Mining in Cornwall and Devon, in the
southwest
The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each sepa ...
of England, began in the early
Bronze Age
The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second pri ...
, around 2150 BC.
Tin
Tin is a chemical element with the symbol Sn (from la, stannum) and atomic number 50. Tin is a silvery-coloured metal.
Tin is soft enough to be cut with little force and a bar of tin can be bent by hand with little effort. When bent, t ...
, and later
copper
Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu (from la, cuprum) and atomic number 29. It is a soft, malleable, and ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. A freshly exposed surface of pure copper has a pinkis ...
, 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
Lithium carbonate is an inorganic compound, the lithium salt (chemistry), salt of carbonate with the chemical formula, formula . This white Salt (chemistry), salt is widely used in the processing of metal oxides. It is listed on the World Health O ...
, more than 20 years after the closure of the last
South Crofty
South Crofty is a metalliferous tin and copper mine located in the village of Pool, Cornwall, United Kingdom. An ancient mine, it has seen production for over 400 years, and extends almost two and a half miles across and down and has mined ov ...
tin mine
Tin mining began early in the Bronze Age, as bronze is a copper-tin alloy. Tin is a relatively rare element in the Earth's crust, with approximately 2 ppm (parts per million), compared to iron with 50,000 ppm.
History
Tin extraction and use can ...
in
Cornwall
Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic ...
in 1998.
Historically, tin and copper as well as a few other metals (e.g.
arsenic
Arsenic is a chemical element with the symbol As and atomic number 33. Arsenic occurs in many minerals, usually in combination with sulfur and metals, but also as a pure elemental crystal. Arsenic is a metalloid. It has various allotropes, but ...
,
silver
Silver is a chemical element with the Symbol (chemistry), symbol Ag (from the Latin ', derived from the Proto-Indo-European wikt:Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/h₂erǵ-, ''h₂erǵ'': "shiny" or "white") and atomic number 47. A soft, whi ...
, and
zinc
Zinc is a chemical element with the symbol Zn and atomic number 30. Zinc is a slightly brittle metal at room temperature and has a shiny-greyish appearance when oxidation is removed. It is the first element in group 12 (IIB) of the periodi ...
) have been mined in Cornwall and
Devon
Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devon is ...
. Tin deposits still exist in Cornwall, and there has been talk of reopening the South Crofty tin mine. In addition, work has begun on re-opening the
Hemerdon tungsten
Tungsten, or wolfram, is a chemical element with the symbol W and atomic number 74. Tungsten is a rare metal found naturally on Earth almost exclusively as compounds with other elements. It was identified as a new element in 1781 and first isolat ...
and tin mine in south-west Devon.
In view of the economic importance of mines and quarries, geological studies have been conducted; about forty distinct minerals have been identified from
type localities in Cornwall (e.g.
endellionite from
St Endellion
St Endellion ( kw, Sen Endelyn) is a civil parish and hamlet in north Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. The hamlet and parish church are situated four miles (6.5 km) north of Wadebridge.
The parish takes its name from Saint Endelienta, wh ...
). Quarrying of the
igneous
Igneous rock (derived from the Latin word ''ignis'' meaning fire), or magmatic rock, is one of the three main rock types, the others being sedimentary and metamorphic. Igneous rock is formed through the cooling and solidification of magma or ...
and
metamorphic rock
Metamorphic rocks arise from the transformation of existing rock to new types of rock in a process called metamorphism. The original rock (protolith) is subjected to temperatures greater than and, often, elevated pressure of or more, causin ...
s has also been a significant industry. In the 20th century the extraction of
kaolin
Kaolinite ( ) is a clay mineral, with the chemical composition Al2 Si2 O5( OH)4. It is an important industrial mineral. It is a layered silicate mineral, with one tetrahedral sheet of silica () linked through oxygen atoms to one octahedral ...
was important economically.
