The remains of Esgairgaled or Dylife Lead Mines comprise very extensive workings including a wheelpit (NPRN 309778) of the largest wheel which is 63 feet (19.2 metres) in diameter. Other remains include leats (NPRN 309776) and linear extraction features (NPRN 400157). The site is associated with settlement (NPRN 33994) and hushing features (NPRN 400155).

Work in the area started in Roman times and continued throughout the eighteenth century with Mackworth and Waller. The mine was sub-subsumed Dylife Mine after 1840's and reached peak production in 1863. Operations are thought to have ceased after 1884 although later work may have been carried out on tips.

The site was photographed during aerial reconnaissance by the RCAHMW ; see AP945030/48-52; 955038/54-5; 955039/56-7. It is shown on the Ordnance Survey County Series map for Montgomeryshire (sheet number XXXIII, 12) dated 1887.

Claire Parry, RCAHMW, 3 June 2011.

SOURCES:

Association for Industrial Archaeology: A Guide to the Industrial Archaeology of Mid-Wales, 1984
Bick, D.E The Old Metal Mines of Mid-Wales, pages 20-23, 1977