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Leadhills is a Village in south Scotland, 33
miles north of Dumfries, 1 mile northeast of
Wanlockhead.
Leadhills is the second highest Village in
Scotland at 1,460ft, popular for its Railway
Heritage Station, only Wanlockhead is higher at
1,531ft. The two Villages are normally visited
at the same time with Wanlockhead having a
popular Lead Mining Museum and Gold
Panning.
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The image top is of the Main Street from the
west on the road up through the Mennock Hills
and Wanlockhead from the A76 road from
Dumfries. You can also take the road from the
east off the M74 / M6.
The Leadhills Gift Shop is on the west side
of the Main Street that specializes in mining
bears, with a little bear railway. Website.
Leadhills Lowther Parish Church is also on
the Main Street. Built in 1883, the main Church
in the area after Wanlockhead Church closed in
the 1960s? Leadhills Church was put up for sale
in 2017 to be converted to a house.
Leadhills &
Wanlockhead Railway is on the outskirts of
the Village. This is Britain's highest narrow
gauge adhesion Railway, at 1,498 feet above sea
level. The Railway is now run by volunteers on
weekends in summer for tourist trips.
The War Memorial is in the Village centre by
the Hotel and Shop.
The Hopetoun Arms
Hotel is in the village centre, highest
residential hotel in Scotland, at 1,297ft above
sea level.
The Leadhills Hall
is in the village centre, used for many
community events throughout the year.
The Leadhills Curfew Bell is next to the
hall, built in 1770 by the Scots Mining Company
to inform workers of shift changes and
accidents in the mine.
The Symington Monument is next to the
Graveyard, built in 1891 in honour of William
Symington (1764 - 1831) inventor of steam
navigation.
The Grave of John Taylor is in the Cemetery.
Taylor was said to have been 137 years old at
the time of his death.
The Road west leads to Wanlockhead then down
through the Mennock Pass to Sanquhar and
Dumfries, one of the most scenic roads in
Scotland.
The Crawick Multiverse huge Art Landscape
is at Sanquhar, 11 miles west via the Mennock
Pass, one of the top Attractions in
Scotland.
Leadhills is in South Lanark, but with it
being on the west side of the M74 / M6, it
feels more like it is in Dumfries &
Galloway.
Leadhills History
100s - the Romans mined Lead and other
minerals in this area as they tried to take
control of Scotland.
1239 - Lead was mined here in low scale by
the Monks of Newbattle Abbey
47 miles northeast by Edinburgh.
1570s - Thomas Foulis, a Goldsmith from
Edinburgh, began working the Mines in a larger
scale.
The Mines produced Lead, Zinc, Copper,
Silver and Gold with a number of Mining
Companies working in the area under
licence.
1638 - one of the Mines was taken over by
the Hope family from the vast Hopetoun
House mansion at South Queensferry by
Edinburgh.
1686 - the poet Allan Ramsay was born in
Leadhills.
1735 - a small Mansion known as the Scots Mining
Company House was built for James Stirling,
manager of the Scots Mining Company.
1741 - Stirling founded the Leadhills
Library, first circulating and working class
Library in Britain.
1770 - the Curfew Bell was erected after the
death of James Stirling that year. The Bell was
used for Shift Changes and Accidents in the
Mines.
1770 - a Miner named John Taylor died at
Leadhills aged 133 years. He was born in Alston
in Cumbria in 1637, buried in the Graveyard at
Leadhills.
1830s - the Mines started to decline.
1861 - the Leadhills Mining Company took
over all the Mines.
1891 - the Leadhills Golf Course opens as
the highest in Scotland.
1891 - the Symington Monument was completed
next to the Graveyard in honour of William
Symington (1764 - 1831) inventor of Steam
Navigation.
1901 - the Leadhills & Wanlockhead Railway
was opened becoming the highest in Scotland.
The Railway connected to the main Carlisle
line.
1929 - the Leadhills Mines closed after the
last of the veins at 450ft deep began to run
out, becoming unprofitable.
1939 - the Railway closed, leaving just a
short section as a Working Railway Museum.
Today - the Leadhills has a population of
about 300, in 1772 it had a population of over
1,500.
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