Cyffty Mine

Overview

A small lead and zinc mine in Gwydir Forest south-west of Llanrwst, on the Principal Lode it shares with Parc, whose wheel pits, machine houses and shafts are now consolidated beside a short forest trail.

History

Cyffty mine lies in Gwydir Forest Park about two and a half miles south-west of Llanrwst, among the lead and zinc mines around Nant Bwlch-yr-haearn. It worked the Principal Lode south-west of the Llanrwst and Parc mines, and is also recorded as the Bettws lead mine and as the Cyffty lead and blende mine, blende being zinc ore. Its engine house was dated 1878. Water drawn from a stream through an artificial lake turned a wheel that pumped the mine, and the pumped water ran through a settling pit back into the stream.

That water brought the mine into court. The river bailiff reported the stream polluted from the mine in 1899 and again in 1902, when the Cyffty company was prosecuted and fined. The mine then stood idle until Captain William Oldfield and Mr Balmain took over the lease from the receiver of the old company on 31 October 1905; they dressed ore from 21 December 1905 to 13 January 1906 and by the following November had dressed five tons ten and a half hundredweight of lead. In November 1906 the Pencraig farmer J. B. Roberts sued the Cyffty Lead Mining Company at Llanrwst County Court for animals he said were poisoned by the water; the judge gave him £24 for two cows, with costs, and held an injunction over until the company improved its means of preventing pollution.

The mine closed after the First World War. Underground it was later joined to the Parc mine, whose workings were driven along the same lode. The engine house was demolished in 1966, and the remaining buildings were consolidated by Natural Resources Wales, with conservation work on a machine house in 2017.

Geology

A lead and zinc (blende) vein, the Principal Lode of the Gwydir field, shared with the Parc and Llanrwst mines.

Workings

Two shafts, the engine shaft and the western pumping shaft, four levels and a deep adit, pumped by a water wheel; later connected underground to Parc.

Closure

Closed after the First World War; the 1878 engine house was demolished in 1966.

What remains

The surface remains have been consolidated and made safe by Natural Resources Wales as a waymarked trail with interpretive panels; the engine shaft is capped and the western shaft has a grille walkway over it.

Wheel pits, ruined machine houses, the crushing house, a round buddle, the forge, a dam and two shafts.

Redevelopment

Part of Gwydir Forest Park, managed by Natural Resources Wales.

Related mines

• Parc Mine — Worked on the same Principal Lode and joined underground.

What's uncertain

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

• Cyffty lead mine closed down after the First World War. (uncertain) ⁵

Recorded claims

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

• Cyffty was worked on the Principal Lode, south-west of the Llanrwst and Parc mines. ¹
• Cyffty's engine house, dating from 1878, was demolished in 1966. ²
• The river bailiff reported the stream below Cyffty mine polluted in 1899 and in 1902, when proceedings against the company ended in a conviction. ^3,4
• Captain William Oldfield and Mr Balmain acquired the lease of Cyffty mine on 31 October 1905 from the receiver of the previous company. ^3,4
• Ore was dressed at Cyffty from 21 December 1905 to 13 January 1906, and five tons ten and a half hundredweight of lead had been dressed by November 1906. ³
• In November 1906 Llanrwst County Court awarded a farmer £24 and costs against the Cyffty mining company for two cows poisoned by water from the mine. ⁴
• Cyffty lead mine closed down after the First World War. (uncertain) ⁵
• The remains of Cyffty mine, including machine houses, wheel pits and shafts, have been partially restored and made safe for visitors. ^2,6,7

Sources

1. (observational) Cyffty Mine — Chris Cowdery (personal site)
2. (secondary) Bettws Lead Mine; Cyffty Lead and Blende Mine; Cyffty Mine (NPRN 33773) — Coflein (RCAHMW)
3. (primary) The Welsh Coast Pioneer and Review for North Cambria, 16 November 1906: A North Wales Lead Mining Co. Sued — The Welsh Coast Pioneer and Review for North Cambria (Welsh Newspapers Online, National Library of Wales)
4. (primary) Carnarvon and Denbigh Herald, 16 November 1906: Lead Mining in Trefriw: polluting water and poisoning animals — Carnarvon and Denbigh Herald (Welsh Newspapers Online, National Library of Wales)
5. (observational) Cyffty Mine, Gwydir Forest (Geograph 1841026) — Geograph Britain and Ireland
6. (secondary) Gwydir Forest Park - Cyffty Mine, near Llanrwst — Natural Resources Wales
7. (secondary) Cyffty Mine Trail walks guide — Natural Resources Wales

Record created: 19 October 2026 · Last researched: 20 October 2026