This site is more unusual than most of the “primitive mines” investigated so far within the Plynlimon area in that the ore body here is dominated by iron pyrite, although copper and lead/zinc ores are also present; indeed the latter have been recorded from the vein.
Lewis Morris refers to stone hammers from this site in his description of Twll y mwyn in 1742, and it was this that led us to investigate what otherwise appeared to be a rather unlikely choice of mine.
Fragments of these tools as well as charcoal were recovered from an ancient spoil mound exposed within the side of a track during the course of investigations carried out in 1996. The ancient spoil here was associated with a large “pit” which had been holed through and drained during 19th C mining operations (Timberlake 1996).
A C14 date of between 2135 -
This website was made possible by a grant from the Cambrian Archaeology Association
Lewis Morris' account of the discoveries at Twll y mwyn in 1744 alongside the hammer
stone that he drew from Tyn y fron. (From D. Bick Old Metal Mines of Mid-
Track section at Tyn y fron Mine with section detail and C14 date.
