings. The information board tells us 45 Shire horses were housed here and used for this mine. That's a lot of horsepower!. These were strong horses with a placid temperament.

It was a remarkable mining industry, with housing, gas works, a school, a hospital, and a chapel.

The railway hit the tracks here in 1865 and the line was colloquially known as Zig Zag. The iron was transported to all five continents and was used for railways and bridges. This was a boom time for the British Empire. By 1870, 38% of Britain's iron and steel requirements came from the Cleveland Hills, which is where we are.

Nick, who is the Marketing Manager, responsed to my question about if it was ironstone or steel that was exported:

“Steel was indeed transported around the world. Primarily from the docks in Middlesbrough. Often, as milled beams. So it would be mined in the area, sent to the blast furnaces in Skinningrove, Redcar, Middlesbrough and then rolled and shaped at the mills. This resulted in, for example, the Sydney Harbour Bridge being stamped with Dorman Long - Middlesbrough. There are countless examples of iron and steel stamped with our local companies all over the world, including railways in India and Africa, and even buildings in America. “

Nick further explained:

“Loftus Mine produced over 20 million tonnes of ironstone in total over its history, from its opening in 1859 to its closure in 1958. This figure is widely cited in regional mining histories and is consistent with the mine's status as one of the largest and most productive in the Cleveland ironstone field.“

As the Ironstone is approximately 30% iron, this is enough to make the Tyne Bridge at least 850 times!

The tour was excellent, it has a superb balance between information, fun, and wow facts. We learnt how the mine was ventilated using flaps and fans. We were shown the equipment used to extract the ore, given a demonstration and shown a squib (not a damp one!) I do hope you get to hear about the rats, and sit in the Tally Room in the pitch black. Our guide also told us how to stop a runaway cart full of Ironstone.

We are taken into North Drift, which is a pleasant slope down, but not going up if you were pulling Ironstone. It would not have been this well lit or clean! There are signs of where the carts scraped the wall.

There are areas where repairs would be undertaken by trades such as blacksmiths and ironmongers.

The mine closed in 1958, due to economic reasons, such as cheaper imports.

A local lad, Tom Leonard (1922-1981), was instrumental in setting up the museum. He had a lot of artifacts. The owner of the Loftus Mine land was a good friend of Tom's and agreed to house Tom's collection. Volunteers took over around 5 years to clear the derelict site and make it respectable. Sadly, Mr Leonard died 2 years before the museum opened.

There is a room with more information with copies of the accident books adorning the ceiling, although this and other Ironstone mines had fewer accidents than most coal pits.

The mural is a catchy piece depicting various sides of mining. The carriage was an ambulance, and people would know the fate of the occupant. If they were feet first, they were dead, and if they were head first, they were injured but alive.

Well, I hope this has whetted your appetite and you now wish to go exploring. They do recommend booking in advance. Check out their website at Land Of Iron. We were especially pleased as there are concessions for the over 60's and students at £7.50 (Usually £10) as of May 2025.

Our thanks to the guides and Nick for their expert delivery of information.

There are toilets on site and a nice bistro bar on the corner of a building in the car park.

Check out the Fabulous North Map for other ideas.