Bryngwiog Lead Mine

Overview

A Flintshire lead mine on the Halkyn Mountain orefield, being developed for lead ore when its workings were holed into old flooded ground on a Saturday in February 1862. Sixteen men drowned. The dead came from the lead-mining villages scattered across the mountain — Moel-y-Crio, Lixwm, Rhesycae, Rhewl, Cilcain and Northop.

History

The mine lay on Halkyn Mountain in Flintshire, one of the great British lead orefields, worked from the villages around Rhosesmor, Halkyn and Rhes-y-cae where lead mining had gone on for centuries — several buildings in the area are more than three hundred years old.

On Saturday 22 February 1862 water from old workings flooded into the mine and sixteen men were drowned (see Disasters, below). The dead were named as Edward Jones of Moel-y-Crio, Bennet Roberts of Lixwm, William Pierce of Rhewl, Edward Jones of Rhesycae, John Jones of Foel, Richard Blackwell of Llaneurgain, William Hooson of Cilcen, Job Jones and others — a roll drawn from villages right across the mountain.

Geology

The mine worked the lead orefield of Halkyn Mountain in Flintshire, where galena occurs in veins and flats in the Carboniferous Limestone. The field has been mined since at least Roman times, and that long history is itself the hazard: centuries of abandoned workings lie in the limestone, many of them full of water, and a new working driven into old ground without knowing where it lies is driving towards a reservoir.

Workings

Shaft and level workings on the Halkyn Mountain lead orefield. The workings were being driven into ground that had been mined before and left flooded, and were holed into it in 1862; nothing is recorded of the shafts, levels or dressing floors.

Closure

The closure date is not known for this mine.

What remains

Nothing is recorded of the present state of the site.

Disasters & major incidents

• Bryngwiog Lead Mine Inundation, 1862
  22 February 1862 · Flooding / Inundation · 16 fatalities
  On Saturday 22 February 1862, water from old workings broke into the Bryngwiog lead mine on Halkyn Mountain in Flintshire and sixteen men were drowned. The dead came from villages scattered across the mountain — Moel-y-Crio, Lixwm, Rhewl, Rhesycae, Foel, Llaneurgain and Cilcen.

What's uncertain

Points where sources disagree or the record could not be settled; both accounts are kept. All open questions in the archive.

• Sixteen men perished when water from old workings flooded the mine on Saturday 22 February 1862. (uncertain) ¹
• The dead were drawn from villages across Halkyn Mountain — Moel-y-Crio, Lixwm, Rhewl, Rhesycae, Foel, Llaneurgain and Cilcen among them. (uncertain) ¹
• The villages around the mine have a lead-mining history of centuries; several buildings in the Wern-y-Gaer area of Rhosesmor are more than three hundred years old. (uncertain) ²

Recorded claims

Individual factual claims, each attached to the source(s) that support it below. Where sources disagree, both are kept.

• Sixteen men perished when water from old workings flooded the mine on Saturday 22 February 1862. (uncertain) ¹
• The dead were drawn from villages across Halkyn Mountain — Moel-y-Crio, Lixwm, Rhewl, Rhesycae, Foel, Llaneurgain and Cilcen among them. (uncertain) ¹
• The villages around the mine have a lead-mining history of centuries; several buildings in the Wern-y-Gaer area of Rhosesmor are more than three hundred years old. (uncertain) ²

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (secondary) Bryngwiog Lead Mine (death roll) — welshcoalmines.co.uk
2. (secondary) Rhosesmor — Wikipedia

Record created: 3 September 2026 · Last researched: 3 September 2026