Shropshire Routes to Roots

3. Mineral and metal mining - part two

Apart from limestone, what else came from Llanymynech Hill?

Map of Llanymynech area

Although some of the town of Llanymynech, including much of the hill and the ancient mine, is in Montgomeryshire and not in Shropshire, it is so close to the border that it is included here. The dominating feature of the area are the cliffs of the carboniferous limestone quarry where limestone was extracted to be used both in lime burning for agricultural purposes and as a flux in the blast furnaces of East Shropshire.

Llanymynech Limestone Cliffs Larger image, in a new window [45kb] [Secret Shropshire]

Barrie Trinder ("The Industrial Archaeology of Shropshire", 1996) states that ' ... in 1797 ... limestone was sent [from Llanymynech] as far into Wales as Llanidloes, that it was sold at the kilns at 7d a bushel, and that a wagon load was said to be 30 to 36 bushels ... and by canal to the blast furnaces of Coalbrookdale and the Black Country.'

The mine on Llanymynech Hill, known as Llanymynech Ogof, was in use from the bronze age until the mid 19th century. Copper and lead were the main ores mined here, but small quantities of zinc and silver were also found in the area.

Iron Roman mining tools found at Llanymynech Larger image, in a new window [64kb] [Reproduced with kind permission of The Montgomeryshire Collections - Volume III 1870]

What did the Romans do in Llanymynech? Two iron pick heads were found in the Llanymynech workings. They were probably used in the copper workings. The Montgomeryshire Collections (Volume III 1870) state '... these two very singular iron picks, which are certainly of Roman manufacture, and are altogether different in form from miners' picks of the present time, which are pointed at both ends. The larger of these is nearly fourteen inches long, the shorter a little over nine inches; but originally it had been longer, as a considerable portion of the pointed end has been broken away. The handles themselves, from the weight of the iron, were probably very short, and used with one hand only. ...' The stub of a handle remains in the larger pick head.

William Cathrall, in his 'History of Oswestry' on page 256, tells us this about the Ogo [the old workings] '... its windings are so numerous and intricate that many years back labourers attempting to explore its mazes, were bewildered in the effort, and a number of miners, who had be sent in search of them, discovered them lying prostrate on the ground, in despair of ever again seeing the light of day ...'

Lost in the workings  Ned the Harpist - a folk tale  (Opens in new window)

How much is a 'King's Ransom'?

Just to the south of the Ogof is the Carregwfa Silver Mine which had a very short-lived burst of activity in 1194. In 1192 King Richard I, on his return from the Crusades, was captured and held prisoner by Duke Leopold of Austria who sought a ransom of 100,00 marks for his release. While the King's commissioners were trying to raise this sum of money, the then Archbishop of Canterbury heard of the discovery of silver at Llanymynech. He was persuaded to put money into the development of the mine and to reopen the Shrewsbury mint to enable any silver to be turned into coinage to pay off the ransom. The mine was opened in 1194 and a garrison of soldiers was sent to guard the workings and the transfer of ore to the the mint.

But by the end of 1195 the mine had closed and the mint had ceased coining. It is evident that in the end more money was spent on the project than went into the coffers of the commissioners. The release of Richard was eventually obtained at the cost of thirty four thousand tons of silver, very little of it from Llanymynech.

• History of Llanymynech Ogof  (External website - Opens in new window)
• Visit the area  (Opens in new window)

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