Worked since antiquity. Extensive workings and remains on hillside. Buildings and Leats, tramroads and numerous adits. A dozen lodes worked mainly by adit and crosscuts, deeper working not being undertaken until more recent times.
Hushing reservoir survives at Copper Hill feeding 4 or 5 separate hush channels. The hushes are visible as prominent gashes in the hillside.
Discovery of stone implements and vast amount of material removed where they were found at Copper Hill indicate large amount of work carried out my ancient miners.
During late 18C, hushing was undertaken by Bonsall as recorded by Derbyshire mine engineer Francis Thompson who toured in 1788.
| Year | Leaseholder |
|---|---|
| to 1808 | Thomas Bonsall |
| 1808- | J. Jones |
| 1811- | J. Marsden |
| 1822- | Alderson Bros. |
| 1835- | Lewis Pugh |
| 1844- | Abel Gower |
| 1848- | John Taylor & Co |
| 1866- | Cwmystwyth New Mining Co. |
| 1899- | Cwmystwyth Mining Co. (Gammon) |
| 1905- | Kingside Zinc Blende Co. |
| 1909- | Brunner Mond |
| 1911- | Kingside Mines Company |
| 1915- | Cwmystwyth Mines Limited |
Potted history:
| Year | Activity |
|---|---|
| 1844 | Existed as 4 separate mines: Pugh’s, Kingside, Graig Fawr and Copper Hill. All were though to be be exhausted. Under direction of Capt. Mathew Francis, major exploration pgrogram carried out including sinking of Francis Shaft. |
| ? | Lease passed to John Taylorm & Co, followed by several years returning over 1,000 tons of galena. Taylors Level driven. |
| 1863 | Under Capt James Raw, activity centred on western end. Pugh’s Shaft down to 40fm level. |
| 1869 | Pugh’s Shaft down to 54fm level, but ore was poor. Deepest part of the mine. |
| 1874 | Crosscut above Kingside Shaft extended to find new vein (Mitchell’s Lode), yielding lead, but also zinc at depth. |
| 1886 | Company reformed by Taylor, but not with much success. |
| 1899-1909 | Concentrated on zinc under Henry Gammon who built new mill (remains of which still stand) and a system of tramways and inclined planes. The low price of blende meant no profit was made. |
| c1910 | Worked sporadically for another decade. |
| 1921 | Final closure. |
GCR: Post-orogenic (A1) lead-zinc-copper mineralization in Central Wales
External Links
Publications (65)
- (1848); BGS - Memoirs Vol II, Part II; 425 pages
- (1888); Cwmyswyth - Shareholder Call; 1 pages
- (1922); BGS - Mineral Resources of GB (c1920s) Vol XX - Lead and Zinc: Cardiganshire & West Montogmeryshire; 242 pages
- (1984); Cwmystwyth Aerial 1984; 1 pages
- (1986); CATMHS - Newsletter 013; 18 pages
- (1989); CATMHS - Trip Report Easter - Easter Wales Meet; 5 pages
- (1990); Cwmystwyth IR Aerial 1990; 1 pages
- (1996); CATMHS - Newsletter 047-August; 30 pages
- (1998); BGS - Minerals in Britain - Lead and Zinc; 6 pages
- (2006); CATMHS - Newsletter 085-November; 22 pages
- (2007); CATMHS - Newsletter 087-May; 40 pages
- (2014); CATMHS - Newsletter 114-February; 44 pages
- (2017); CATMHS - Newsletter 127-May; 45 pages
- (2020); CATMHS - Newsletter 140-August; 48 pages
- Alderson, George (1818); George Alderson's Cwmystwyth Map; 6 pages
- Andrews, Phillip (1994); PDMHS (Peak District Mines Historical Society) 12-3 Sum - Excavating Mines, with Examples from Cwmystwyth, Chinflon and Kestel; 9 pages (13-21)
- Anon; Cwmystwyth Plan; 1 pages
- Bick, D.E. (1991); Old Metal Mines of Mid-Wales, The; South of Goginan - Part 1; pp.19-22
- Craddock, B.R. (1994); PDMHS (Peak District Mines Historical Society) 12-3 Sum - Notes on Stone Hammers; 3 pages (28-30)
- Craddock, Paul T. and Craddock, Brenda R. (1996); PDMHS (Peak District Mines Historical Society) 13-2 Win - Beginnings of Metallurgy in South-West Britain - Hypotheses and Evidence, The; 12 pages (52-63)
- Craddock, Paul T. and Craddock, Brenda R. and Langenscheidt, Adolphus (2002); PDMHS (Peak District Mines Historical Society) 15-1 Sum - Stone Mining Hammers from Pre-Hispanic Mesoamerica; 5 pages (24-28)
- Davies, Henry (1902); Cwmystwyth Mill - Plates; 2 pages
- Davies, Henry (1902); Cwmystwyth Mill; 2 pages
- Edwards, Paul and Murphy, Frances (2015); PDMHS (Peak District Mines Historical Society) 19-3 Sum - Managing the Environmental Legacies of Frongoch Lead and Zinc Mine; 5 pages (3-7)
