The Buxton coalfield was extensively worked in the eighteenth century for the benefit of the Duke of Devonshire as landowner. The Goyt's Moss workings comprised a large number of shafts connected by raised roadways with the associated whim gins being moved from shaft to shaft as the workings progressed. Analysis of the accounts for 1790 suggests that usually three shafts were in operation at any one time, although two and four were also worked at times.

The image shows the remains of an eighteenth century shaft out on the moor at Goyt's Moss. The area I was standing on was the horse winding gin circle. The collapsed shaft would have been 75 or 80 feet deep.