Presuming that this is the Oakworth near Keighley there are a number of
possibilities. Coal is the obvious one but you are very close to the edge of
the coalfield so i do not know which seams are present without knowing the
exact location and looking at a geological map. If i make an educated guess
you could have the halifax hard bed and soft bed coals which are associated
with fireclay beds so that opens up the option of it being a fireclay mine.
If however you are a little higher up the coal measures then the black bed
and better bed could be present with opens up the possibility of a coal and
ironstone mine but this is less likely.
In my experience the mines along that edge of the Yorkshire coalfield were
small operations but even so could be quite long lived and leave very little
trace. Because they are small they can be missing from maps, but i would
suggest you look at as many maps as possible because sites have a habit of
disappearing and re-apearing.
Another possibility is that you have the entrance to an underground quarry.
There were at one time a number in the area including a number worked from
shafts above Oxenhope.
You say that the slag is metalliferous. Are you sure that it is not just
blacksmiths slag or some similar iron working residue. Metalliferous slag in
that area would indeed be unusual.
Martin Roe
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