South Wheal Frances is a former mine accessing the copper and tin of the Great Flat Lode south of Camborne in Cornwall, England. [1]
South Wheal Frances is a former mine accessing the copper and tin of the Great Flat Lode south of Camborne in Cornwall, England. [1]
Mining began in the local area in the early 1720s. Mining for copper was first documented at the site in the 1820s. [2] After Lady Frances Bassett, the mineral Lord, offered a new lease on the land in 1834 production resumed. [3] Tin mining commenced in 1852. The mine complex is centred on Marriott's Shaft which had been sunk by 1845. It was at its most productive between 1844 and 1895. Altogether 67,866 tons of copper and 9,716 tons of tin ores were extracted. After the extent of the Great Flat Lode was discovered in 1872-74 a winding engine house was built at Pascoe's Shaft in 1879 and a pumping engine house housing an 80-inch cylinder was built in 1887. [2]
An engine house with a 75-inch cylinder pumping engine installed at Marriott's shaft in 1847 pumped water from Pascoe's shaft as well as Marriott's. In 1857 a 24-inch winder was installed in close proximity. [2] An engine house housing a 30-inch cylinder engine for both pumping and winding was built at the Daubuz shaft between 1879 and 1881. The shaft was sunk when mining reached the Great Flat Lode and was named after a company shareholder. [4] The mine was owned by South Frances United in 1892 and the company amalgamated with neighbouring Wheal Basset in 1895 becoming the Basset Mines. [2] Between 1896 and 1899 a major refurbishment of the shaft was undertaken, enabling mining to take places as far down as 6,000 feet. [3]
By the early 20th century, several thousand men, women, bal maidens, and children worked in the mine. A slump in tin prices during World War I led to the mine's closure in 1918. [3]
The site of the mine is marked by extensive remains around Marriott's and Pascoe's shafts. The surviving features include the derelict, roofless winding engine house to Marriott's shaft that was built in the 1890s. It is constructed of granite rubble with quoins and brick arches to the window openings. As are most remains on the site, it is a Grade II listed building. It contained a horizontal cross-compound engine made by Holman's of Camborne, with 23- and 43-inch cylinders either side of its conical winding drum. [5]
The derelict boiler house at Marriott's shaft is built of granite rubble with quoins at the corners and brick arch openings. Now roofless, it once contained six Lancashire boilers to power a pumping engine, winder, compressor, crusher, and capstan. [6]
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.
Levant Mine and Beam Engine is a National Trust property at Trewellard, Pendeen, near St Just, Cornwall, England, UK. Its main attraction is that it has the world's only Cornish beam engine still operated by steam on its original site. There is also a visitor centre, a short underground tour, and the South West Coast Path leads to Botallack Mine, via a cliff-top footpath.
The King Edward Mine at Camborne, Cornwall, in the United Kingdom is a mine wholly owned by Cornwall Council.
Gwennap is a village and civil parish in Cornwall, England. It is about five miles (8 km) southeast of Redruth. Hamlets of Burncoose, Comford, Coombe, Crofthandy, Cusgarne, Fernsplatt, Frogpool, Hick's Mill, Tresamble and United Downs lie in the parish, as does Little Beside country house.
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.
The Great Flat Lode is a mineral-bearing body of rock under the southern granite slopes of Carn Brea south of Camborne in west Cornwall, England, UK.
A Cornish engine is a type of steam engine developed in Cornwall, England, mainly for pumping water from a mine. It is a form of beam engine that uses steam at a higher pressure than the earlier engines designed by James Watt. The engines were also used for powering man engines to assist the underground miners' journeys to and from their working levels, for winching materials into and out of the mine, and for powering on-site ore stamping machinery.
Dolcoath mine was a copper and tin mine in Camborne, Cornwall, England, 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.
Wheal Peevor was a metalliferous mine located on North Downs about 1.5 miles north-east of Redruth, Cornwall, England. The first mining sett was granted here in around 1701 on land owned by the St Aubyn family. It was originally mined at shallow depths for copper, but when the price for that metal slumped after 1788, the mine was able to change to mining tin ore, which was found deeper down. In the late 18th century Wheal Peevor had the advantage of being drained by the Great County Adit which was around 100 metres deep here. The mine covered only 12 acres but had rich tin lodes. In addition to tin and copper, pyrite was also mined here between 1872 and 1887.
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 notable 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, and an attempt to reopen it in the 1960s 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 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, England. 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.
Consolidated Mines, also known as Great Consolidated mine, but most commonly called Consols or Great Consols was a metalliferous mine about a mile ESE of the village of St Day, Cornwall, England. Mainly active during the first half of the 19th century, its mining sett was about 600 yards north–south; and 2,700 yards east–west, to the east of Carharrack. Although always much troubled by underground water, the mine was at times highly profitable, and it was the largest single producer of copper ore in Cornwall. Today the mine is part of the Cornwall and West Devon Mining Landscape World Heritage Site.
The Ding Dong mines lie in an old and extensive mining area situated in the parish of Madron, in Penwith, Cornwall, England. They are about two miles north east of the St Just to Penzance road. They look out over Mount's Bay and St Michael's Mount to the south west. Since 2006 the site has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site, part of Cornwall and West Devon Mining Landscape.
Trencrom Hill is a prominent hill fort, owned by the National Trust, near Lelant, Cornwall. It is crowned by an univallate Neolithic tor enclosure and was re-used as a hillfort in the Iron Age. Cairns or hut circles can be seen in the level area enclosed by the stone and earth banks. The hill overlooks the Hayle Estuary and river, and Mount's Bay and St Michael's Mount can be seen to the south. The hill was recorded as Torcrobm in 1758 which is derived from Cornish "torr crobm", i.e. 'hunched bulge'.
Wheal Fortune or Great Wheal Fortune is the site of a mine in the civil parishes of Breage and Sithney in west Cornwall. Part of the disused mine was designated as a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) for its geological interest in 1991 and is also a Geological Conservation Review site of national importance for the minerals on the site.
Wheal Metal is a tin-mining sett in west Cornwall, England, UK. Whilst not as famous as neighbouring Wheal Vor, it was thus described by the Mining Journal in July 1885: " Truly this is a wonderful mine—probably the richest tin mine in the world." It also hosts a very remarkable engine house of the mid-19th century that once stood over Trelawney's shaft on Wheal Vor, and since the Wheal Vor area itself has no visible remains, this is the only large surviving engine house of this group of mines which accounted for over a quarter of Cornish tin production in the mid-19th century.
Basset Mines was a mining company formed in Cornwall, England, by the amalgamation of six copper and tin mining setts. It operated from 1896 until 1918, when it was closed due to a fall in the price of tin.
Wheal Prosper was a tin mine in Cornwall, England, a short distance from the hamlet of Rinsey and about 2.5 miles (4 km) west of Porthleven. The ruined engine house remains, overlooking Mount's Bay near Rinsey Head. The site is a Scheduled Monument, and the engine house is a Grade II listed building.
Killifreth Mine was a mine near Chacewater in Cornwall, England, producing at various periods copper, tin and arsenic. The engine house over Hawke's Shaft is a Grade II listed building; it has the tallest surviving chimney in Cornwall.
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