Potter's Pit

Overview

A Stiperstones-orefield lead mine folded into the Tankerville Great Consols combine in 1879-80 alongside Tankerville, Pennerley and Bog Mine, under the direction of a man who also sat on the board of the already-published Devon Great Consols in Devon.

History

Potter's Pit worked a vein in the Stiperstones lead-mining district, in the same western group of mines as Tankerville, Pennerley and Bog Mine. Following the collapse of the West Tankerville Mining Company in 1879 over a dispute about lead sales, the financier Peter Watson -- a director of the already-published Devon Great Consols copper mine near Tavistock -- formed Tankerville Great Consols in 1879-80, combining all four mines under one management. Between 1881 and 1882 the combine deepened Watson's Shaft at Tankerville itself to 244 fathoms, around 515 metres, making it the deepest point on the Stiperstones orefield and bringing substantial new ore deposits into reach; no detail specific to Potter's Pit's own workings within this combined operation has yet been located. Falling lead prices halted underground development in 1884, and shareholders voted that April to dissolve the company; the group's equipment, including whatever stood at Potter's Pit, was auctioned in 1902.

Workings

No reliable detail on Potter's Pit's own individual workings has yet been located; it was developed as part of the shared Tankerville Great Consols operation.

Closure

Closed by 1884 when Tankerville Great Consols was liquidated after falling lead prices halted development; equipment was auctioned in 1902.

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.

• Following the 1879 collapse of the West Tankerville Mining Company, Peter Watson -- a director of Devon Great Consols in Devon -- formed Tankerville Great Consols in 1879-80, combining Tankerville, Bog Mine, Pennerley and Potter's Pit under one management. ¹
• Between 1881 and 1882 the combine deepened Watson's Shaft at Tankerville to 244 fathoms (about 515 metres), the deepest point on the orefield; falling lead prices halted development in 1884, and shareholders voted that April to dissolve the company, with equipment auctioned in 1902. ^2,1
• Tankerville Great Consols, which developed Potter's Pit alongside Tankerville, Pennerley and Bog Mine, was formed after the original Tankerville Mining Company's 1878 liquidation, under the main partnership of Peter Watson -- also a director of Devon Great Consols in Devon. Compressed air boring machines, believed the first of their kind in Shropshire, were introduced in 1882; pumping stopped in May 1884, ending the main period of lead mining, though baryte continued to be worked in the upper levels above the drainage level until final abandonment in 1925. ¹

Photographs & further reading

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

Sources

1. (secondary) Tankerville Lead Mine, Shropshire — Shropshire Caving & Mining Club
2. (primary) Tankerville Mine — Northern Mine Research Society

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