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Cove Vein [Wanlock Dod Trial]

Wanlockhead, Dumfriesshire.

Trial for lead, site of buried portal.

Adit driven into the vicinity of the Cove Vein on the S side of Wanlock Dod, now blocked/buried beside remnant spoil tip ca. 80m N of the Wanlockhead Miners' library.

"With respect to the main branch of Cove Vein, where it passes along the south side of the Dodhill, no trial of consequence has as yet been made, although a number of the more experienced miners have long entertained favourable notions of it as a bearing vein. Some of those had a distinct recollection of a trial having been made, either on it, or a branch from it, where it passes through the skirt of the Dodhill, a little behind that row of houses which stands a little to the north of the Company's workshop, in which a little lead ore was found." [History of Sanquhar]

Alternative Names: None recorded.

Notes: Labelled as adit on BGS 10k map. Possibly that described on S side of Dodhill (aka Wanlock Dod) in History of Sanquhar excerpt, although the 'Low Inset' [site #10232] is an alternative candidate. Passages are not shown around this locality on area plan, suggesting a short trial (although this plan also fails to show the E end of the Burn Cross-cut, which was driven over two periods).

A mine plan for the Cove Vein shows the Dukes House as being an office (cf. the Company's workshop referred to by History of Sanquhar), now the site of the Wanlockhead Inn.

The neighbouring Wanlockhead Miners' Library, established in 1756, is one of the oldest subscription libraries in Europe (2nd oldest in Scotland, after nearby Leadhills) and is an attraction part of the Museum of Lead Mining. The library was established by miners for their "mutual improvement" and is a Grade A listed building.