Loggerheads

Overview

Loggerheads, now a country park on the River Alyn, was worked for lead and zinc through the 18th and 19th centuries — its old workings, mills and the leat built in 1824 to carry water to the nearby Mold Mines now form the basis of a popular waterside walk.

History

The rich mineral veins in the karstic limestone around Loggerheads were extensively mined for lead, and later zinc, during the 18th and 19th centuries, extracting thousands of tons of ore; the settlement of Cadole was built nearby to house the miners working the district. A leat, or leete, built around 1824, ran along the side of the valley to carry water from the River Alyn to the lead mines at Mold, on land owned by the Grosvenor family, and survives today as the popular Leete Walk. Loggerheads' industrial history has since given way entirely to recreation and conservation, with the site becoming a country park managed around the historic Pentre corn mill and the mine remains scattered through the surrounding woodland.

Geology

The district's lead and zinc mineralisation occurs within karstic Carboniferous limestone, part of the wider North Wales orefield that also produced Halkyn Mountain and Minera's lead and zinc.

Geological setting: Hydrothermal Deposits (well documented example), Veins and Lodes (well documented example)

Workings

Ore was worked from veins in the limestone, with water for the district's mines carried some distance by a leat built around 1824 to serve the mines at Mold.

Closure

Mining at Loggerheads had ended by the later 19th century; the exact closure date is not well documented.

What remains

The site is now Loggerheads Country Park, designated a Special Area of Conservation and Site of Special Scientific Interest, managed around Pentre corn mill, woodland walks and the gorge known as Devil's Gorge.

Remnants of the mine workings and mills survive within the country park's woodland, alongside the restored Pentre corn mill and the route of the 1824 leat, now the Leete Walk.

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.

• A leat built around 1824 carried water from the River Alyn to the lead mines at Mold, and survives today as the Leete Walk. ^1,2

Sources

1. (secondary) Loggerheads Country Park — Wikipedia
2. (secondary) Loggerheads, Denbighshire — Wikipedia

Record created: 24 August 2026 · Last researched: 24 August 2026