Heneb Historic Environment Record

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Craig Rhiwarth Mine; North Llangynog Mine

Primary Reference Number (PRN) : 8430
Trust : Clwyd Powys
Community : Llangynog
Unitary authority : Powys
NGR : SJ05552656
Site Type (preferred type first) : POST MEDIEVAL LEAD MINE

Description :
Lead/Zinc/Copper (Mid 1840s-1883)

Geology
Ordovician Llangynog formation volcanics and metamorphic rocks. The main lode strikes E-W with zinc, chalcopyrite and galena mineralisation.

Workings
There are 5 former level entrances centred on SJ05422635 with stoping to the surface visible close to the upper portion of the slate quarry incline SJ05432649. A deep adit was entered close to Ty'n Y Twll cottage SJ05262635 and an infilled shaft can be seen south of the slate quarry magazine SJ05382659.

In Cwm Glanhafon east of Craig Rhiwarth SJ06602730 there are three trial levels for lead which date to between 1751 and 1899 as well as remains of undated slate workings close to the public footpath.

Transport
There were presumably inclines to the shaft and levels but no remains could be seen. It is possible that the slate incline used an existing mine incline which communicated with lateral tramways contouring the hillside to the workings.

Power
A leat from the Afon Eirth supplied water to a wheelpit on the dressing floors but has since been largely destroyed by housing development and road construction.

Processing
The dressing floors were nearly totally destroyed by building and the 1977 B4391 road improvements. The only survival is a portion of the wheelpit which is built into a modern dwelling.

The building foundations visible at SJ05612636, consist of large masonry blocks and beams and overall the structure seems too substantial to be related to the nearby farm buildings at Tan Y Graig though their precise function and relationship with the mine, if any, are not clear. The structure may be related to the slate quarrying activity to the north.

There is also a cog wheel discarded on the hillside at SJ05502642 although this has probably travelled from the slate quarry.

Other features
No evidence.

Comments

Mine in use c17th to 19th centuries. Open stopes on upper slopes of Craig Rhiwarth, levels on lower slopes. Leat to dressing floors from cornmill upstream on Afon Eirth. (CPAT record card 1988)


Sources :
Bick, D E , 1978 , The Old Metal Mines of Mid Wales 5
Bick, D E , 1990 , The Old Metal Mines Of Mid-Wales
Clwyd Powys Archaeological Trust , 1978 , Site visit record - PRN8430
Clwyd Powys Archaeological Trust , 1983 , Site visit record - PRN8430
Foster-Smith, J R , 1978 , The Mines of Montgomeryshire and Radnorshire
Hankinson, R, Britnell, B & Silvester, R J , 2012 , Medieval and Early Post-Medieval Industry in East and North-East Wales: Scheduling Enhancement Programme ( © CPAT)
Ordnance Survey , 1887 , OS map
Williams, R A , 1985 , The Old Mines of the Llangynog District
Wren, W J , 1968 , The Tanat Valley, its railways and industrial archaeology

Events :
123124 : Medieval and Post-Medieval Industry, assessment project 2011-12 (year : 2011-12)
141996 : Medieval and Post-Medieval Industry, desk based assessment 2011-12 (year : 2011-12)

Related records
CPAT Historic Environment Record (HER) 8430
National Monuments Record NPRN 34007 https://coflein.gov.uk/en/site/34007/

Compiled date : 31-12-1995


Images :



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March 7, 2026, 10:48 am

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