Scheduled Monument with surviving Victorian engine house and octagonal chimney from the deepest shaft in the Shropshire orefield, managed by Shropshire Mines Trust at Tankerville.
Tankerville Mine on the western edge of the Stiperstones in Shropshire began as the Ovenpipe Mine in the early nineteenth century and is now regarded as one of the finest surviving nineteenth-century mining complexes in Shropshire. The earliest known mining was in the 1830s. In 1864 the full potential of the richest lead vein in the county was exploited under Heighway Jones.
The Tankerville Mining Company was floated in 1870, sinking Watson's Shaft to what would become the deepest shaft in the Shropshire orefield at 1,690 feet (approximately 515 metres). The mine worked lead, barytes, silver, and zinc between the 1860s and 1925. Falling lead prices caused the main period of mining to end in May 1884, and the mine was finally abandoned in 1925.
The site was transferred to the Shropshire Mines Trust in December 1996, and the surviving structures — including Watson's Engine House with its 40-inch pumping engine and octagonal chimney, ore bins, and the remains of the Ovenpipe engine house and chimney — are preserved as a scheduled monument accessible via a concessionary path.
The earliest known mining at what became Tankerville Mine was in the early nineteenth century, when the site was known as Ovenpipe Mine and was leased by Walker, Cross and Company from the 1830s. The ore was a small pipe vein of galena (lead ore) worked by means of a crosscut and a small shaft; the ore was removed by a horse gin using the shaft that was later enlarged as Ovenpipe Shaft. Walker, Cross and Company had their main interests at the Bog and Pennerley mines and made little investment at this site. Between 1860 and 1863 Fred Jones and Company worked the mine with Captain Arthur Waters as manager. Heighway Jones, of the Bog and Pennerley Company, working several adjacent mines, recognised the potential of Oven Pipe Mine and, in 1864, leased and managed the site, discovering and exploiting the full richest lead vein in Shropshire.
In 1870 a joint stock company, the Tankerville Mining Company, was floated to raise capital for mine expansion. The company was renamed in honour of Lord Tankerville, who owned the mineral rights and most of the land. Watson's Engine Shaft was sunk from 1870, encountering a large quantity of lead ore at approximately 500 feet (154 metres), and was carried down following the vein. Ore extracted more than paid for the sinking costs. In late 1870 a 25 horsepower engine was installed for winding from all shafts, with additional engines of 6 horsepower and 60 horsepower installed in 1871. In 1872 a letter to the Mining Journal provided detailed sinking costs for the shafts. Watson's Shaft was completed to 190 fathoms below adit (252 fathoms from the surface, or 461 metres in total) by 1874; the shaft was vertical for the first 52 fathoms (95 metres), then followed the angle of the vein.
The Watson's Engine House was built in 1876 to house a 40-inch pumping engine. In 1877 falling lead prices and rising costs began to affect the company. By 1878 the Tankerville Mining Company was operating at a loss and went into liquidation. In 1879 to 1880 Tankerville Great Consols was formed by Peter Watson, a director of Devon Great Consols copper mine in Devon, combining Tankerville with the Bog, Pennerley, and Potter's Pit mines. Between 1881 and 1882 Watson's Shaft was deepened to the 244 fathoms level, giving a total shaft depth of 515 metres, making it the deepest shaft in the Shropshire orefield. In 1882 compressed air boring machines were used at Tankerville, believed to be the first such machines used in Shropshire. In May 1884 pumping was stopped, ending the main period of lead mining. Rich ore bodies had been discovered during this final deepening, but the falling price of lead meant driving levels was no longer economically viable. In April 1884 shareholders voted to wind up the company.
In 1889 to 1890 the mine was worked briefly by the Earl of Tankerville himself with four men on the tips. Between 1891 and 1893 the mine was leased by the Shropshire United Mining Co. Ltd., who worked the upper levels of Old Lode and the mine tips for lead and barytes; this is believed to have produced ore already at surface rather than new extraction. In 1895 a licence was granted to S M Ridge for mineral searching but little work was actually done. Between 1911 and 1913 the mine was leased by Shropshire Lead Mines Ltd., who appear to have been unsuccessful. The site and its fittings were eventually sold by auction in 1902 (when the engines and mine equipment were finally disposed of) and the mine was finally abandoned in 1925.
The four shafts at the mine were Lewis's, Old or Ovenpipe, Watson's, and New Shaft. Lewis's Shaft was filled in and landscaped in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Ovenpipe Shaft, located in the farmyard next to Tankerville Lodge, has been completely filled. The mine office was converted into a dwelling known as Tankerville Farm. In the 1950s and 1960s some buildings on the lower level were demolished and cattle sheds erected in their place.
Conservation work began in 1995, funded by English Heritage, Shropshire County Council, and South Shropshire District Council. The Conservation Area Partnership scheme paid for reconstruction of Watson's Engine House, the adjacent ore bins, and the Ovenpipe engine house and its truncated chimney. Watson's Shaft was stabilised: the shaft walls at the top were reinforced with concrete rings and a cap fitted. In December 1996 the site was transferred to the Shropshire Mines Trust. Most of the Tankerville Mine site has been scheduled as a Scheduled Monument (Historic England list entry 1014865). The main surviving structures include Watson's Engine House with its octagonal chimney, ore bins, a small metal headgear placed over Watson's Shaft, the count house (now used as a dwelling), cottages (now used as workshops), and the remains of the magazine. Ovenpipe Shaft's engine house and chimney stub, in the smaller area of the site, are only accessible in the company of a trustee. The site is split into two areas separated by a track, and a concessionary path provides public access to the main site throughout the year, with no admission charge. Interpretation panels installed by the Shropshire Hills AONB Partnership through the Stiperstones and Corndon Hill Country Landscape Partnership Scheme have been added to the site.