Burgham Mine

Overview

A lead, zinc and barytes mine in the Stiperstones orefield of south-west Shropshire, also recorded as Burgam or Burgum Mine, whose abandonment plan is dated 30 September 1893. Its operators, working dates and output are not recorded; the BGS catalogue also holds a plan of the Perkins Beach and Burgam mines together, and in 1995 its levels were a roost for lesser horseshoe and Myotis bats.

History

Burgham Mine -- also recorded elsewhere as Burgam or Burgum Mine -- worked a vein within the Stiperstones lead-mining district, where mineralisation runs through the steeply-dipping Mytton Flags above the Stiperstones Quartzite, a district mined on and off from Roman times to the 1950s. Its own operators, working dates and output are unknown. It is one of the twelve sites described in the Shropshire Mines Trust's field guide to the Stiperstones mines and a recorded mineral locality, and in 1995 the Shropshire Caving & Mining Club found its levels in use as a roost by lesser horseshoe and Myotis bats.

Geology

A vein in the Stiperstones lead-zinc district, where the mineralisation runs through the steeply dipping Mytton Flags above the Stiperstones Quartzite.

Workings

Unknown.

Closure

An abandonment plan for the mine is dated 30 September 1893; whether it was worked again afterwards is not established.

What remains

In 1995 its levels were a roost for lesser horseshoe and Myotis bats.

Recorded claims

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

• The Stiperstones district's lead-zinc veins run through the steeply-dipping Mytton Flags above the Stiperstones Quartzite, worked on and off from Roman times to the 1950s. ¹
• Burgham is one of twelve sites -- alongside Snailbeach, Central Snailbeach, Myttonsbeach, Perkinsbeach, Tankerville, Pennerley, Bog Mine, Ladywell Mine, Grit Mines, Roman Gravels Mine and Wood Mine -- covered in the Shropshire Mines Trust's field guide to the Stiperstones mines. ²
• In 1995 the Shropshire Caving & Mining Club recorded Burgam Mine's upper and lower levels as used by lesser horseshoe bats, and the lower levels also by Myotis bats. ³
• An abandonment plan for Burgam, dated 30 September 1893, records it as working lead and zinc ores and barytes; BGS also holds a plan of the Perkins Beach and Burgam mines together. ^4,5
• Mindat records Burgam Mine, also Burgham or Burgum Mine, at SO 358 996 in Worthen with Shelve, below the Stiperstones. ⁶

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (secondary) Stiperstones — Shropshire Geological Society
2. (secondary) Field Guide to Stiperstones Mines (publication listing) — Shropshire Mines Trust
3. (secondary) Below 95.2: Quarterly Journal of the Shropshire Caving & Mining Club (site and bat survey table) — Shropshire Caving & Mining Club
4. (primary) Burgam (Mining Remediation Authority abandonment plan OM3055, via BGS catalogue item 21861732) — British Geological Survey / Mining Remediation Authority
5. (primary) Perkins Beach and Burgam Mines (BGS mine plan KP6973, item 8347) — British Geological Survey
6. (secondary) Burgam Mine (Burgham Mine; Burgum Mine), Stiperstones, Worthen with Shelve, Shropshire — mindat.org

Record created: 31 August 2026 · Last researched: 18 September 2026