Llywernog Lead and Silver Mine

Cadw's description

Summary description and reason for designation

The following provides a general description of the Scheduled Monument.

The monument consists of a silver mine. Llywernog Lead and Silver Mine (alias Poole's Llywernog) was operated by Lewis Morris as an open cut in 1744, though there were said then to be ancient workings on the site. Around 1810 the mine was worked by William Poole and during the nineteenth century it passed through the hands of several owners. It was further developed in the 1860s and 1870s by the Llywernog Mining Company, then fell into decline. The last exploitation was c.1907-10 after which it fell derelict. It was established as a museum of lead mining by Peter Lloyd Harvey from 1974 and many features have since been restored or reconstructed. Remaining features include a circular stone powder store with corbelled roof, a waterwheel winding pit dating from 1865 and Engine Shaft which it served, and a stone-lined gulley for pumping rods to another waterwheel pit and bob pit to the south. The headframe above the shaft is a reconstruction. From the shaft, covered stopes follow the vein to west and east and are accessible by a drift from the south. The separate eastern area contains a rock cut shaft and Balcombe's Level. The first 15m of the level have been reconstructed.

The monument is a well preserved group of scarce lead mine features. It is of national importance for its potential to enhance our knowledge of mining practices. It retains significant archaeological potential, with a strong probability of the presence of associated archaeological features and deposits. There is important group value with the offices, crusher house, ore dressing shed and southerly wheelpit, which are Listed.

The scheduled area comprises the remains described and areas around them within which related evidence may be expected to survive.