Making a Roman Pig of Lead
On Saturday 15th November 2003, eight members of the Shropshire Mines Trust did something that has not been done for nearly 2,000 years. They produced a 190lb pig of lead that was an exact replica of Roman ones dug up in Shropshire. They relied heavily on the patternmaking skills of Barry Ellis, without whom it would not have been possible. The pig can now be seen in the Visitor’s Centre at Snailbeach Mine.

Barrowing some 200lbs of scrap lead	Wooden pattern made to exact measurements of original pig	Setting up container to melt lead	Pattern within sand box
Drawing of original pig	Sprinkling chalk to prevent wood sticking to sand	Sprinkling sand into box
Tamping sand to prevent air holes		Tamping box filled with sand	Leveling sand
Ready to screw wooden cover over sand	Box turned over and bottom removed complete with wooden pattern	Empty mould ready for lead	Lighting portable forge worked by propane gas
Scrap lead added	Starting to melt
Nearly all melted		Removing slag
	Ready to pour
Pouring lead into mould			Almost there !
		Removing wooden frame
	Removing sand		Fettling surface
		It is heavy !	The clean pig
The inscription is Latin Emperor Hadrian Augustus
Final fettling
Off to Snailbeach

Last Updated : 18 July 2008