Pennerley Mine

Overview

Pennerley, on the Stiperstones hills of south Shropshire, spent its most productive years bound up with three neighbouring mines — Tankerville, Bog and Potter's Pit — combined in 1879 into the short-lived Tankerville Great Consols, whose collapse just five years later left Pennerley's later history a long, largely unsuccessful search for one more revival.

History

Lead mining on the Stiperstones, one of Britain's major lead-mining districts through the 18th and 19th centuries, had been under way at Pennerley for generations before Peter Watson — a director of the much larger Devon Great Consols in Tavistock — combined Pennerley with the neighbouring Tankerville, Bog and Potter's Pit mines into the Tankerville Great Consols company in 1879-80. The new company took over working the combined mines in 1880, but falling lead prices brought the venture down quickly: pumping stopped and the main period of lead working ended in May 1884, when the company was liquidated. Some baryte continued to be raised from the upper levels above the drainage level for a further four decades, and the site was not finally abandoned until 1925. Later accounts describe at least one further attempt to make the mine pay, as late as 1953, when a new shaft was reportedly sunk — though the mining gear intended for it was sold off before it was ever put to use.

Geology

The mine worked lead veins within the Shelve orefield of the Stiperstones hills, the same hydrothermal mineralised belt worked at the neighbouring Roman Gravels and Bog mines.

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

Workings

Pennerley was worked in combination with the neighbouring Tankerville, Bog and Potter's Pit mines under the Tankerville Great Consols company from 1879 to 1884, sharing a common drainage level; baryte continued to be raised from the upper levels above this drainage level until the site's final abandonment in 1925.

Closure

The main lead-working company, Tankerville Great Consols, was liquidated in 1884; limited baryte working continued until final abandonment in 1925, and one further unsuccessful revival attempt is reported as late as 1953.

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.

• Pennerley was combined with the neighbouring Tankerville, Bog and Potter's Pit mines into the Tankerville Great Consols company in 1879-80; the company was liquidated in 1884 after falling lead prices ended the main period of working, though baryte extraction continued until the site's final abandonment in 1925. ^1,2
• One further attempt to work the mine is reported as late as 1953, when a new shaft was sunk, though the mining gear intended for it was sold off before it was ever used. ³

Sources

1. (secondary) The Bog and Pennerley Mines — Stiperstones and Corndon Hill Country Landscape Partnership
2. (primary) Tankerville Mine — Northern Mine Research Society
3. (secondary) About — Pennerley (local history blog)
4. (primary) Tankerville, Bland's, Lewis, Pennerley, Potter's mine plans (BGS Mine Plans Catalogue) — British Geological Survey / The Coal Authority

Record created: 22 August 2026 · Last researched: 22 August 2026