Welsh Journals

THE SYSTEM OF WATERCOURSES TO LEAD MINES FROM THE RIVER LERI The great problem in the lead mining industry in mid-Wales as well as elsewhere was the supply of sufficient water to work the ma- chinery and to dress the ores. Watercourses were constructed to exploit the streams and carry the water over large distances to provide enough head to several mines in succession. One such case which appears not to have been previously studied is the use made of the waters of the rivers Camdwr and Leri by the Pen-y-cefn, Llety-Evan-hen, Cwmsymlog, Cwmerfin, Cwmsebon, and other mines, in the middle of the nineteenth century. A map has been compiled to show the watercourses in use from then to the end of the century. This is self- explanatory. The geography of the leats is based on the sources indi- cated in the caption. We have also tried to trace their history. The system was quite an extensive one, aggregating a total of about 21 1 miles of artificial watercourses. (See Fig. 4) In an estate map of 1778 mine works are shown to the north of Pen-y-cefn but no artificially-made watercourses.1 By the time the Tithe Commission mapped the area in the 1840's, two leats (a and b on the map) had been made at Pen-y-cefn, one in 1842, for Henry Francis wrote to his brother Matthew the new leat is carrying the water well The reference to the new leat suggests that the other one was already there. Both leats on the tithe map are taken from the small stream to the north of the mine works. In 1842 John Horridge made a spectacular discovery at Cwmsebon4 and this must have led him to construct the watercourse (c) from the Leri to Cwmsebon.6 It was quite an undertaking as the distance between the river and the mine was 6 miles. No further discoveries could have been made, for Horridge became bankrupt and by 1851 Cwmsebon had fallen into the hands of Absalom Francis (brother to Matthew) and John Jones Atwood. 6 Meanwhile Pen-y-cefn and Llety-Evan-hen, under the management of the Francises had been working on a small scale for which the two leats at Pen-y-cefn would have been adequate-Llety-Evan-hen was worked on the surface only. However, late in 1848 the two mines became the Court Grange Mining Co., under new ownership, but still under the same management. 7 There had been an increase in home demand for lead which encouraged expansion, and thus opera- tions at Pen-y-cefn (Court Grange) increased. A large water wheel, crusher, and larger dressing floors were added to the existing machin- eryS and no doubt the water supply proved inadequate. It was probably then that a new leat (d), nearly two miles long, was constructed to