Scheduled MonumentsWalesBrymbo Lead Smelting Works
Post Medieval/Modern · Industrial building

Brymbo Lead Smelting Works

Denbighshire, Wales
Cadw SAM DE233
Period
Post Medieval/Modern
Site type
Industrial building
Broad class
Industrial
Nation
Wales
The designation
Reference
Cadw SAM DE233
Authority
Cadw
Designated
1993-02-10
Boundary

Scheduled area

© Mapbox · © OpenStreetMap contributors · Boundary data © Cadw

Overview

History & significance

Brymbo Lead Smelting Works is a post-medieval and modern industrial building located in Wales and protected by Cadw (reference DE233). The works occupy land underlain by the Pennine Middle Coal Measures and South Wales Middle Coal Measures Formation, a geological sequence laid down during the Moscovian period. The bedrock comprises mudstone, siltstone, sandstone, coal seams, ironstone and ferricrete—deposits that made this region economically significant during the industrial era. The smelting works represents a phase of Welsh industrial development when lead processing formed part of the broader extractive industries exploiting the coal and mineral resources of the area. The survival of these structures reflects the importance of non-ferrous metal processing to the Welsh economy during the post-medieval period and into modern times.

Brymbo Lead Smelting Works is a scheduled monument protected by Cadw under reference DE233. View the official record →

About this monument

Questions & answers

What is Brymbo Lead Smelting Works?

Brymbo Lead Smelting Works is a post-medieval and modern industrial building located in Wales and protected by Cadw (reference DE233).

What period does Brymbo Lead Smelting Works date from?

Brymbo Lead Smelting Works dates from the post medieval/modern period, and is classified as a industrial building. It is one of over 32,000 scheduled monuments protected across the UK.

Who is responsible for protecting Brymbo Lead Smelting Works?

Brymbo Lead Smelting Works is a Scheduled Ancient Monument, legally protected by Cadw — the body responsible for designating and safeguarding heritage sites in Wales. The official designation reference is DE233.

What other scheduled monuments are near Brymbo Lead Smelting Works?

Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including Offa's Dyke: Sections N & S of Bryn yr Owen Colliery (6.9 km), Offa's Dyke: Section S of Aberderfyn Road (7.4 km), Wat's Dyke: Section extending from Middle Sontley to Black Brook Bridge (8.6 km).

Unlimited access

Everything a full report reveals about Brymbo Lead Smelting Works

This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 13 strands of Brymbo Lead Smelting Works's history, each drawn from the record and mapped to the exact spot:

Overview
An interactive map of the location with every monument and battle plotted, and a plain-language history built only from what the record holds.
Monuments
The legally protected scheduled monuments around the location, each with its period, type and significance.
Battlefields
The battles and sieges fought on this ground, mapped and set on a timeline of the wider conflict.
Roman Britain
The Roman roads, forts and towns near here, and the Iron Age people who held the land before Rome arrived.
Civil War
The Civil War fighting, garrisons and recorded militaria in this area, woven into the arc of 1642 to 1651.
Geology
The bedrock beneath the site, its age and rock type, reaching back hundreds of millions of years.
Local Names
What the street and field names around here actually mean, and the history buried inside them.
Historical Maps
Ordnance Survey maps from the 1800s, layered over the location as it stands today.
Literature
The books, county histories, charters and archives that mention this place, quoted with their sources.
Legal
The protected sites nearby and the metal-detecting, access and treasure laws that apply to this ground.
Spotlight
A deep dive into the most remarkable, lesser-known history of the place, traced back to the record.
Target Zones
For detectorists: the most promising ground to search nearby, ranked by confidence, with what to expect.
Timeline
The whole story of the location told era by era, from prehistory to the present day.
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Every location is different. Not every section appears for every place, only what the historical record actually holds turns up in a report.

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The ground beneath

The bedrock under Brymbo Lead Smelting Works

Brymbo Lead Smelting Works stands on Pennine Middle Coal Measures Formation And South Wales Middle Coal Measures Formation (Undifferentiated), bedrock that formed in the Moscovian. The rock here is mudstone, siltstone, sandstone, coal, ironstone and ferricrete.

The wider landscape

Around Brymbo Lead Smelting Works

Battle of Rowton Heath 1645Battle (1645) · ~12 miles