Ironstone mining

Whilst the area surrounding Harlaxton today is one of green, rural farmland, up until relatively recently visitors to the village would have been struck by the industrialised nature of the countryside due to the presence in and around the Vale of Belvoir of open cast ironstone mining.

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As well as the strip mining conducted on the ridge overlooking the Vale, there was a network of railways, now disused, criss-crossing the area.

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These railway lines and the mines accounted for a considerable number of jobs in the local communities and have themselves become features in today's landscape, with field levels several metres below "normal" ground level in places and track beds running through the countryside.