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Pibble Lead Mines is a lead mining site in Kirkcudbrightshire, Scotland, situated on bedrock of the Crawford Group and Moffat Shale Group. These Llandovery-age rocks, comprising mudstone, chert and smectite-claystone, underlie the mineralized veins that drew exploitation here. The geological foundation of these ancient sedimentary deposits provided the conditions for lead ore formation that would later attract industrial activity to this remote location.
Lead mining in Scotland developed significantly from the seventeenth century onwards, and the Pibble workings represent part of this broader extractive heritage. The site's mineralogy, determined by its underlying geology, would have made it attractive to miners seeking workable lead deposits. Such mines typically involved both surface and underground operations, with workings following the ore veins through the local rock sequences.
Today, Pibble Lead Mines is protected as a scheduled monument by Historic Environment Scotland under reference SM5289. This designation recognises the site's importance as evidence of Scotland's industrial and mining heritage. The landscape retains the physical traces of past working, forming an archaeological record of the methods and scale of lead extraction in this region.
Pibble,lead mines is a scheduled monument protected by Historic Environment Scotland under reference SM5289. View the official record →
Pibble Lead Mines is a lead mining site in Kirkcudbrightshire, Scotland, situated on bedrock of the Crawford Group and Moffat Shale Group. It is designated a Scheduled Ancient Monument by Historic Environment Scotland under reference SM5289.
Pibble,lead mines is a Scheduled Ancient Monument, legally protected by Historic Environment Scotland — the body responsible for designating and safeguarding heritage sites in Scotland. The official designation reference is SM5289.
Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including Claughreid, stone circle 600m NW of (4.7 km), Standing Stone of Bagbie, standing stone (5.3 km), Cairn Holy, chambered cairn 35m S of Cairnholy (6.7 km).
This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 14 strands of Pibble,lead mines'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.
Pibble,lead mines stands on Crawford Group And Moffat Shale Group (Undifferentiated), bedrock that formed in the Llandovery. The rock here is mudstone, chert and smectite-claystone.