This page tabulates the known names of mines and when they are first mentioned. An attempt has also been made to give the origin of names when known. The more obvious derivations have been left out.

CURRENT	Derivation of current name	1923-Dewey	1919-Russell	1911-Prospectus	1857-77
West Mine	Historical name and location	West Mine	Western Mine	Big Tunnel	?West Stope
New Venture Mine	Historical name	New Venture Mine		New Venture Mine
Wood Mine	Location in Windmill Wood	Wood Mine	* Wood Mine	Wood Tunnel	The Windmill
Engine Vein	Historical name	Engine Vein	* Engine Vein	Engine Vein	Engine Vein
Hough Level	Historical name. A 'hough' is a ridge or spur such as Glaze Hill.		Hough Level	Yard Tunnel	?Oakes Level
Brynlow (or Brynlow) Mine	Locality name: Brynlow Dell			ancient level	Ancient Workings
Stormy Point	Historical name of the feature		* "old Roman workings"
Pillar Mine	The mine had a pillar at the entrance until vandalised in the 1970s
CCH	Alternate name for Pillar Mine allegedly standing for 'Campers Cave of Happiness'!
Doc Mine	Named after Alistair 'Doc' Mycroft who was a well-known visitor of the 1950s. Mycroft was a key figure in the 'Northern Caving Club'. Also known at one time as Chocolate or 'Choc Choc' Mine.
Square Shaft and Round Shaft	Derived from their shapes and used to distinguish these shafts at opposite ends of the Opencast Workings between Engine Vein and Stormy Point.
Balloon Shaft	A shaft at Engine Vein, the height of which was measured using a helium filled balloon.
Bear Pit	Origin unknown but probably derives from the early twentieth century when the shaft was partly filled.
Pot Shaft	Where a pot of Roman coins was found
Cobalt Mine	Workings at the Wizard which are believed to have been a cobalt mine worked in the early 19th century
Tom's Shaft	Entrance to the Cobalt Mine named after Tom Fowden
Car Shaft	Shaft at Brynlow from which the body of an old car (a Ford?) was removed during digging
NORWEB Shaft	Shaft at Brynlow found accidentally by NORWEB contractors when digging a trench at Brynlow
Cross Mine	Cross shaped when viewed in plan.
Straight Mine	Straight for 100 metres.
Field Shaft	Located in field!
Stump Shaft	Contained a beech tree stump when first dug
Probationers' Series	Named after two probationary members of the DCC who spent 24 hours in this section of the mines
Scout Mine	Entrance starts on the Scout property
Reeking Mine	When first explored in 1972, it was full of very smelly mud. Named by the DCC.
Twin Shafts	A name used by Geoffrey Warrington and others. On extending Reeking Mine we found that there are indeed two inclined shafts side by side.

* These formed the "Eastern Mine". In the 19th century, it is likely that the mines were referred to as the "Western Mine" (West Mine) and the "Eastern Mine" (the remainder).

A fuller list of names and their derivations can be viewed as a PDF document by clicking HERE.