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Description:  The monument includes Snailbeach new smeltmill and the earthworks of associated reservoirs and a transport system. The smeltmill was constructed in 1862 for the Snailbeach Mining Company, whose lead mine was located some 0.8 kilometres to the south. This new reverberatory mill was connected to the mine by a railway. The smeltmill is believed to have originally housed at least four reverberatory furnaces, a roasting hearth and, a vaulted chamber used for storage. The furnaces were located against the rear wall of the building and were charged from above, access being provided via a railway track which ran parallel with the east side of the building. The furnaces themselves have been removed. Five flues, Listed Grade II, are visible exiting the rear of the mill structure from which they run independently to an underground condensing chamber where further quantities of lead would have been recovered from the fumes. From here, a single flue ran southwards as far as Lordshill at Snailbeach mine where the fumes were discharged via a chimney. Although the reverberatory furnace was effective in removing lead from the ore, the slag was still fairly rich in metal and, during the late 19th century, it was invariably resmelted in a slagmill. The slagmill at Snailbeach, Listed Grade II, is situated to the north east of the smeltmill and is now used for storage. The blast required for the slagmill was provided by steam powered fans. To the north east of the slagmill are four small reservoirs which have been terraced into the hillslope; now mostly dry but would have provided the water supply for the steam engine. Immediately to the north and north west of the slagmill are several slag tips. The site was served by a network of railway tracks which transported material from one process to another. Buried remains of the track beds are believed to survive beneath the ground surface. Scheduled.

Country:  ENGLAND

County:  SHROPSHIRE

District:  SOUTH SHROPSHIRE

Parish:  WORTHEN WITH SHELVE

Grid Reference:   SJ37370303

Map Reference:  [EPSG:27700] 337370, 303030

Period:  MODERN, POST MEDIEVAL, 1867 - 1899, 1862

Subject:  CONDENSING FLUE, EARTHWORK, EXTANT BUILDING, MILL, MINERAL RAILWAY, RESERVOIR, REVERBERATORY FURNACE, ROASTING HEARTH, RUINED BUILDING, SLAG HEAP, SLAG HEARTH, SMELT MILL, STEAM ENGINE, STOREHOUSE, STRUCTURE, SUB SURFACE DEPOSIT

Identifiers: 
[ADS] Depositor Id: SJ 30 SE 32
[ADS] Import RCN: NMR_NATINV-1126494

People Involved: 
[Publisher] Historic England