THE ROMAN SOLDIER. Llanymynech has a long, history of mining for various minerals and the quarrying of limestone from Llanymynech Hill. On the north - west side of the Hill are the remains of ancient surface mines, where the Romans excavated for lead, copper and possibly silver. According to William Cathrall, who compiled a book, The History of Oswestry, in 1855, ‘there is no doubt that the Roman miners smelted their copper there in jars in open hearths’. Beneath the carving of a Roman soldier’s head is the name : MEDIOLANUM. In Catherall’s book the late Rev. Peter Roberts stated that the reputed Roman encampment in the area was: ‘the identical spot where Mediolanum once quartered the legions of ambitious Rome.’