These workings are very old and were described by Murchison in 1839 as
"the Penally Mine being long abandoned but now about to be again
wrought". The main workings currently visible probably date from the
period after 1860. There appears to have been up to 12 separate engines on the
site at various times.
The original workings may have been from Gin Shaft, which is believed to
have had a horse gin for winding. Engine Shaft was sunk in the 1820s and, by
the 1840s, it had a 24" pumping engine. In the 1860s, this was replaced by
three engines ranged around the shaft, viz a 60" pumping engine, 22"
horizontal winder and a 16" horizontal engine for operating the capstan.
In the 1870s, a compressor house was built at Engine Shaft and this was operated
by a 14" horizontal engine.
Blands Shaft was sunk in the 1850s and was fitted with a 12"
winding engine which also wound from Gin Shaft and Potters Pit Shaft. The
latter shaft was fitted with its own horizontal winder about 1875 but this had
been replaced by 1890 with a portable compound engine with 8" and 14"
cylinders.
On the dressing floor, there was a 9" horizontal engine for
operating the jiggers. In the changing room in 1902, there was part of a
6" engine but the purpose of this is unknown.
In May 1876, the main pump rod in Engine Shaft broke and this caused
considerable damage to the pitwork in the shaft. Very little remains of these
engine houses now other than heaps of rubble. The pumping engine beam and
headgear were still standing until about 1900, when they collapsed into the
shaft during a violent thunderstorm, allegedly as a result of a bolt of
lightning.
Steam Engines of Pennerley Mine (Ivor Brown, SCMC Journal No.1)
Introduction
Pennerley Mine lies on the western flanks of the Stiperstones Hill,
about 4 miles from Minsterley and between the celebrated lead mines of
Tankerville and the Bog. Its history goes back over 200 years but workings were
on a small scale until the area was drained by the Boat Level in the 1780s, the
latter's outfall being nearly a mile away. This adit was only 300ft deep at the
mine and, since the workings went deeper than this, the water had to be pumped
out. By 1860, a depth of over 1,000ft had been reached.
The Mine
The mine has been worked on the usual stop-go basis, often in association
with the neighbouring mines mentioned above, which have tended to overshadow
it. It has, however, for short periods produced good quantities of lead ore (by
local standards) and produced zinc ore between 1870s-1890 and barytes from
1890. The peak year for employment was 1883, when 146 persons were employed.
The mine worked six principal veins of ore from four shafts, viz, Gin, Engine,
Blands and Potters Pit. Until the 1830s, some ore was also removed from the
mine by boats along the drainage level, hence the name.
Pennerley Mine produced 600-900 tons of lead ore per year from 1871-1876
with an anomalous peak of 1,150 tons in 1883, in which year it also produced
2,300 ounces of silver. Its peak for zinc was 50 tons in 1884 and for barytes
625 tons in 1892, the mine closing in 1895. During the 1870s, the mine was
owned by the Pennerley Company and for most of the 1880s by the Tankerville
Great Consols Company. After 1890 (the date of the principal inventory) it was
controlled by Arthur Waters Jnr. During the 1860s, mine management included
Arthur Waters Snr and, from 1881-1887, both father and son were involved as A
Waters & Son. Arthur Waters Jnr was agent from 1888 until taking full
control in 1890 (his father died in 1887 aged 53).
Although the mine looks derelict at the present time, only one building
being recognisable as such, the site is remarkable. It has one of the most
complete records of equipment that was present during its 1870/80s heyday that
is available for any mine during that period. It had on site at least 10 steam
engines, ranging from a large Cornish engine through beam and horizontal to
small portables. Some of these were single cylinder and some compound, perhaps
one of the widest combinations of such equipment at any mine of its size at
that time. Archaeological research would, it is certain, produce much more
evidence of the equipment and buildings than is immediately possible from
documentary and site inspections. It is useful to note that most of the clumps
of trees now on the site mark the foundations of groups of buildings shown on
early O.S. maps.
There are no records of any late 18th century Boulton & Watt engines
at Pennerley, despite there being up to five at the nearby Bog and Roman
Gravels Mines. By the 1830s, however, Pennerley had at least one steam engine.
In 1870, Liscombe recorded 3 engines at Engine Shaft :-
- pumping engine
- horizontal engine for lifting pump rods or capstan engine
- winding and crushing engine.
Liscombe also records a fourth engine at Blands Shaft, which was almost
certainly "old" then and which wound from three shafts. By 1880, a
further large engine had been installed as a compressor at Engine Shaft and, by
1890, several smaller specialist engines were to be found about the mine. These
engines are all described in two inventories :-
a) Licence to search for minerals, etc. from Earl of Powis and A R Lloyd
to A Waters, dated 2nd July 1890 (Shropshire Record Office No.1709/6/Box 2).
b) Pennerley and Tankerville Mines Catalogue of Sale dated 5th September
1902 (copy in Shropshire Local Studies Library SLSC24/misc and several copies
in private hands). The catalogue has also been published in the Shropshire
Mining Club Journal 1972/73, pp.17-21.
