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Daren Lead Mine Workings & Adit is a post-medieval and modern lead mine situated in Wales, protected by Cadw as a scheduled monument under reference CD144. The workings exploit the mineralized horizons within the local Llandovery rocks, a sequence of mudstone, siltstone and sandstone laid down during the Ordovician period. Lead veins were worked in areas of such geology across Wales from the medieval period onwards, but the visible remains at Daren date primarily from the post-medieval expansion of mining activity through to modern times.
The adit and associated workings represent the principal method of lead extraction during this period, with the horizontal or gently sloping entrance allowing miners to follow the ore-bearing strata into the hillside whilst controlling water drainage. The combination of mudstone, siltstone and sandstone at Daren would have provided variable resistance to mining, with the softer mudstones and siltstones easier to work but requiring careful timber support, whilst the sandstone bands offered greater stability.
Today the Daren lead mine workings form an important record of Wales's industrial heritage and the geological understanding of the period. The adit entrance and surrounding excavations survive as physical evidence of the techniques employed in extracting lead from the Llandovery bedrock, and the site contributes to understanding the distribution and exploitation of mineral resources in the Welsh landscape.
Daren Lead Mine Workings & Adit is a scheduled monument protected by Cadw under reference CD144. View the official record →
Daren Lead Mine Workings & Adit is a post-medieval and modern lead mine situated in Wales, protected by Cadw as a scheduled monument under reference CD144.
Daren Lead Mine Workings & Adit dates from the post medieval/modern period, and is classified as a lead mine. It is one of over 32,000 scheduled monuments protected across the UK.
Daren Lead Mine Workings & Adit 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 CD144.
Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including Pen-y-Felin Wynt Hillfort (4.7 km), Castell Bwa-drain Camp (5 km), Bwlch-y-Crwys Round Barrow (6.3 km).
This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 13 strands of Daren Lead Mine Workings & Adit'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.
Daren Lead Mine Workings & Adit stands on Llandovery Rocks (Undifferentiated), bedrock that formed in the Llandovery. The rock here is mudstone, siltstone and sandstone.