Ladywell Mine

Location - 1 mile west of Shelve village (NGR SO327993)

Minerals - Lead

Working Life - Known working life : 1825-1900

History ("Mining Remains in South West Shropshire", T Davies et al, SCMC Account No.18)

This mine was part of a sett that included Grit Mine and it was leased by Messrs Lewis & Phillips in 1825. After miners driving the Wood Level discovered several veins on the property, the mine was worked via Ladywell Pit in the wood but there is no evidence that an engine was used. The lease was eventually acquired by John Taylor & Co in 1862 and they eventually decided to split the sett and concentrate on Ladywell Mine. The landlords refused to do this however, and so Taylor surrendered the lease in 1865. The lease was split eventually and in 1871 Ladywell was acquired by the Ladywell Mining Company.

Plans in the possession of Mr K.Lock show a proposed engine for the mine in 1873. These were drawn up by the Sandycroft Foundry and show a building 26ft 11ins x 14ft 1in. The foundations were for an engine described as a horizontal high pressure type, with a 14" cylinder, 24" stroke, boiler and 24" crushing mill. This engine was presumably intended to operate crushing and dressing machinery.

Ladywell Pit was deepened and a new main shaft was sunk which, by 1874, was at a depth of 16 fathoms below the Wood Level. A portable engine being used to wind on both of the shafts while the new engine house was being built. The engine and crushing machinery were made by the Sandycroft Foundry at Chester and were operational by 1875. The mine is reputed to have been very wet and the old miners stated that, when the pumps failed to cope with the water, they had to make a quick exit before the mine flooded. The main engine only appears from the foundations to have had a mere 22" cylinder and the double duty of pumping and winding may account for the occasions when the mine became flooded. The mine was never a large producer and there were few underground workings. It was unfortunate for the mine that, after the great expense of erecting the engine, the price of lead dropped and after 1882 it became uneconomical to continue operations on a large scale.

Surface Remains

The engine house, which is built of red brick and local stone, appears to have housed an engine which could be used for both winding or pumping. The long slot in the front wall housed the flywheel, which was used to transmit the reciprocating motion of the beam into rotative motion for winding. On the right hand side of the engine house is a walled-in trench, which would have been used for the winding drum and the 'walking beam' for transmitting motion to the pump rods. A clutch mechanism, consisting of an iron key or sprocket, would disengage the pump rods when winding was under way.

The engine house is unusual in that there are two 'wells' in the floor inside. Since a normal pumping engine must pause at the end of the down stroke for the pump buckets to fill, these would have held two different sets of controls since continuous motion was required when winding. It appears that flat rods or a winding rope ran from this engine to another shaft across the road in the plantation and the chimney is believed to have been sited on the opposite side of the road as well. The boiler house contained two boilers and was sited between the engine house and the road. Only the engine house remains today and it forms a prominent landmark beside the road to Shelve. The adjacent New Engine Shaft has been capped and even the 2" air pipe left through the capping is blocked.

North of the road in the plantation, Ladywell Pit has collapsed but Air Shaft is situated in a large spoil heap and is open with trees growing out of the top. It was descended in 1993 to a rubble blockage at 230ft.

South of the road in another plantation, First Roman Shaft, on the Wood Level, is amongst the trees but has been filled. Second Roman Shaft, is brick-lined and in good condition, though blocked to near surface with corrugated iron and rubbish. Other shafts are blocked with spoil.