51551 A large area centered on TF 112 984 shows marks of vertical shafts for ironstone mining.{1} Probable unknown medieval cropmark and earthwork ironstone workings at: TF 1148 9813, TF 1204 9902, TF 1270 9780, TF 1124 9917, TF 1207 9698, TF 1138 9725, TF 1085 9833.{2} The presence of ironstone, outcropping on the hillside of the Lincolnshire Wolds, had been known about for many years before it was exploited commercially. In 1868 the first mine in the area opened at Claxby, one mile to the south, and worked for seventeen years. Mining then ceased until the Nettleton Mines were driven in 1928. The Nettleton Bottom Mine opened in 1957, and the Top Mine closed in 1959. Mining ceased in 1968. It was not that the reserves were exhausted, but a consequence of competition from foreign ores. Horses were used underground for short hauls from working faces to the main headings. The principal motive power was diesel and electric locomotives running on a narrow gauge tramway. A chalk quarry was opened in 1960 and closed in 1970.{3} This mine was worked by the Mid Lincolnshire Ironstone Company and was opened in 1934. It was possibly the first ironstone mine in the Country to use diesel locomotives underground. {4}