Odin Mine

Nearest town:
Whaley Bridge (11km WSW)
OS reference:
SK134834
OS sheet:
110
Latitude:
53° 20' 49.25 N
Longitude:
1° 47' 55.29 W
Added to TMA by

Images

Image of Odin Mine (Cave / Rock Shelter) by Rhiannon

From ‘The Pictorial History of England, vol. 1’ by Craik and MacFarlane (1846).

Rhiannon
Rhiannon Dec 22, 2024
Image of Odin Mine (Cave / Rock Shelter) by thesweetcheat

This was as close as we could get, the whole area west of the road was fenced off due to “recent rockfall” (October 2018).

Image credit: A. Brookes (19.10.2018)
thesweetcheat
thesweetcheat Dec 28, 2018
Image of Odin Mine (Cave / Rock Shelter) by davidtic

The remains of the ore crushing circle with its gritstone wheel at Odin Mine. Mam Tor in the background.

davidtic
davidtic May 21, 2003

Articles

Folklore

Odin Mine
Cave / Rock Shelter
Rhiannon
Rhiannon May 22, 2007

In Castleton there is an ancient lead-mine which in county histories and other books is described as “Odin Mine.” But old lead-miners in Castleton and Bradwell speak of it as Owdane Mine, accenting the second syllable. A Castleton man said to me that this mine “formerly belonged to the Danes,” and an old Bradwell lead-miner said that “the Danes hid themselves in it,” afterwards remarking, “We’ve mixed with the Danes.” I think there can be no doubt that the true name of this mine, in which many ancient tools have been found, is Owd Dane (Old Dane) Mine, for prehistoric and Roman work is often in this country attributed to the Danes... The usual name for ancient lead-workings in the Peak is “owd mon workings*.”

*Might this not suggest the devil? Which takes us back to Odin really. It’s all muddled up, as Mr McG suggests below.

From p404 in
Garland Day at Castleton
S. O. Addy; Frank Kidson
Folklore, Vol. 12, No. 4. (Dec., 1901), pp. 394-430.

Folklore

Odin Mine
Cave / Rock Shelter
Holy McGrail
Holy McGrail Nov 28, 2001

At the foot of the incredible Mam Tor is Odin Mine, marked by a NT sign but off limits on my last visit due to F&M (April 2001).

It struck me as quite significant at the time because my visit was just after finding out that Odin was unique amongst norse gods because he got his power from the Mother Earth. Mam Tor, and at her foot, Odin Mine. Hmmm.

And after reading up on the Odin Stone on Orkney (and indeed Yggdrasilbury), it now makes even more sense; Mam Tor and Odin Mine couldn’t have been named such by the (later) invading Vikings, for the Vikings had abandoned the ‘Mother Earth’ completely. There’s a good chance, therefore, that their relationship could be based in antiquity.

Could this be another example of the ‘norse’ myths being eternally played out in the British Landscape?

Sites within 20km of Odin Mine

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