The Peak Alum works

The Peak Alum works, which it has to be said, the National Trust have done a good job of interpreting, were in 1650 a thriving hub of alum production. The cliffs provided the vast amounts of alum shale needed for the process of creating alum, which was used in the textile dying process. The site was in operation for 200 years and spoil heaps can still be seen today– currently covered in gorse. Boats would berth here to unload – per year: 3,500 tons of coal from Durham; 400 tons of kelp; 200 tons of stale urine from Newcastle, Hull and London (to reduce acidity) and lead timber and iron. Going out by boat were up to 600 tons of alum that was transported across Britain and Europe. (Source: National Trust interpretive boards on site.)