The Van Mine was one of the most productive lead mines in Europe for a period in the 1870s. There are records of trials in 1850 to 1852 and the first ore was produced in 1866. In 1871 the output was so great that a standard gauge railway of six miles length was constructed to join the Cambrian main line at Caersws. The mine's production started to decline in the 1890s and it eventually closed in 1921. (Bick)
The surviving remains include three yellow brick chimneys that were part of the smelting complex (NPRN 341148), an incline (NPRN 309762) and tramway (NPRN 309762). The site is associated with the Van Railway (NPRN 309762). The site was photographed during aerial reconnaissance by the RCAHMW and is recorded on aerial photograph 955037/59-63. The mine is shown on the Ordnance Survey County Series map for Montgomeryshire (sheet number XLI, 12) dated 1886.
Claire Parry, RCAHMW, 6 June 2011
SOURCES:
1. Bick, D.E The Old Metal Mines of Mid-Wales, pages 40-45, 1977
2. Association for Industrial Archaeology: A Guide to the Industrial Archaeology of Mid-Wales, 1984
Resources
DownloadTypeSourceDescription
application/pdfSimon J.S. Hughes ArticlesDigital of a report entitled "Results of Investigations at Van Mine, Fan, Llanidloes", by Simon S.J. Hughes, of the Welsh Mines Preservation Trust, 26/07/1992.
application/pdfCPATP - Clwyd-Powys Archaeological Trust Project ArchivesReport from an Historic Environment Desk-based Assessment of Van Mine, Llanidloes, carried out by Clwyd-Powys Archaeological Trust in 2022. Report No. 1875, Project no. 2635.
application/pdfSimon J.S. Hughes ArticlesDigital copy of an article entitled "The Van Mine, Llanidloes, Powys, Wales", by Simon S.J. Hughes, of the Welsh Mines Preservation Trust, originally published in the Journal of Mines and Minerals, No. 9, Spring/Summer 1991.