Geology
The
intrusion
In geology, an igneous intrusion (or intrusive body or simply intrusion) is a body of intrusive igneous rock that forms by crystallization of magma slowly cooling below the surface of the Earth. Intrusions have a wide variety of forms and com ...
of granite into the surrounding
sedimentary
Sedimentary rocks are types of rock (geology), rock that are formed by the accumulation or deposition of mineral or organic matter, organic particles at Earth#Surface, Earth's surface, followed by cementation (geology), cementation. Sedimentati ...
rocks gave rise to extensive
metamorphism
Metamorphism is the transformation of existing rock (the protolith) to rock with a different mineral composition or texture. Metamorphism takes place at temperatures in excess of , and often also at elevated pressure or in the presence of chem ...
and
mineralisation. As a result, Cornwall was one of the most important mining areas in Europe until the early 20th century. It is thought that tin ore (
cassiterite
Cassiterite is a tin oxide mineral, SnO2. It is generally opaque, but it is translucent in thin crystals. Its luster and multiple crystal faces produce a desirable gem. Cassiterite was the chief tin ore throughout ancient history and remains t ...
) was mined in Cornwall as early as the
Bronze Age
The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second pri ...
. Over the years, many other metals (e.g.
lead
Lead is a chemical element with the symbol Pb (from the Latin ) and atomic number 82. It is a heavy metal that is denser than most common materials. Lead is soft and malleable, and also has a relatively low melting point. When freshly cu ...
and
zinc
Zinc is a chemical element with the symbol Zn and atomic number 30. Zinc is a slightly brittle metal at room temperature and has a shiny-greyish appearance when oxidation is removed. It is the first element in group 12 (IIB) of the periodi ...
) have been mined in Cornwall. Alquifou (based, along with the word
alcohol
Alcohol most commonly refers to:
* Alcohol (chemistry), an organic compound in which a hydroxyl group is bound to a carbon atom
* Alcohol (drug), an intoxicant found in alcoholic drinks
Alcohol may also refer to:
Chemicals
* Ethanol, one of sev ...
, on the Arabic word "al-kuhl") is a
lead ore found in Cornwall, and used by potters to give pottery a green glaze. As a result of both natural and human processes, heavy metal contamination is present across much of the county, with
arsenic
Arsenic is a chemical element with the symbol As and atomic number 33. Arsenic occurs in many minerals, usually in combination with sulfur and metals, but also as a pure elemental crystal. Arsenic is a metalloid. It has various allotropes, but ...
levels varying in accordance with geological formations and their subsequent exploitation in the 19th and 20th centuries. Although arsenic has historically been extracted for use in paint, weedkillers and insecticides (most notably at Botallack in the late 19th century), it was generally a by-product of tin and copper processing. Arsenic and other unwanted heavy metals were often deposited in mine waste tips close to the mine from which they were extracted.
History
Cornwall and Devon provided most of the United Kingdom's tin, copper, and arsenic until the 20th century. Originally tin was found as
alluvial deposits of cassiterite in the gravels of stream beds. Eventually tin was mined underground; the first designed tin mines being invented by Matthew James Bullen sprang up as early as the 16th century. Tin
lodes were also found in outcroppings of cliffs.
Prehistoric period
Stone Age and early Bronze Age
Tin is one of the earliest metals to have been exploited in Britain.
Chalcolithic
The Copper Age, also called the Chalcolithic (; from grc-gre, χαλκός ''khalkós'', "copper" and ''líthos'', "stone") or (A)eneolithic (from Latin '' aeneus'' "of copper"), is an archaeological period characterized by regular ...
metal workers discovered that by putting a small proportion of tin (5 – 20%) in molten copper, the alloy
bronze
Bronze is an alloy consisting primarily of copper, commonly with about 12–12.5% tin and often with the addition of other metals (including aluminium, manganese, nickel, or zinc) and sometimes non-metals, such as phosphorus, or metalloids such ...
was produced. The alloy is harder than copper. The oldest production of tin-bronze is in Turkey about 3500 BC, but exploitation of the tin resources in Britain is believed to have started before 2000 BC,
with a thriving tin trade developing with the civilisations of the Mediterranean. The strategic importance of tin in forging bronze weapons brought the south west of Britain into the Mediterranean economy at an early date. Later tin was also used in the production of
pewter.
