Carnebone (Cornish : Karn Ebwynn, meaning Ebwyn's rock-pile) is a small hamlet and farm in the parish of Wendron (where the 2011 census population is included) in Cornwall, England. [1] It lies to the east of Wendron, to the northeast of Trevenen, just to the west of Seworgan, along the A394 road, 3.8 miles (6.1 km) northeast of Helston. [2]
Carnebone Moor is in the vicinity, [3] and the hamlet contains the Carnebone Cottage. [4]
Carnebone was documented in 1298 as Carnebwen. [5] It has also been spelled "Carnbane" in some sources. [6] Patrick Hanks and Flavia Hodges believe that the name of a prominent Cornish family named "Kneebone" derived from Carnebone and that the name was altered "by folk etymology". [7]
The area has long been associated with tin mining. [8] [9] In the 1600s nearby Seworgan was known to contain a blowing-house as early as 1649. [8] Carnebyn tin bounds are recorded in 1676 (the earliest reference to mining on the site). It was first worked by aid of a steam pumping engine in the 1790s as Tregonebris Mine, with a separate detached portion known as Fatwork Mine to the east, which was still drained with a waterwheel operating rag and chain pumps. [10] Later the mine was worked under the title Tregonebris & Carnebone Fatwork, producing tin from 1853 to 1859 before its subsequent. [9] The mines were documented selling tin in 1856 for £76. [11]
Tin mining continued and East Wheal Lovell produced some 2,405 tons between 1859 and 1891. [12] A rich tin deposit was struck at 60fms depth and between 1863 and 1874 the mine paid dividends, making it one of the richest in the Wendron mining district. [13] Between October 1869 and May 1871 alone £27,000 were paid in dividends. [14] During this period, East Wheal Lovell's prosperity lead to less prosperous imitation mines such as Great East Wheal Lovell (1864-7) and New East Wheal Lovell (1868-70). [15]
Clement Le Neve Foster visited the mine for his geological studies and published his findings, as well as diagrams of the mine in 1876. He described the ore body between the 40 and 110fm level as:
"one continuous pipe; and as one climbs up and down the shaft, which is merely the space left by the removal of the tinny mass one feels how thoroughly the words pipe or chimney describe deposits of this kind. On looking at the section it will be seen that the shoot is sometimes almost vertical sometimes inclining a good deal in a south south westerly direction. To sum up, it may be said that this shoot is in the shape of a long irregular cylindroid or cylinder with an elliptical base, generally about 12 to 15 feet long by seven feet wide. From the 40 fathoms level to the 50 this one shoot produced about two tons of clean tin ore per fathom of ground sunk; from the 50 to the 90 fathoms level about one ton per fathom; from the 90 to the 100 four or five tons of tin ore per fathom sunk, taking the whole length excavated varying from six to eighteen feet" [14]
And compared it to the carbonas of St Ives Consols Mine.
