Leadhills Mines

This photograph shows smoke and steam belching from a mine in Leadhills.  The surrounding hills and slag-heaps are flecked with snow.   There is evidence of mining for lead ore or galena around Wanlockhead and Leadhills in the Lowther Hills since the Middle Ages.  At that time lead was being exported to Holland and Belgium for use in the production of lead glazed pottery.  This area, rich in both lead and precious metals, developed into the centre of the Scottish lead mining industry.  More lead mines were opened across the region from the late 18th to the mid 19th Centuries.  The lead mines of Dumfriesshire and Galloway were the source of almost all Scottish lead production.