Coniston Old Man
One of Lakeland’s Historic Mountains
Coniston Old Man has watched over and provided an income for the community of Coniston since earliest times. Village farmers still graze their ‘hefted’ flocks on the mountain and slate continues to be worked, maintaining a tradition that
In 2006 the Coniston Local History Group was awarded a Heritage Lottery Grant to carry out an industrial archaeological survey of this historically important mountain. This web site gives a summary of the results of the survey.
Published by the Coniston Local History Group, Yewdale Bridge, Coniston, Cumbria LA21 8EF
goes back hundreds of years. It is estimated that the working of slate on Coniston Old Man commenced shortly after the Norman Conquest and has developed almost continuously up to the present day. Although most of the remains of past industrial activity are from the 18th to 20th centuries, some evidence exists on the mountain of slate working from much earlier times.
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