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Cwmsymlog Lead Mine is a post-medieval and modern silver mine located in Wales and protected as a scheduled monument by Cadw under reference CD159. The mine exploited veins of silver-bearing lead ore that formed within the Llandovery Rocks, a sequence of mudstone, siltstone and sandstone bedrock of Silurian age. These sedimentary strata provided the geological setting for the hydrothermal mineralisation that created the ore bodies worked here.
Lead and silver mining in Wales expanded significantly from the sixteenth century onwards as demand for both metals grew. The Cwmsymlog workings represent the later phases of Welsh mining activity, when improved technology and deeper excavation made marginal deposits economically viable. The site's landscape bears the physical traces of this exploitation, with mine workings and associated surface remains recording centuries of intermittent extraction and processing.
The monument preserves evidence of the mining techniques and industrial infrastructure typical of post-medieval Welsh lead mines. Structures and features visible across the site document the transition from shallow surface workings to the deeper underground methods required to follow ore veins through the Llandovery bedrock. Together, these remains illustrate the importance of silver and lead mining to Wales's economy and industrial heritage during the early modern and modern periods.
Cwmsymlog Lead Mine is a scheduled monument protected by Cadw under reference CD159. View the official record →
Cwmsymlog Lead Mine is a post-medieval and modern silver mine located in Wales and protected as a scheduled monument by Cadw under reference CD159.
Cwmsymlog Lead Mine dates from the post medieval/modern period, and is classified as a silver mine. It is one of over 32,000 scheduled monuments protected across the UK.
Cwmsymlog Lead 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 CD159.
Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including Round Barrow SW of Pen-Rhiwlas (3.8 km), Tan-y-Ffordd Hillfort (4 km), Castell Bwa-drain Camp (4.5 km).
This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 13 strands of Cwmsymlog Lead Mine's history, each drawn from the record and mapped to the exact spot:
Every location is different. Not every section appears for every place, only what the historical record actually holds turns up in a report.
Cwmsymlog Lead Mine stands on Llandovery Rocks (Undifferentiated), bedrock that formed in the Llandovery. The rock here is mudstone, siltstone and sandstone.