Plynlimon (central) - Royal Commission on the Ancient and ...

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Uplands Initiative – Nant y Moch & Pumlimon Fawr / <strong>Plynlimon</strong> 2004Wales‘. The sale of tickets for the lottery was opened to the general public in October 1698; over£25,000 was subscribed on the first day. In five months enough tickets had been sold to enable theprize draw to be held. Those who held the first 700 tickets to be drawn were also to share in themanagement of the company.One of the men behind the scheme was William Waller, a former employee of the Mines <strong>Royal</strong>Society in Westmorland, where he had been dismissed for some misdemeanour. He then made apractice of invading the rights of the Society until he was forced to leave the area. He settled inCardiganshire and attached himself to Sir Carbery Pryse, whom he persuaded to defy the Mines<strong>Royal</strong> Society. It was Waller, too, who persuaded Mackworth to take over the mines. Thecompany's prospectus, written by Waller, contained many exaggerations, such as the statement thatEsgair-hir had ‗eight large veins of silver, lead and copper … which can't be parallelled in thewhole of the Christian World‘. He called the mine ‗the Welsh Potosi‘ to emphasize its similarity tothe great silver mines of Bolivia. Thousands of pamphlets describing the mine and its prospects inglowing terms were distributed throughout Britain in order to attract investors.In practice, the much-publicized treasures of the Welsh Potosi proved difficult to unearth and it wasnot long before shareholders became restive. Statements, most of them misleading and prepared byWaller, were sent out in an attempt to restore confidence. The main difficulty was ridding the mineof water and Waller ‗was not skilled in engines‘ which could do this work. Eventually committeesof inspection visited the mine and found much to condemn in Waller's management. He wasdismissed and forced to leave his house at Ynys-hir. He then went to London where he conducted acampaign of vilification against the Company of Mine Adventurers.For the first ten years of working the mines of Cardiganshire, the company had little to show.Although it leased twenty-eight mines, fifteen of them did not produce any ore worth recording. Atotal of 3,658 tons of ore was produced up to August 1708, but at a very high cost. Only 1,123 tonswere raised at 'the Great Mine of Esgair hir‘ and what Waller called ‗the Glorious Work ofGoginan‘ yielded only twenty tons, which cost £627 to raise. Mackworth was accused ofmisleading the public; he was brought before the House of Commons and found 'guilty of manynotorious and Scandalous Frauds'. There is little or no evidence to suggest that he gained financiallyby his actions. As for Waller, the question was asked: 'How a certain person that was so poor in1698 as to want Money to buy bread for his Family came to be so Rich in a few Years as to aboundboth in Money and Plate‖ (LEWIS 1998, p160).Within the survey area as a whole are the remains of 17 post medieval lead mines, each with its ownnetwork of leats. These metal mines include, the Lywernog Lead Mine (now a museum near Ponterwyd,Cardiganshire), the Ponterwyd Lead Mine (north-east of Llywernog Lead Mine, Cardiganshire), the Bryn yrAfr Lead Mine (now submerged by Nant y Moch Reservoir, Cardiganshire), the South Cambrian LeadMine (partly submerged by Nant y Moch Reservoir, Cardiganshire), the Nant y Cwpl Lead Mine (nowsubmerged by the Nant y Moch Reservoir), the Camddwr Lead Mine (now submerged by the Nant y MochReservoir ), the <strong>Plynlimon</strong> Lead Mine (south-eastern lower slopes of <strong>Plynlimon</strong>, Cardiganshire), the Bwlchy stylllen Lead Mine (west end of survey area, Cardiganshire), the Hore Lead Mine ( east of <strong>Plynlimon</strong>,Montomeryshire), the Bog Lead Mine (north of Ponterwyd, Cardiganshire), the Nant yr Eira Lead Mine(east of <strong>Plynlimon</strong>, Montomeryshire), the Nant y Iago Lead Mine (east of <strong>Plynlimon</strong>, Montomeryshire), theWest Wye Valley Lead Mine (south-east of <strong>Plynlimon</strong>, in old county of Montomeryshire), the Llyn LlygadLead Mine (northern slopes of <strong>Plynlimon</strong>), Blaen Wye (east of <strong>Plynlimon</strong>), Hirgoed Ddu Lead Mine (nearEisteddfa Gurig), and the Nant Nod Lead Mine (near Pont Rhydgfaled). The majority of these mines beganwork either in the mid-late 18 th century or else in the early-mid 19 th century,, however a few have muchearlier 18 th century origins. Most of the mines came into disuse in the late 19 th century, however a few, suchas Bryn Afr Lead Mine, were still in production in 1912.David Bick in his ‗Old Metal Mines of Mid-Wales‘ describes the readily available history of only a handfulof the key mines mentioned above.―The first to attract our attention is PLYNLIMMON (SN 795856) to which a long and rough carttrack ascends from Eisteddfa Gurig. Within the shadow of the highest mountain in Mid-Wales, its71CAP Report No: 355
