Welsh Mines Preservation Trust

Yr Ymddiriedolaeth Cadwraeth

Mwynfeydd Cymru

CWM ELAN MINE SURVEY AND CONSERVATION REPORT

Location Cwm Elan Mine is located at Grid Ref SN 901 651, in the Nant Methan valley, to the west of Garreg Ddu Reservoir. Brief History 1796 A vein of lead ore was discovered by a farm worker when cutting a drainage leat for the

land owner Thomas Grove, a Wiltshire gentleman (uncle of the poet Percy Shelley) of Cwm Elan House. This leat was part of Grove’s “Wiltshire System” of agricultural improvement consisting of water meadows.

Grove worked the mine himself, making a profit of £500. When water problems were encountered he leased the mine to a company led by Sir Thomas Bonsall who drained the mine by an adit.

1808 Following Bonsall’s death, the mine was taken over by a Cornish company. 1840 The mine was being worked by a company named “Cwmellan Lead Mines”, the company

issued a Promissory Note for £1, which is in the collection of the Llanidloes Museum.

1871 The Cwm Elan Mining Company was formed with a capital of £30,000. machinery and buildings were erected. 1872 10 fathom (60 foot) level being worked. November 1872, Charles Ely elected as Company

Chairman. 1873 Crushing mill started, consisted of a Blake’s Stone crusher, Crushing Rolls, two or more)

Collom’s Patent Jiggers, Round Buddles all supplied by William Thomas, Llanidloes (Railway) Foundry (later John Mills & Co Ltd).

The Engine Shaft was at a depth of 20 fathoms (120 feet) and the 20 fathom level was started. 1874 September, the company was voluntarily wound up. November, the property was offered for sale by public auction. 1875 New Cwm Elan Mining Company formed, the mine was purchased for £1,148/10s/8d. 1877 September, worked ceased. Engine Shaft had reached a depth of 40 fathoms (240 feet).

During the period 1871-1877, 175 tons of Lead and 160 tons of Zinc were produced. 1892 A report was prepared by Captain John Paull, on the mines in the Elan Valley for the Town

Clerk, Birmingham. In which he stated about Cwm Elan:- “The next Lead Mine is Cwm Elan, in the working of which I was concerned, in the years 1870, 71 & 72, a large outlay (many thousands of pounds) was made here also , but with the result that the mine had to be given up, owing to the ores obtainable being insufficient to cover the expenses of working it”.

1896 Elan Valley Reservoir construction commenced.

Survey and Conservation Members of the Welsh Mines Preservation Trust have made several visits to the site between 2005 and 2010 to survey, photograph and investigate the site. Conservation Report The existing mining remains consist of five buildings with associated foundations of the shaft top and the dressing floors. Being in an isolated valley these buildings have suffered less from vandalism, apart from the manager’s house, where the brickwork has been extensively removed. The workmanship of the buildings is of a high quality particularly that of the two wheel pits with their sloping walls is superb. Pumping and Winding Wheelpit Standing to the north of the shaft and aligned north to south is the shale slab built water wheel pit for winding and pumping from the shaft. To the north is a narrow shale built trench for a balance beam and tensioning box still with four supporting iron rods and fittings. Much of this area has fallen and could be tidied up. Also the over hanging Silver Birch trees should be removed. The two massive shale built walls to the west for the winding drum are in good condition with some decayed woodwork on the top. Within these two walls is an iron shaft from the winding plant which could be raised out of the rubbish and either kept on site or removed, say to the Elan Valley Visitor Centre for display.

Pumping and Winding Waterwheel Pit The major problem with this water wheel housing is the gradual failure of the south wall with its fine shale built arch. The top of the arch is failing and has already broken a major shale block above.

Close up of arch showing failure of shale block above

Top wall of wheelpit showing two bolts used to secure the timber cap to the walls

Metalwork in situ behind wheelpit

Close up detail of metalwork

Close to the Wheelpit is an excellent example of a “shot-hole”, a hole drilled into the rock underground to insert explosive into, an Old Penny is included as a scale

All of the buildings being considered should have a layer of concrete placed along the tops of the walls to consolidate the structure but more important to reduce the water penetration. To make the concrete layer less intrusive the joints between slabs could be filled solidly while leaving the slabs exposed. Engine Shaft To the south is a shale built box shape used to house a further balance box of the inverted T pumping quadrant. The end of this quadrant can be seen still connected to the pump rod in the top of the shaft. It is suggested that this feature should be concreted up to make a more solid item of it. Again the top edges could be concreted to prevent water penetration. Further to the south is the square shale block lined mine shaft, of which the east face has collapsed into the shaft. This loose filling of the shaft must be treated as still moving and therefore dangerous. Of interest, is the timber square shaft top, being the only example I have seen. This suggested it could be unique or at least a rare survival. It could be preserved by being coated with some form of preservative. It would be good to do something to preserve the pump rod, however, I suspect that modern H & S rules will prohibit any work here.

Two views of the Engine Shaft

Close up of the timber surround at top of shaft

The end of the pumping quadrant

The end of the pumping quadrant still attached to the top of the (saw off) pump rod

Balance box above shaft

Ore Slides To the east, built into the levelled shaft top area are the remains of at least two ore slides down to a lower level. Here the ore from the mine would have been stored prior to being reduced in size ready for the crushing mill. One ore slide is in good condition and requires no further work. Ore from the slides would have been barrowed over a bridge and tipped into the crushing mill. Aligned east to west the water wheel driven crushing mill appears to have used the same water from the pumping wheel.

