Wixhill Mine is north of Shrewsbury, on a small hill east of the A49 (by a lay-by) near to the village of Weston.
The Brockhurst fault has caused the outcrop by throwing Mottled Sandstone against Marls. The sandstone in this area is contains malachite and the mine probably worked asbolite, wad and barite as at Clive.
Historical Background
The mine may have been worked in the mid to late 1600's - in 1697 the landowner was asked for a lease by Sir Phillip Egerton (owner of Gallantry Bank Copper Mine - on the opposite "rim" of the Cheshire-Shropshire basin). to re-open the mine.
It may have been investigated by the Reverend Snelson in the 1740's, (to no avail) and was briefly reworked between 1865 and 1867.
Remains Today
The remains of 3 shafts and 2 short adits can still be found.
A padlocked man-access shaft - now used as a well, and a fenced run-in shaft are clearly visible in a field beside the road. Further up the hill, beyond a fence, a pair of short trial levels (about 10m long) enter the hillside.
The eastern level is partially blocked, but is visible through a small head-sized hole from the parallel western level. There is some mineralisation, but no evidence of copper. The hand dressed levels are of a similar size and shape to the one discovered at Pym Hill.
The surface of the hill suggests, possible opencasting or quarrying has also taken place here. On the Northern side of the hill, not far from the entrance of to the adits is an interesting vertical cutting in the rock face ending in a horizontal cutting with a soft depression where the two meet - very suggestive of a filled shaft, which may have been exposed as a result of the quarrying activity.
About 1km South of the mine site in Weston Heath Coppice there are some possible trials, which may have been associated with Wixhill mine.
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Credits - Thanks to: Report: Peter Eggleston and Kelvin Lake |
This site is on Private Property, there is no public access. |