- Fellows, R & Anon; Cwmbrwyno Map & Secton; 1 pages
- Guilbert, Graeme (1996); PDMHS (Peak District Mines Historical Society) 13-1 Sum - Oldest Artefact of Lead in the Peak - New Evidence from Mam Tor, The; 7 pages (12-18)
- Hugher, S.J. (2005); Cardigan Recolections Elias Jones 1894-1945 ; 24 pages
- Hughes S.J.S.; NMRS (1981); British Mining No. 17; Cwmystwyth Mines, The
- Hughes, Simon J.; Cwmystwyth Maps, Plans and Sketches 1; 20 pages
- Hughes, Simon J.; Cwmystwyth Maps, Plans and Sketches 2; 15 pages
- Hughes, Simon J.S. & Timberlake, Simon (1991); Early Metallurgical Sites in Great Britian No. 6 - Cwmystwyth; 12 pages
- Hughes, Simon J.S. (1971); BSA Proceedings Vol VI, No 46 - Mineral Field of Mid Wales, The; 8 pages
- Hughes, Simon J.S. (1976); Cardiganshire - Its Mines and Miners; 52 pages
- Hughes, Simon J.S. (1979); Decline of Mining at Cwmystwyth, The; 21 pages
- Hughes, Simon J.S. (1979); Decline of Mining at Cwmystwyth; 21 pages
- Hughes, Simon J.S. (1988); UK Journal of Mines & Minerals No 5 - Decline of Mining in Mid Wales and Prospects of Revival, The; 10 pages
- Hughes, Simon J.S. (1990); UK Journal of Mines & Minerals No 8, Autumn - Llywernog Mine and Museum, Dyfed, Wales; 8 pages
- Hughes, Simon J.S. (2004); WMPT Newsletter April - Talybont - Some Recent work on Ancient Mining in Mid Wales; 15 pages
- Hughes, Simon J.S. (2006); Manchester Research; 4 pages
- Hughes, Simon J.S. (2006); Miner's Lot, The - Version 1; 6 pages
- Hughes, Simon J.S. (2006); Miner's Lot, The - Version 2; 13 pages
- Hughes, Simon J.S. (2006); Upon the Danger of Ore Chutes; 3 pages
- Hughes, Stephen (1994); PDMHS (Peak District Mines Historical Society) 12-3 Sum - The Hushing Leats at Cwmystwyth, The; 6 pages (48-53)
- Jnl. Cwmbran Caving Club, 13; pp. 19-23
- Jones, Nigel and Walters, Mark and Frost, Pat (2004); Mountains and Orefields; 208 pages
- Liscombe & Co (1880); Mines of Cardiganshire, Montgomereyshire & Shropshire; 52 pages
- Louis, Henry (1896); Treatise on Ore Deposits -Cardiganshire; 12 pages
- Misc; Cwmystwyth Maps, Plans and Sketches; 13 pages
- Misc; Cwmystwyth Misc Modern Plans; 17 pages
- Misc; Cwmystwyth Misc Old Plans; 10 pages
- Misc; Cwmystwyth Misc Plans and Sections 1800s; 12 pages
- Morris, William (1794); William Morris' 1794 section of Graig Goch; 1 pages
- Murchison, J.H. (1869); Lead Mines as an Investment; 34 pages
- Nancarrow (1919); Nancarrow Cardiganshire Report; 21 pages
- Naylor, Peter (1981); PDMHS (Peak District Mines Historical Society) 08-1 Jun - Sir Hugh Myddelton The First Mines Adventurer; 6 pages (54-59)
- Palmer, Marilyn and Neaverson, Peter (1989); PDMHS (Peak District Mines Historical Society) 10-6 Win - Comparative Archaeology of Tin and Lead Dressing in Britain during the Nineteenth Century, The; 32 pages (316-347)
- Pickin, John (1999); PDMHS (Peak District Mines Historical Society) 14-2 Win - Stone Hammers from the Ecton Mines in the Bateman Collection, Sheffield; 4 pages (15-18)
- Pickin, John and Timberlake, Simon (1988); PDMHS (Peak District Mines Historical Society) 10-3 - Stone Hammers and Fire-Setting - A Preliminary Experiment at Cwmystwyth Mine, Dyfed; 3 pages (165-167)
- Singer (1803); Singer's 1803 Cwmystwyth Map; 1 pages
- Timberlake, Simon (1988); PDMHS (Peak District Mines Historical Society) 10-3 - Evidence of Prehistoric Mining on Copa Hill, Cwmystwyth; 5 pages (160-164)
- Timberlake, Simon (1994); PDMHS (Peak District Mines Historical Society) 12-3 Sum - Archaeological and Circumstantial Evidence for early Mining in Wales; 11 pages (133-143)
- Timberlake, Simon (2001); PDMHS (Peak District Mines Historical Society) 14-6 Win - How Old is the Owld Man - Discovering Ancient Mines; 7 pages (54-60)
- Timberlake, Simon (2015); PDMHS (Peak District Mines Historical Society) 19-3 Sum - New investigations and new ideas on Prehistoric-Roman metal mining and smelting in Wales; 10 pages (21-30)
- Waller, William (1698); Waller's 1698 Cwmystwyth Map; 5 pages
- Willis, Lynn and Sheelagh (1989); PDMHS (Peak District Mines Historical Society) 10-5 - Grooved Stone Hammer from Alderley Edge, A; 1 pages (289)
