Scheduled MonumentsWalesCwm Heisian West Lead and Gold Mine
Post Medieval/Modern · Mill

Cwm Heisian West Lead and Gold Mine

Meirionnydd, Wales
Cadw SAM ME204
Period
Post Medieval/Modern
Site type
Mill
Broad class
Industrial
Nation
Wales
The designation
Reference
Cadw SAM ME204
Authority
Cadw
Designated
2001-08-31
Boundary

Scheduled area

© Mapbox · © OpenStreetMap contributors · Boundary data © Cadw

Overview

History & significance

Cwm Heisian West Lead and Gold Mine is a post-medieval and modern industrial site located in Wales. The mine exploited deposits of lead and gold occurring within the Upper Cambrian bedrock beneath the site, specifically within the Tremadoc formation of Tremadocian age. The underlying geology comprises mudstone, siltstone and sandstone, the common host rocks for metalliferous veins across this region.

The mill structures at Cwm Heisian West represent the processing infrastructure essential to nineteenth and twentieth-century mining operations. Such facilities would have concentrated and refined ore extracted from the surrounding workings, using the water resources and topography of the Welsh landscape to power mechanical machinery for crushing and separation of valuable minerals from waste rock.

The site is protected as a monument of national significance by Cadw, the Welsh heritage monuments authority, under reference ME204. This designation recognises the importance of Cwm Heisian West as evidence of Wales's substantial lead and gold mining industry, which shaped the economic development and industrial heritage of the region. The survival of mill buildings and associated mining infrastructure provides valuable physical testimony to these historic extraction and processing activities.

Cwm Heisian West Lead and Gold Mine is a scheduled monument protected by Cadw under reference ME204. View the official record →

About this monument

Questions & answers

What is Cwm Heisian West Lead and Gold Mine?

Cwm Heisian West Lead and Gold Mine is a post-medieval and modern industrial site located in Wales. It is designated a Scheduled Ancient Monument by Cadw under reference ME204.

What period does Cwm Heisian West Lead and Gold Mine date from?

Cwm Heisian West Lead and Gold Mine dates from the post medieval/modern period, and is classified as a mill. It is one of over 32,000 scheduled monuments protected across the UK.

Who is responsible for protecting Cwm Heisian West Lead and Gold Mine?

Cwm Heisian West Lead and Gold Mine 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 ME204.

What other scheduled monuments are near Cwm Heisian West Lead and Gold Mine?

Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including Glasdir Copper and Gold Mine Mill (5.4 km), Tyddyn Bach Round Barrow (6 km), Cefn Coch Cairn and Cist (6.2 km).

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Everything a full report reveals about Cwm Heisian West Lead and Gold Mine

This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 13 strands of Cwm Heisian West Lead and Gold Mine'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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The ground beneath

The bedrock under Cwm Heisian West Lead and Gold Mine

Cwm Heisian West Lead and Gold Mine stands on Upper Cambrian, Including Tremadoc, bedrock that formed in the Tremadocian. The rock here is mudstone, siltstone and sandstone.