Shropshire Hills

Trip to the Shropshire Hills today!
Pic of the lead mine.
Best viewed larger!


Early history

A village was built for workers at the local lead mine - Snailbeach Mine, which reputedly dates back to Roman times. The mine has some of the best preserved surface buildings of a lead mine left standing in Britain including a Cornish Engine House. It is managed by the Shropshire Mines Trust. Snailbeach Mine was the biggest lead mine in Shropshire and it is reputed to have yielded the greatest volume of lead per acre of any mine in Europe. Although the miners mainly extracted lead ore (galena) from the mine, smaller quantities of Barytes, Calcite, Fluorspar, Silver and Zinc were also obtained.