The last dividend was paid in 1874, the last of any Wendron mine, and the mine entered its terminal decline. Discoveries made in the Tasmanian Tin Mines during the 1870s had reduced the trading commodity value of tin on international markets. [10] The engine house may have been colloquially known as "Roger's" after Henry Rogers, the pursor of the mine. [16] [14]
The engine house of East Wheal Lovell mine is grade II listed (dated 17 June 1988). [17] In 2017 it was announced that the site was up for sale with planning permission at the asking price of £125,000. [18] Between 2019 and 2021 it underwent conversion into a residentual dwelling. [13]
| Year(s) | Black (Tons) | Value (£) |
|---|---|---|
| 1859 | 154.80 | 11,853.20 |
| 1860 | 55.80 | 4,668.10 |
| 1861 | 39.70 | 3,033.40 |
| 1862 | 4.10 | 242.30 |
| 1863 | 45.20 | 2,873.00 |
| 1864 | 70.10 | 4,269.40 |
| 1865 | 72.80 | 4,063.80 |
| 1866 | 97.60 | 4,790.80 |
| 1867 | 139.70 | 7,450.00 |
| 1868 | 93.80 | 5,328.40 |
| 1869 | 189.90 | 14,230.00 |
| 1870 | 215.10 | 16,662.70 |
| 1871 | 172.00 | 13,897.00 |
| 1872 | 32.60 | 2,766.10 |
| 1873 | 78.80 | 5,896.50 |
| 1874 | 140.00 | 8,193.60 |
| 1875 | 71.70 | 3,616.60 |
| 1876 | 30.40 | 1,284.40 |
| 1877 | 23.50 | 893.80 |
| 1878 | 28.50 | 941.90 |
| 1879 | 4.00 | 160.00 |
| 1880 | 5.80 | 276.60 |
| 1881 | 14.10 | 750.50 |
| 1882 | 21.30 | 1,111.00 |
| 1883 | 13.60 | 745.00 |
| 1884 | 7.20 | 306.00 |
| 1885 | 5.00 | 222.00 |
| 1886 | 4.50 | 224.00 |
| 1887 | 4.60 | 276.00 |
| 1888 | 4.60 | 284.00 |
| 1889 | 2.00 | 93.00 |
| 1890 | 1.90 | 103.00 |
| 1891 | 2.00 | 73.00 |
| 1927-1929 | no-details | .. |
| Total | 1,846.7 | 121,579.1 |
| Year(s) | Total | Overground | Underground |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1878 | 47 | 16 | 31 |
| 1879 | 25 | 11 | 14 |
| 1880 | 43 | 9 | 34 |
| 1881 | 55 | 10 | 45 |
| 1882 | 58 | 13 | 45 |
| 1883 | 37 | 7 | 30 |
| 1884 | 28 | 10 | 18 |
| 1885-1886 | 14 | 3 | 11 |
| 1887 | 12 | 2 | 10 |
| 1888 | 10 | 1 | 9 |
| 1889 | 10 | 3 | 7 |
| 1891 | 4 | 4 | .. |
| 1927 | 37 | 22 | 15 |
| 1928 | 15 | 8 | 7 |
| 1929 | 1 | 1 | .. |
| Total: | 396 | 120 | 276 |
Porthtowan is a small village in Cornwall, England, UK, which is a popular summer tourist destination. Porthtowan is on Cornwall's north Atlantic coast about 3.5 km (2.2 mi) southwest of St Agnes, 6 km (3.7 mi) north of Redruth, 16 km (9.9 mi) west of Truro and 24 km (15 mi) southwest of Newquay in the Cornwall and West Devon Mining Landscape, a World Heritage Site.
The Botallack Mine is a former mine in Botallack in the west of Cornwall, UK. Since 2006 it has been part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site – Cornwall and West Devon Mining Landscape. The mine is within the Aire Point to Carrick Du Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) and the South West Coast Path passes along the cliff.
Mining in Cornwall and Devon, in the southwest of Britain, is thought to have begun in the early-middle Bronze Age with the exploitation of cassiterite. Tin, and later copper, were the most commonly extracted metals. Some tin mining continued long after the mining of other metals had become unprofitable, but ended in the late 20th century. In 2021, it was announced that a new mine was extracting battery-grade lithium carbonate, more than 20 years after the closure of the last South Crofty tin mine in Cornwall in 1998.
Towan is found in many placenames in Cornwall. However, The Towans usually refers to the three-mile (5 km) stretch of coastal dunes which extends north-east from the estuary of the River Hayle to Gwithian beach with a midpoint near Upton. The South West Coast Path crosses the towans.
Dolcoath mine was a copper and tin mine in Camborne, Cornwall, United Kingdom. Its name derives from the Cornish for 'Old Ground', and it was also affectionately known as The Queen of Cornish Mines. The site is north-west of Carn Brea. Dolcoath Road runs between the A3047 road and Chapel Hill. The site is south of this road.
