Darkhill Ironworks

Lived near this for 25 years and never new it was there until it was part of a ViewRanger walk we decided to follow. Really interesting bit of history hidden in the forest

Great place to walk around and read info boards.

Very interesting place accessible via a steep pathway which we couldn't explore at the time as we had our daugther in her buggy , lots of amazing plants, wildflowers and fungi to see .

A very nice place to walk but everything is overgrown so very little to see which is a shame.

Nice for a peaceful stroll...

Interesting area, was hoping for more access but other than that really cool area. We walked there from canop ponds, it's a hard walk but very fun.

Dark hill
The terraces of stone walls are the remains of ironworks. David and Robert Mushet carried out secret experiments with iron
They neighboured with the Titanic Steelworks,

Building begun in 1811.
Robert formed experimental work on new metals to discover their properties.
The site was abandoned, probably around 1862, 1874, the site lay undisturbed until partial excavation in 1977.

David's son, Robert. He made the first steel alloys and the first steel railway line. When his railway lines were laid in Derby Station in 1857 they lasted for 17 years rather than the 3-5 months.

Historic factory site with good info boards