Uplands Initiative – Nant y Moch & Pumlimon Fawr / <strong>Plynlimon</strong> 2004situation at 1800 ft above sea level is bleak in the extreme, with shocking weather for much of theyear. Even so, drought often brought the water-powered machinery to a stand, so that one way oranother the elements played havoc with operations both above ground and below. Under suchconditions a considerable output of lead ore (3270 tons) was nevertheless achieved.The mine commenced production in 1866, after a working miner found solid galena about 3 incheswide in the stream. Results were immediate and highly promising; the adit penetrated 155 fathomsin good ore and when a new company took possession in 1870, about 1000 tons had already beensold, with one foot of galena still showing in the 12 fathom level. A new 50 ft diameter water wheelstarted work on 26th October 1870 and the old 40 ft wheel thenceforth served for crushing anddrawing. But water supplies proved so unreliable that within a year an 18 inch horizontal steamengine costing £700 was installed and connected by gearing to the pumping wheel.Captain John Garland succeeded John Paul as manager in February 1873 - a position which thelatter was no doubt glad enough to relinquish. In addition to the shortage of power, great difficultypersisted in attracting labour to so desolate a spot, where the lack of a nearby public housepresented ' a grievous fault in the eyes of the miners '.At the 1875 A.G.M. it was admitted that the steam engine had proved totally useless, having almostshaken the pumping wheel to pieces, and in the October a breakage occurred in the line of flat rodsto the new shaft (sunk on rising ground to the east). Hardly was this repaired when the balance bobbroke in two. However these setbacks were minor compared to lack of water for pumping, and forlong periods flooding rendered the bottoms unworkable.Although £38,000 of ore had been raised by the end of 1876, Plynlimmon still failed to pay costsand a new concern took over in the following year. Previously the winzes below the 24 fathomlevel were drained by the primitive expedient of man power, which was soon replaced by a systemof wire ropes from the 50 ft wheel to pumps via the adit. Further troubles included the bursting ofthe reservoir in December 1876. But by now, lead prices were on the verge of decline, and twelveyears of struggle ended in 1878 when the 36 fathom level turned out poorer than expected,In spite of the record, Plynlimmon revived a few years later and yielded 195 tons of ore between1887 and 1891. Apart from a little further work in 1895 it has lain dormant ever since.Today the dumps (still with good specimens of galena) point like some giant finger down thevalley, with the shafts, tramroads and wheelpits forming their own memorial to one of the mostdiscouraging mine sites in Wales (BICK 1923, pp 6-8)Although just out of the bounds of the present survey area it is worth mentioning the former existence of themines of ‗Castell‘, also known as the ‗West Esgairlle‘ (SN 775813) and the ‗Bryn Glas‘ mine (SN 753815).Both of these mines must have had a pronounced affect on the surrounding landscape as well as having hada significant impact on all of the other mines in the area as well offering employment.―Across a watersplash just below Dyffryn Castell Hotel lies CASTELL or WEST ESGAIRLLE(SN 775813). This shallow mine exploited the powerful lode that extends as far as the Vale ofRheidol, and was being opened for blende by Thomas Bonsall in 1785 ; it had however, probablyclosed by 1803, when the thriving South Wales ironworks had attracted nearly every Cardiganshireminer.During a re-working in 1856, Nicholas Ennor favoured Castell with a passing glance during hisannual tour of mines likely to interest investors. Writing to the Mining Journal he ridiculed themanagement for erecting a waterwheel' so high on the hill as to be unable to obtain sufficient waterto turn it'. This drew a strong retort and explanations from Captain Lester, who also stated that thewheel was for a crusher 18 fathoms north of Engine Shaft, with a pumping and drawing wheel to beplaced between. Nevertheless, Ennor judged correctly, for in November 1856 the property completewith 30 ft x 4 ft waterwheel came up for sale, being optimistically described as ' in perfect workingorder and offering to capitalists an opportunity seldom to be met with '. The auctioneer was T. P.Thomas.The mine reopened again on several occasions, the longest run being from 1898 to 1908. Thepresent crusher house with its lofty tapering walls was erected in 1898 by Captain J. Owen for the71CAP Report No: 355
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