Clive Engine House was built in 1862 for a 100-inch Cornish pumping engine serving the Talargoch lead mine. The pumping shaft was immediately to the north of the engine house and there were several other shafts in the vicinity. Secondary structures were attached to the engine house on the west side and minor buildings to the south-east; the boiler house was adjoining to the east. The boilers were supplied with water carried in a leat, taken from a river some 1.5km to the south-east, and including on its course a tunnel and an aqueduct each some 200m long. The building measures approximately 13m by 11m and the walls are of uncoursed limestone masonry with ashlar arches to openings, under a pitched slated roof; the bob wall is approximately 2m thick. A keystone over the main arch is marked 1860. The engine house became disused in 1883 and the mine closed in 1884.
(Source: field observation, B.A.Malaws, 20 April 1993 and Cadw listing description, 12.10.2001)
B.A.Malaws, RCAHMW, 20 August 2008.