About Museum of Lead Mining

The Visitor Centre is situated in the heart of the village of Wanlockhead, which is Scotland's highest Village at 1531 ft./468.08 m. above sea level.
The Visitor Centre was once the Village Smiddy and the top image on the left shows the interior of the blacksmith's workshop when it was still in operation.
The second image shows the Smiddy in about 1980 before work was started to convert it into the Visitor Centre that you see here today.
Robert Burns had his horse shod here when it threw a shoe whilst he was on a visit to the area in his capacity as Exciseman.
Within the Visitor Centre we have a walk-through exhibition, which tells the story of how lead ore or galena was won at the face and the processes it went through to become the lead products that we know today. Here you will see the different equipment and pumps used by the miners to win the ore and keep the water levels down.
Also on display are some of the most spectacular minerals found in the Lowther Hills, an area which is responsible for 1% of all known minerals in the World today.
The Museum is unique in Scotland as it is the only former lead mine open to the public.
We also have a vast amount of information on the families who lived and worked in Wanlockhead and the surrounding areas.