Lloyds Mines Ironbridge

Overview

A cluster of small coal, ironstone and clay pits on the steep, landslip-prone riverside slope between Ironbridge and Coalport, part of the ancient Coalbrookdale mining field and home to one of the earliest steam engines in Shropshire.

History

'The Lloyds' names a cluster of small mines on the steep, wooded slope of the Severn Gorge between Ironbridge and Coalport, part of the ancient Coalbrookdale mining field with industry recorded here as far back as the 14th century, though its identifiable individual pits mostly date from the 1780s and 1790s. Several had steam engines remarkably early: Smiths Gin Pit is recorded with an engine in 1726, among the earliest in Shropshire, and what became the Lloyds Pumping Pit had a working pumping engine by around 1820, described in a 1912 American engineering magazine as a 26-inch cylinder engine with an 8-foot stroke and a 20-foot cast-iron beam, its working barrels lifting water 150 feet from a 300-foot depth -- equipment already estimated, even then, at over a century old. Named individual pits included Stilehouse, Baugh's, Middle and Dales Pits, closed by the 1830s-40s; the Lloyds Clay Pit and the Lloyds Ironstone & Coal Pit, working into the 1880s-90s and briefly reopened around 1900; the Union and Wharf Pits, closed by 1880; and, to the east, Old Coppice, Water Engine Air Pit, Wallets Pit and New Hill (or Dingle) Pit, the last operated by the Madeley Wood Company with Francis Darby among its owners and probably closed by 1860. Coal, ironstone -- in both its Pennystone and Crawstone varieties -- and red clay were all raised here, most of the individual pits run not by one overarching company but by local chartermasters and named families (Baugh, Middle, Dale) contracting to work their own stretch of ground, in the pattern usual across the district. The Lloyds Pumping Pit's own engine suffered a structural failure around 1911 and ceased work the following year, though water-level readings continued to be taken until 1919; industry across the whole district had effectively died out by the early 20th century. The riverside road between Ironbridge and Coalport, notorious today for its bumps and landslip damage, runs through what was once a close-packed mining community of pits and houses, most of which have since been destroyed by the same slope instability that now threatens the road itself.

Workings

A cluster of individually small shaft pits, some equipped with pumping and winding steam engines from as early as 1726, raising coal, ironstone and red clay from the steep ground between Ironbridge and Coalport.

Closure

The Lloyds Pumping Pit's engine failed around 1911 and ceased work in 1912; industry across the wider Lloyds district had died out completely by the early 20th century.

What remains

The Lloyds Pumping Pit's shaft remains visible, its surviving structures stabilised and closed to public entry; the wider site is now largely wooded and subject to ongoing landslip.

The Lloyds Pumping Pit shaft and associated structures; scattered, landslip-damaged remains of other named pits across the wooded slope.

Abandoned workings can be dangerous — unstable ground, uncapped shafts, flooding and bad air are common even where a site looks safe from the surface. This entry describes history and general location only; it is not an access guide.

Recorded claims

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

• Smiths Gin Pit is recorded with a steam engine in 1726, among the earliest in Shropshire, and what became the Lloyds Pumping Pit had a working pumping engine by around 1820, described in a 1912 account as a 26-inch cylinder engine with an 8-foot stroke and a 20-foot cast-iron beam. ¹
• Named pits across the Lloyds East and West workings included Stilehouse, Baugh's, Middle, Dales, Union, Wharf, Old Coppice, Water Engine Air Pit, Wallets Pit and New Hill (or Dingle) Pit, raising coal, ironstone in its Pennystone and Crawstone varieties, and red clay, with most closed by the 1880s-90s. ^2,3
• The Lloyds Pumping Pit's engine suffered a structural failure around 1911 and ceased work in 1912, though water-level readings continued until 1919; industry across the wider Lloyds district had died out completely by the early 20th century. ¹

Sources

1. (secondary) The Lloyds Pumping Pit, Ironbridge — Shropshire Caving & Mining Club
2. (secondary) The Lloyds (West) Mines, Ironbridge — Shropshire Caving & Mining Club
3. (secondary) The Lloyds (East) Mines, Ironbridge — Shropshire Caving & Mining Club

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