20 mins drive from my home, my son's dog loves the place.The mine itself is first mentioned in 1280 when a poacher (chap called John of Bellhag) was done for hunting in the royal forest "at the entrance to Odin". Odin mine comprised 3 main levels and was driven about 500 metres into the hillside. The bounty was galena - lead ore, it is a protected archaeological site. It was opened by the Romans in their quest for lead. Anglo Saxons could conceivably have worked the mine too, given the name. It was definitely worked in the 17th and 18th centuries, with the Bagshawe family holding a stake in the mine for about 150 years.n common with other mines, fortunes of the Odin Mine were changeable. For example, a rich vein was found in 1706 and over 40 miners were employed. The mine suffered from drainage problems, however, the stream that used to flow through was diverted by constructing a leat that kept the workings dry. A sough (underground drainage channel) proposed in the 1770s was not completed until the 1840s. That was only about 30 years before the mine effectively closed.