Site plan (B. Craddock and S.Timberlake)

Nantyricket Mine (Loches y Lladron)

This early prospection site on the banks of the River Severn located approximately 150m
downstream of the Seven-Break-Its-Neck waterfall was examined by the EMRG in 2012
and 2013, and again in October 2014.

Professor O.T. Jones the geologist looked at these workings in 1921, and noted the
presence of stone tools. As a consequence the site was inspected by Oliver Davies
in 1937, when he described the small spoil tip as being “devoid of charcoal”. Nantyricket
was one of the first sites to be visited by the newly formed EMRG in 1988, at which time
the tip and hammer stones were still visible.

Forestry work over the last few years has erased the surface spoil heap by the river,
although the approximate location can still be recognised. Two trenches were dug and
recorded. These revealed no surviving tip material, but instead the presence of a
mineralised buried soil with small amounts of oak charcoal within it.

One piece of charcoal was sampled for C14 , and gave an Early Neolithic date.
This may, or may not, relate to the period of prospection, yet it denotes human activity
in the vicinity of this vein outcrop which is prehistoric in date.
Note: This SUERC radiocarbon date was supported by a grant from the Prehistoric
Society.

Hammer stone found on river bank (B. Craddock)

Nantyricket excavation sections (B. Craddock and
S.Timberlake)