Perkinsbeach Mine

Overview

A lead mine in the Stiperstones orefield of south-west Shropshire, one of twelve sites covered by the Shropshire Mines Trust's own field guide to the district, though no surviving account of its individual working history has yet been located.

History

Perkinsbeach 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. A genuine search of the Northern Mine Research Society's Shropshire pages, the Shropshire Mines Trust's own site and Shropshire Caving & Mining Club material -- the specialist bodies that document this orefield in detail -- found no operator, working dates or output specific to Perkinsbeach itself; the mine is documented today only as one of the twelve sites named in the Trust's field guide to the Stiperstones mines, alongside the much better recorded Snailbeach, Tankerville and Ladywell.

Workings

Worked in two sections -- Perkinsbeach itself to the south-west and the separately operated New Venture to the north-east, the latter re-equipped with steam winding engines after an 1870 takeover, though it worked only briefly despite the investment. The principal shaft, Maddox's Shaft, appears on both the 1882 and 1902 surveys. Some 928 tons of lead ore were raised between 1870 and 1897, and 9,180 tons of barytes between 1889 and 1912, before the site was finally abandoned in 1925.

What remains

A 1997 building survey found many of the mine's structures ruinous, unstable or showing local collapse: four buildings survive only as low stone walls, three others were judged unstable, and the former mine office buildings were comparatively stable. Multiple open stopes and two open adits remain visible, along with a buried spoil heap; access to the lower levels is restricted. Five original drainage levels were driven into the southern hillside, though not all have been relocated.

Low stone walls from four mine buildings, an office building in better repair, open stopes, two open adits, and a buried spoil heap.

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.

• 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
• Perkinsbeach is one of twelve sites -- alongside Snailbeach, Central Snailbeach, Myttonsbeach, Burgham, 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
• Perkinsbeach raised some 928 tons of lead ore between 1870 and 1897 and 9,180 tons of barytes between 1889 and 1912, before final abandonment in 1925. ³
• A 1997 survey found most of the mine's surface buildings ruinous or unstable, with four reduced to low stone walls; open stopes, two open adits and a buried spoil heap remain visible today. ³

Photographs & further reading

This page doesn't try to reproduce everything — these are the best original sources found for this mine.

Sources

1. (secondary) Stiperstones — Shropshire Geological Society
2. (secondary) Field Guide to Stiperstones Mines (publication listing) — Shropshire Mines Trust
3. (primary) Perkins Beach Mine (Shropshire Historic Environment Record, PRN 01310) — Shropshire Council Historic Environment Record

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