CN327

Vale of Conwy Lead Mine  

30/08/2001  

Designated  

Conwy  

Trefriw  

277996  

359858  

Industrial  

Lead Mine  

Post Medieval/Modern  

The following provides a general description of the Scheduled Monument. The monument comprises the remains of a small and well-preserved lead mine site in the important Gwydir Forest mining area. The remains on the site include a crusher house with its waterwheel pit, dating from 1876-7, a dressing floor below this, a round buddle and rectangular settling tanks of the same date, and the ruin of a small adjacent building which may have been an office. Mining on this site was recorded in 1806, but the Vale of Conway venture was established in 1876, bringing earlier workings into one operation. It was worked sporadically until 1886, then incorporated into the Hafna workings sett in 1899. All of the key features were consolidated by the Snowdonia National Park in 1990. Various adits, shafts, tramroad routes and an ore bin are spread throughout the adjacent woodland. The monument is of national importance as a well-preserved example of a typical small lead mine of the mid- to late-nineteenth century, in an important industrial area. It has the potential to enhance and illustrate our knowledge and understanding of mining technology from a single period and retains significant archaeological potential, with a strong probability of the presence of associated archaeological features and deposits. The structures themselves may be expected to contain archaeological information concerning chronology and building techniques. The importance of the site is further enhanced by its group value with other industrial monuments nearby. The scheduled area comprises the remains described and areas around them within which related evidence may be expected to survive.