The only known illustrations of features on this site are those shown on
some abandonment mine plans. These are now preserved in the Shropshire Record
Office No.5607/2/116-8 and are dated 1878 and 1928. Although many buildings are
shown on the 1883 and 1902 maps, there is no identification of use given. The
locations of engines described in this paper have therefore been deduced from
other information and site evidence and they cannot be guaranteed. The most
important remains to be seen at present are around Engine Shaft where, south
east of the shaft and alongside the road, two engine house foundations can be
made out complete with engine beds and flywheel pits.
There was a total of 12 known engines but no more than 10 at any one
time. In summary, the engines are as follows :-
1. Gin Shaft probably dates to the late 18th century and, taking account
of its name, it almost certainly had a horse gin for many years. In later years
(1860s-80s) there was a pitch pine headframe at the shaft with winding from
Blands Engine 60 yards away. There is no record of a steam engine at this
shaft. Engine Shaft was probably commenced in the 1820s and deepened in the
1840s, at which time it had a 24" pumping engine which was sold shortly
afterwards. From the 1860s, engines were built to the south west of the shaft
(Cornish pump about 1865), north east (winding) and south east (probably the
old capstan and later the compressor).
2. The pump was a Cornish beam pumping engine by Harveys of Hayle,
3. The winding engine was described as a horizontal engine with 22"
cylinder, 4ft stroke and 14ft 6ins flywheel. It had its own pump fitted and had
gearing to allow it to be used also to drive the crushers. There was a 30ft x
7ft boiler with two tubes, together with 250 fathoms of 1" wire rope
"... only fit for fencing" (in 1890). The winding drum was 5ft 9ins
in diameter with a shaft 10ft 6ins long and 8ins square.
4. A second horizontal engine was used to drive the capstan and sawmill.
It had a 16" cylinder, 2ft stroke with capstan gear complete and about 200
fathoms of 5" hemp rope. 5. A compressor engine was added in the late
1870s. This was a horizontal engine with compressor made by the Sandycroft
Foundry Company, with 14" steam cylinder, 12" air cylinder and 2ft
stroke.
6. Adjoining the compressor there seems to have been an old capstan
engine, described in 1890 as "... old and not in use". It had a
9" cylinder and 12" stroke but was described in the 1902 sale
catalogue as "disconnected".
7. In 1890, there was a horizontal engine nearer the dressing floor for
the jiggers, with a 9" cylinder and 12" stroke. A similar engine was
for sale in 1902, probably the same, having a flywheel, force pump and fittings
by John Fowler & Co of
8. The changing cabin was a stone structure 66ft x 17ft and, in 1902, it
contained part of a link motion steam engine. This had a 6" cylinder and
6" stroke but its use has not been identified. The building was probably
on the south side of the Shelve road.
9. At Blands Shaft, sunk in the 1850s, the engine was initially
described as a 13" beam engine but as a 12" "very old"
engine in 1890. In 1902, the sale catalogue mistakenly gave it a 12ft cylinder!
It was obviously a very early beam engine and probably the oldest at the mine.
The stroke was 3ft and it brought a fair price of £33 at the sale in 1902.
Prior to the middle of the 1870s, this engine had wound from three shafts, viz.
Blands at 30 yds distance, Gin at 60 yds and Potters Pit at about 350 yds.
After this time, it only wound from Blands and Gin Shafts.
10. Potters Pit Shaft was probably sunk in the late 18th century and
deepened in the 1860s, after which it was wound from Blands Engine until about
1875. After this, a separate engine seems to have been built, probably in the
large field as shown in Figure 4. The drawings indicate that this was a
horizontal engine with outside drum for winding. It seems to have been removed
by 1880 and replaced by a later engine nearer the shaft. This was described in
1890 as being a 20 HP patent compound semi-portable winding engine with 8"
& 14" cylinders and 16" stroke.
It is stated elsewhere that all boilers (other than for the smaller
engines) were "Cornish or Galloway" and each set seems to have
supplied steam to several engines. There were probably other engines on site of
which nothing is known, eg there was an aerial ropeway to take ore from Potters
Pit to Pennerley dressing floor but which engine powered this can only be guessed.
Without doubt, however, this must have been one of the finest collections of
steam engines available at the time and a search for the foundations on site
could be quite fascinating.
The story does not end in 1902, however, for several attempts have since
been made to reopen the mine. In 1953, for example, the local newspaper
reported that a new shaft was being sunk. At that time it was 30ft deep and the
company was anticipating the arrival of the winding equipment. It is not known
whether an engine arrived but it probably wouldn't have been steam. Much
equipment did arrive, however, and when the writer first visited the mine in
the late 1950s it looked more like a scrapyard. Recent research by M Gill has
shown that some of this modern mining equipment was sold on in the 1960s to
Beever Mine and others in
Most of the buildings have collapsed and the area has been tidied up
after use as a scrapyard, so all that remains is acres of stony rubble. Engine
Shaft and Gin Shaft to the west of the road have both been filled. Blands Shaft
to the east of the road has also been filled. A small 20th century brick
building is in imminent danger of collapse.