Poldark Mine is a tourist attraction near the town of Helston in Cornwall, England, UK. It lies within the Wendron Mining District of the Cornwall and West Devon Mining Landscape World Heritage Site. Its features include underground guided tours through ancient tin mine workings; a museum of industrial heritage, mining equipment and Cornish social history; and a scheduled ancient monument and riverside gardens.
South Crofty is a metalliferous tin and copper mine located in the village of Pool, Cornwall, England. An ancient mine, it has seen production for over 400 years, and extends almost two and a half miles across and 3,000 feet (910 m) down and has mined over 40 lodes. Evidence of mining activity in South Crofty has been dated back to 1592, with full-scale mining beginning in the mid-17th century. The mine went into serious decline after 1985 and eventually closed in 1998. After several changes of ownership, South Crofty is owned by Cornish Metals Inc, which is working to re-open the mine, as of November 2022, having received a permit for dewatering the mine.
Wheal Vor was a metalliferous mine about 2 miles (3.2 km) north west of Helston and 1 mile (1.6 km) north of the village of Breage in the west of Cornwall, England, UK. It is considered to be part of the Mount's Bay mining district. Until the mid-19th century the mine was known for its willingness to try out new innovations. Although very rich in copper and tin ores, the mine never lived up to its expectations. During the later part of the 19th century it had several periods of closure, with an attempt to reopen it in the 1960s which was not successful mainly because of bureaucracy. Today the site is part of the Cornwall and West Devon Mining Landscape.
Wheal Busy, sometimes called Great Wheal Busy and in its early years known as Chacewater Mine, was a metalliferous mine halfway between Redruth and Truro in the Gwennap mining area of Cornwall, England. During the 18th century the mine produced enormous amounts of copper ore and was very wealthy, but from the later 19th century onwards was not profitable. Today the site of the mine is part of the Cornwall and West Devon Mining Landscape, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
East Pool mine, was a metalliferous mine in the Camborne and Redruth mining area, just east of the village of Pool in Cornwall. Worked from the early 18th century until 1945, first for copper and later tin, it was very profitable for much of its life. Today the site has two preserved beam engines and is part of the Cornwall and West Devon Mining Landscape World Heritage Site. It is owned by the National Trust.
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Wheal Coates is a former tin mine situated on the north coast of Cornwall, UK, on the cliff tops between Porthtowan and St Agnes. It is preserved and maintained by the National Trust.
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Rinsey is a hamlet in the civil parish of Breage, in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is located off the main A394 road between Helston and Penzance. The nearby hamlet of Rinsey Croft is located 1 km to the north-east. The nearby cliffs and beach are owned and managed by the National Trust and part of Rinsey East Cliff is designated as the Porthcew Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) for its geological interest. The South West Coast Path passes through the property. Rinsey lies within the Cornwall Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB).
Wheal Kitty is a village in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is located about half a mile north east of St Agnes on the Goonlaze Downs plateau. It contains the headquarters of Surfers Against Sewage.
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Devon Great Consols was a copper mine near Tavistock in Devon. The lease on the site was taken from the Duke of Bedford in 1844 by a group of investors, Sanderson & Co., that included the father of William Morris. The 1,024 shares, sold at one pound each, were divided among the six men. Earlier attempts to mine this property had all ended in failure.
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Great Wheal Charlotte, also known as Wheal Charlotte, is an abandoned copper and tin mine lying between St Agnes and Porthtowan in Cornwall, England. All that is left of the mine now is the wall and door arch of an engine house and an adjacent fenced-off mine shaft. The surviving wall is surrounded by rock debris and the extensive remains of spoil tips, mostly of bare rock fragments crisscrossed by paths that link the South West Coast Path with surrounding land owned by the National Trust. Predominantly a copper producer, in its heyday, in the 1830s, the mine extracted ore containing 7.25% copper. It may have partially closed around 1840. However, ore production was high in this year, and records of output extend at least to 1856, and possibly to 1863.
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