Snailbeach Lead Mine


Useful Information

Location: Snailbeach
Parking at Snailbeach Village Hall. Do not drive up to Lordshill or park on the mine site.
(52.613977, -2.925018)
Open: Visitors Centre: Easter to OCT Sun 11-16.
Surface Tour: All year after appointment.
Day Level Tour: Easter to OCT Sun 11-16.
Perkins Level Tour: MAR to NOV after appointment.
[2021]
Fee: Surface Tour: Adults GBP 3, Children (5-15) GBP 1.
Day Level Tour: Adults GBP 4, Children (5-15) GBP 2.
Perkins Level Tour: Adults GBP 7.50, Children (5-15) GBP 3.
[2021]
Classification: MineLead Mine
Light: bring torch.
Dimension:
Guided tours: Surface Tour: D=2 h.
Day Level Tour: D=30 min.
Perkins Level Tour: D=2 h, Min=5.
Photography:
Accessibility:
Bibliography:
Address: Snailbeach Lead Mine, Peter Sheldrake, 11 Brook Rd, Pontesbury, Shrewsbury SY5 0QZ, Tel: +44-7716-116732. E-mail:
As far as we know this information was accurate when it was published (see years in brackets), but may have changed since then.
Please check rates and details directly with the companies in question if you need more recent info.

History

1950s mine closed.
1999 wooden headgear of George's Shaft rebuilt.

Geology


Description

The Snailbeach Lead Mine was the biggest lead mine in Shropshire. Mining started in Roman times and was finally closed in the 1950s. Although there is an underground tour, the most extraordinary aspect of this mine is the best preserved set of surface buildings of a lead mine in the UK.

The Snailbeach Mine area is mostly owned by the Shropshire County Council and visitors have free access. There is a trail which shows the most important buildings. This trail includes the Locomotive Shed, the Blacksmith's Shop and the Miners' Dry. The Miners' Dry has been converted into an interpretation centre. But the buildings are locked and the mine entrances are grilled.

The mine site is unfenced and is open at all times. The Visitor Center is open on Sundays, and offers an exhibition relating to the mine, an 11 minute DVD and books for sale. The Day Level Tour is a short underground tour where aspects of mining were explained and a look down the engine shaft is possible. This tour is not wheelchair accessible, but there is a mine trolley on which disabled can be pushed along the level. Both is available without prebooking. On the same Sundays Natural England opens two Miners Cottages on the hill, which is a good addition to the mine tour.

The surface tours and the more adventurous underground trips into Perkins/Roberts Level are available only after reservation. The Perkins Level Tour includes workings as the miners left them, the ore veins, a vast cavern left after the minerals were extracted, and a look down to the lower levels. This tour is not electrically lit, the visitors are equipped with helmets and headlamps. Bring rubber boots, because the adit has up to 20 cm water on the floor.