Saddlebole is a small hill which is situated a short distance to the north of Stormy Point. Its name is derived from the wind-driven smelter (known as a bole) and saddle-road which used to be situated at this location (fig. 1) [2]. The smelter was possibly operational during the 1690s at the time of the Crosse/Legh dispute [2]. Boles were piles of stone built around fires which allowed the ingress of air and expulsion of gases [2]. The wood for the smelter at Saddlebole may have come from 'the Hagg' which is situated on the south side of the Alderley/Macclesfield road [2].
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Figure 1: The old saddle-road ascending Saddlebole |
A small trial mine is also located at Saddlebole within the uppermost Wilmslow Sandstone. Although the entrances are blocked the most conspicuous is still clearly visible at the top of Saddlebole (fig. 2). The mine is a series of small, hand-picked tunnels which are on three levels and were possibly excavated to extract asbolite or manganese [17]. During the Alderley Edge Landscape Project it was suggested that the upper and lower adits were medieval whereas the middle adit dates to the early 19th century [17]. However, the lack of evidence at Saddlebole makes the task of dating the mine very difficult.
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| Figure 2: The entrance to Saddlebole mine |
