Armouth Wath is located at the meeting of two small streams at the head of Baysdale.Â
A pair of old stone bridges cross the streams, as well as some more modern pipes.
A ruined building stand by the track, it looks more industrial than the domestic as I couldn’t spot any chimneys or fireplaces.
About 100m to the South-West is a small single roomed structure
The main area of mining is to the side of the stream, north of the buildings. Three collapses running perpendicular the stream can be seen, the first of which contains a lot of rubble.
Within this largest depression stands a small arch, which presumably was once the mine entrance.
Downstream is a nice waterfall probably rarely seen due to the remoteness of the site.
To the South-East is evidence of the existance of Black Hagg Pit.
We found a fair amount of coal lying around in the area, and found it to burn very well in the pub at Commondale on the way home.
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Hi Chris,
There is a good article about the coal mining here in the Ryedale Historian, about issue 8? The building nearby was probably a hermitage for either a nun from Baysdale or a monk from Guisborough. The article was written by Raymond Hayes who as you will know was a brilliant amateur archaeologist, assisted by Roland Close who lived in .Baysdale and often assisted Raymond. It’s a really good walk
All the best
Geoff Taylor