MEM24724 - 19th Century shaft at Roman Lode (Monument)

5.1.10, SS 7494 3824. A shaft sunk by the Dowlais Company in June 1857 on the line of the main drift. A 6.1 metre diameter waterwheel was installed near the footbridge across the Barle at Cornham Ford which drove a pump in the shaft. The level of the main drift was reached in May 1859 and work commenced to meet it northwards and to extend the drift southwards. Work was abandoned when the heading was still 161 metres away. No ore was encountered. The Exmoor Mining Syndicate partly cleared out the shaft in 1911-12 and an adit was driven to meet it from SS 7500 3814. It was then extended eastwards and tramway was laid in here in September 1912. In April 1913 Roman lode was cut and followed in good ore until May, when the heading broke through into the openwork trench about 30 metres below ground. It was followed eastwards but all the ore had already been exploited. It was thought to reach 45.7 metres deep and in 1995, it had been blocked with sediment washed down from the valley above. [1] The location of the shaft was recorded as SS 74953 38258 using GPS in 2010. [2]