These images form part of the Lost Content series and were taken in 2025. The Lost Content is a semi-autobiographical project exploring the cultural and literary landscape of Shropshire.
Smailbeach and Lords Hill
The small village of Snailbeach is located just off of the A488 Bishop’s Castle to Shrewsbury road in southwest Shropshire. The village, built to house mine workers, is dominated by the remains of the Sanailbeach Lead Mine.
Snailbeach mine was one of the world’s most productive lead mines, and the site is home to the best selection of mining buildings in the U.K. Shropshire Hills National Landscape
At its peak, in the 1850s, the mine employed 500, but by 1911 cheep imports had made the extraction of lead at Snailbeach too expensive and the pumps were turned off – flooding the lower levels. Small scale mining of Barytes continued until 1955 when the mine closed and the buildings fell into disrepair.
The mine became a Scheduled Monument in 1997 and an unmanned visitor centre was created 1998.
The mine also features in the climatic scenes of the 1950 Powell & Pressburger film Gone to Earth.
Main image: Spoil tip at Snailbreach mine – also known as Lords Hill
(All images have been made with a vintage 58mm Helios 44-2 f2 lens – coincidentally, first released around the year I was born – they were all shot ‘wide open’ at an aperture of f2 and, unusually for me, in colour)
-END-
All images © W N BISHOP