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Clwyd Metal Mines Survey


South Minera Dixon's Shaft

South Minera Dixon's Shaft lies in the community of Esclusham in the county of Wrexham. It is located at Ordnance Survey national grid reference SJ25654960. The mine is recorded in the CPAT Historic Environment Record as number 104365 and this number should be quoted in all correspondence.

Lead (Late 19th century-1913)

Geology
Cefn-y-fedw Sandstone overlying Carboniferous Limestone.

Workings
A track leads uphill from Walkers' Shaft to Dixon's, entering the sett via two ponds and a long gulley. Documentary evidence records an Engine house, built by the Wrexham Water Company, a cabin and stables as being on the sett in 1899. A very large shaft at SJ25654960 has the remains of a balance pit for an "A" frame. An area of spoil remains to the east of the shaft. The mine was partly drained by the Gomerian Level, which followed the South Minera Vein as far as Dixon's Shaft. Adit shafts along the Level can be located at SJ25005900, SJ26104880, SJ26154865, SJ26254850, and SJ26304835. The Minera Mountain Company (1877-1913) incorporated the workings of South Minera and Park.

Transport
A substantial trackway connects Dixons to Walkers shaft. The reference to stables infers transport by horse and cart.

Power
Between the shaft at SJ25654960 and the ruined engine house to the north of it are the remains of a pit with two mounting bolts. Mounting bolts remain in the stonework of the engine house, suggesting a horizontal engine, and boiler house foudations to the west of it. A decorative "Arch" feature appears to underlie the engine base at its northern end.

Processing
No evidence.

Other features
The foundations of a two-roomed building remain to the east of the shaft and a possible mine office or store remains at basal layers further to the east, on the edge of the sett.


This HTML page is reproduced from the Powys and Clwyd Metal Mine Surveys which were undertaken between May 1992 and December 1993 by Mark Walters and Pat Frost of the Clwyd Powys Archaeological Trust with financial support from Powys County Council, Clwyd County Council and Cadw: Welsh Historic Monuments. Further information about this site is available in CPAT's Regional Historic Environment Record.
Page produced by Rachel Stebbings and Chris Martin.