Ore Slides

Crushing Mill and Wheelpit The west end of the water wheel pit has collapsed and could be cleared to improve the view of the pit. Some of this collapse could be replaced back on the walls to preserve the layout of the wheel pit. To the north are two shale block walls that once supported the weight of the crushing mill. This was composed of two large rollers, one driven by the water wheel, the other loose on its shaft. Two large weights pulled the two rolls together to enable the ore to be crushed to the size of a coarse sand. Of interest are the four timber beams that once carried the crushing rolls in the building. Several broken parts of the cast iron mountings for the rolls are still bolted to these beams. The preservation of these beams with some form of oil would be ideal. Also at least one beam is suffering from woodworm which could be treated. To take things a step further, it should be possible to replace these beams back in their working position on top of the walls. Within this area is laid an iron drive shaft still retaining half of a clutch mechanism for powering the mill. This could be removed for preservation at the Visitor Centre? As noted above the wall tops could be coated with concrete to prevent water penetration

Crusher House and Wheelpit viewed from the east

Detail of tail-race arch of Wheelpit

Crusher House and Wheelpit viewed from the north east

Crusher House and Wheelpit viewed from the north

Crusher House and Wheelpit viewed from the west

Crusher House and Wheelpit viewed from the top of the oreslides

Crusher House and Wheelpit viewed from the south west

Top of wheelpit looking east

Detail of top of wall showing holding down bolt and timber remaining in situ

Crushing Mill with timber beams that supported crushing rollers

Drive shaft with part of clutch mechanism

Drive shaft

Close up of joint between drive shaft and part of clutch mechanism

Dressing Area East of this plant are the platforms of the dressing floors. Here were placed two Collom’s jiggers driven by shafting from the crushing mill wheel. Below the wheel pit, in line with the waterway outlet is the pit for a 16 feet diameter wheel. This operated the buddle placed further to the east and probably supplied power for the jiggers. Most of this plant was constructed by the Railway Foundry of Llanidloes. It is suggested that the outline of the buddle could be improved and concreted to produce a more solid structure. The stumps of four wooden posts that once carried the rod to power the rotating arms remain and could be preserved. Associated with the dressing plant are a series of platforms and tips of fine waste from the processes. These should be preserved as an important part of the mining remains.

View of dressing area with crushing wheelpit behind

Buddle

During our visit to the site in August 2008 we under took an archaeological excavation of the buddle, to expose and survey the outer walls. The buddle was back filled after surveying.

Excavation in progress

The excavated buddle

Powder Magazine West of the ore slides, at a safe distance from the mine is a single storey shale built powder magazine. Built into the hillside the building is a solid structure that could be treated along the wall tops with concrete to prevent the penetration of rainwater.

Powder Magazine viewed from the north east

Viewed from the east

Viewed from the south east, note dump from the Upper Adit behind

Viewed from above, looking east Upper Adit Above the Engine Shaft, located alongside a deep excavation (which is probably due to collapse of workings below) is the Upper Adit. This adit is open an extends for several yards, to a solid wall where working ceased. Although the floor is wet at the entrance, there are no safety hazards with the adit.

Adit entrance

Inside the adit looking out to the daylight

The solid wall at the end of the adit

Workshop To the north is the shale built single storey workshop, probably a Carpenter’s shop to the west with no apparent features and a Blacksmith’s shop still retaining the hearth. Against the north wall is a shale built platform for the smith’s fire with the flue built into the north wall of the building. The south wall has a doorway through it with a large window opening to the east of the door. Formerly this large opening had a long shale lintel over the top. Could this arrangement be rebuilt? Again the window opening in the south wall of the Carpenter’s shop has lost the shale slab window sill which is now within the building. This could be repositioned or replaced.

Workshop viewed from the south

Blacksmith’s Shop

Excavation of hearth and floor

Detail of flue

Carpenter’s Shop at western end of building Managers House Further east stands the two storey shale built manager’s house. The major problem here is the five large window and door openings in the front wall. All of these are failing and have been stripped of their brick arches. The same applies to the rear wall with four major window openings, all in varying states of collapse. However, the main loss of the house was the fall of the shale built square chimney stack over last winter. While the collapse has taken a lot of pressure off the west wall, it has damaged the internal features of the house. It has also altered quite drastically the appearance of the house. Not many years ago a brick arch existed over the doorway in the south wall, this could be replaced. Also the brick arches over all the window openings could be replaced and while doing this work the openings could be strengthened to prevent further collapses. Note:- The following photographs of the Manager’s house were taken before the

collapse of the chimney above the western wall of the building. GL

Manager’s House viewed from the north west, with the waterworks building behind

Manager’s House and Waterworks building viewed from the north

Manager’s House viewed from the north

Close up of leaning chimney viewed from the north

Manager’s House viewed from the south west

Chimney on western wall

Chimney breast and fireplaces on eastern wall

Northern wall

Southern wall

Initials “J E” on one of the stones, was he the builder ? Deep Adit One feature we were unable to find was the Deep Drainage Adit, it would have been just above the stream level, in the south eastern corner of the mine. There were some ground features that could be related to it but nothing definite. Acknowledgements Thanks to Trust members who assisted with the survey Jenny Gowing, Doreen Levins, Nigel Chapman, Robert Ireland, John Hine, the late Steve Oliver, Barry Clarke and David James. Thanks also to the Elan Valley Trust and the Farmer Tony Davies of Henfron for granting permission to visit and survey the site. Conservation Report written by Nigel Chapman, historical notes additional text and photographs by Graham Levins. Compiled on behalf of the Welsh Mines Preservation Trust by Graham Levins, February 2011.