features several remnants of mining infrastructure. The most prominent surviving structure is a two-story Cornish beam engine house, installed in 1862 at SN 9306 8731, used for driving the winding wheel and pumping rods. It remains roofless, with its adjoining boiler seating, chimney, and wheelpit in a state of ruin. The chimney, standing at 31 feet, leans due to subsidence, and water from the adit occasionally flows through the engine house.
Though much of the processing infrastructure has been lost due to land reclamation, spoil tips remain visible at SN 9345 8770. There is some evidence of dressing activity near the engine house, with low foundations surviving as earthworks. The eastern end of Penyclun Farm at SN 9302 8740 contains a possible square magazine house, while a square building at SN 9325 8736, located 170m east of the engine house, remains of uncertain function. The earthworks surrounding the engine house may mark the former location of a mine office or minor dressing structures.
To the southeast of the engine house, a stone-lined wheelpit is aligned with the engine shaft uphill. The reservoirs, whose earthwork banks remain to the west of the wheelpit, may have once provided water for both ore processing and the engine’s condenser and boiler. Historical records from 1860 suggest that a new 60ft wheel was installed to aid in draining the mine. The remains of a boiler house, measuring approximately 13 x 4 meters, stand north of the engine house, with a doorway at the western end connecting the two structures.
A building platform, possibly the site of a former mine office or workshop, is evident uphill of the wheelpit. To the north of the engine house, the earthworks of a large structure, potentially an office, workshop, or earlier dressing floor, remain. Spoil tips continue to line the northern bank of the stream.
The standing structures, including the engine house and chimney, represent a rare example of a small, two-story beam engine house and are considered worthy of statutory protection. However, the surviving structures are in need of urgent stabilization efforts to prevent further deterioration, particularly regarding the wooden lintels in the engine house, whose failure could lead to the collapse of the remaining structure. The spoil mound surrounding the engine shaft contains waste excavated during its sinking, with ore likely extracted at the adit level. The mine’s pumping system was originally powered by water but was later supplemented by the installation of the engine house complex.
| Year | Activity |
|---|---|
| c1845 | Reported by Edward Hamer that the resient farmer, Mr Jarman found lead ore, but kept it secret under his son divulged the discovery under the influence of drink. |
| late 1840s | Worked for profit by Mr Lefeaux. |
| c1860? | Abandoned. £30,000 offered two years earlier for the property, but refused. |
| 1863 | Under control of Jehu Hitchins, shaft down to 77fm, 42 fm below deep adit. Company fails. |
| 1866 | ‘Two valuable steam engines’ come up for sale. |
| 1868 | Lease acquired by A Mr Howell. |
| 1873 | New waterwheel pumping a 30fm deep shaft, 12 fm below adit. |
| 1933 | Lease granted to extract barium. |
Production:
| Years | Amount | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 1845-1848 | 600 T | Together with Bryntail |
| 1849-1853 | 1604 T | |
| 1854-1872 | 202 T |
Scheduled Ancient Monument 1998
External Links
Publications (18)
- (1848); BGS - Memoirs Vol II, Part II; 425 pages
- (1922); BGS - Mineral Resources of GB (c1920s) Vol II - Barytes and Witherite; 136 pages
- (1922); BGS - Mineral Resources of GB (c1920s) Vol XX - Lead and Zinc: Cardiganshire & West Montogmeryshire; 242 pages
- BGS - Mine Plans (large, zoomable) - Welsh Van Mining Co Ltd. Map Of Mines Montgomeryshire Sheet Xlise. Mines-Aberdaunant,brynytail,penclun And Van Mines; 1 pages
- Bick, D. (1968); CPAT Threat Archive - Penyclun Mine
- Bick, D. E. (1980); Montgomery Metal Mines list , Archaeology in Wales : 36 : 83
- Bick, D.E. (1991); Old Metal Mines of Mid-Wales, The; West Montgomeryshire, Aberdovey, Dinas Mawddwy & Llangynog - Part 4; pp. 40
- Carlon, Chris J. (1981); PDMHS (Peak District Mines Historical Society) 08-1 Jun - Eardistion Copper Mine, Shropshire, The; 14 pages (29-42)
- Foster-Smith, J. R. (1978); Mines of Montgomeryshire and Radnorshire, The
- Hamer, E. (1872); Parochial account of Llanidloes, A (continued) , The Montgomeryshire Collections : 5 : 1-48
- Hughes, Simon J.S. (1991); UK Journal of Mines & Minerals No 9, Spring - Van Mine, The; 21 pages
- Jones, J. A. & Moreton, N. J. M. (1977); Mines and Minerals of Mid-Wales, The
- Jones, Nigel and Walters, Mark and Frost, Pat (2004); Mountains and Orefields; 208 pages
- Jones, O. T. (1922); Lead and Zinc. The Mining District of North Cardiganshire and West Montgomeryshire
- Kennedy, A. E. (2003); Tir Gofal Management Plan: Heritage Management Information (HE1). Lower Bwlchllyn - E/08/3762
- Liscombe & Co (1880); Mines of Cardiganshire, Montgomereyshire & Shropshire; 52 pages
- Welsh Mines Society (Spr 2007); Newsletter 56
- Williams, C. J. & Bick, D. (1992); List of metalliferous mine sites of industrial archaeological importance