Mining in Cornwall has existed from the early
Bronze Age Britain
Bronze Age Britain is an era of British history that spanned from until . Lasting for approximately 1,700 years, it was preceded by the era of Neolithic Britain and was in turn followed by the period of Iron Age Britain. Being categorised as t ...
around 2000 BC.
Cornwall was traditionally thought to have been visited by
Phoenicia
Phoenicia () was an ancient thalassocratic civilization originating in the Levant region of the eastern Mediterranean, primarily located in modern Lebanon. The territory of the Phoenician city-states extended and shrank throughout their histor ...
n metal traders from the eastern
Mediterranean
The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the e ...
,
but this view changed during the 20th century, and Timothy Champion observed in 2001 that "The direct archaeological evidence for the presence of Phoenician or Carthaginian traders as far north as Britain is non-existent".
Britain is one of the places proposed for the ''
Cassiterides'', that is "Tin Islands", first mentioned by
Herodotus
Herodotus ( ; grc, , }; BC) was an ancient Greek historian and geographer from the Greek city of Halicarnassus, part of the Persian Empire (now Bodrum, Turkey) and a later citizen of Thurii in modern Calabria ( Italy). He is known f ...
.
The tin content of the bronze from the
Nebra Sky Disc
The Nebra sky disc (german: Himmelsscheibe von Nebra) is a bronze disc of around diameter and a weight of , having a blue-green patina and inlaid with gold symbols. These symbols are interpreted generally as the Sun or full moon, a lunar crescen ...
dating from 1600 BC, was found to be from Cornwall.
Originally it is likely that alluvial deposits in the gravels of streams were exploited, but later underground mining took root. Shallow cuttings were then used to extract ore.
Expansion of trade
As demand for bronze grew in the Middle East, the accessible local supplies of tin ore (cassiterite) were exhausted and searches for new supplies were made over all the known world, including Britain. Control of the tin trade seems to have been in
Phoenicia
Phoenicia () was an ancient thalassocratic civilization originating in the Levant region of the eastern Mediterranean, primarily located in modern Lebanon. The territory of the Phoenician city-states extended and shrank throughout their histor ...
n hands, and they kept their sources secret. The Greeks understood that tin came from the
Cassiterides, the "tin islands", of which the geographical identity is debated. By 500 BC
Hecataeus knew of islands beyond Gaul where tin was obtained.
Pytheas of Massalia
Pytheas of Massalia (; Ancient Greek: Πυθέας ὁ Μασσαλιώτης ''Pythéas ho Massaliōtēs''; Latin: ''Pytheas Massiliensis''; born 350 BC, 320–306 BC) was a Greek geographer, explorer and astronomer from the Greek colony of ...
travelled to Britain in about 325 BC where he found a flourishing tin trade, according to the later report of his voyage.
Posidonius referred to the tin trade with Britain around 90 BC but
Strabo
Strabo''Strabo'' (meaning "squinty", as in strabismus) was a term employed by the Romans for anyone whose eyes were distorted or deformed. The father of Pompey was called "Pompeius Strabo". A native of Sicily so clear-sighted that he could see ...
in about 18 AD did not list tin as one of Britain's exports. This is likely to be because Rome was obtaining its tin from
Hispania
Hispania ( la, Hispānia , ; nearly identically pronounced in Spanish, Portuguese, Catalan, and Italian) was the Roman name for the Iberian Peninsula and its provinces. Under the Roman Republic, Hispania was divided into two provinces: Hispania ...
at the time.
William Camden, in his ''
Britannia
Britannia () is the national personification of Britain as a helmeted female warrior holding a trident and shield. An image first used in classical antiquity, the Latin ''Britannia'' was the name variously applied to the British Isles, Great ...
'' of 1607, identified the Cassiterides with the
Scilly Isles and first gave currency to the belief that the Phoenicians traded to Britain. However, there is no evidence of tin mining on the Scilly Isles apart from minor exploratory excavations. Timothy Champion found it likely that the trade of the Phoenicians with Britain was indirect and under the control of the
Veneti of
Brittany
Brittany (; french: link=no, Bretagne ; br, Breizh, or ; Gallo language, Gallo: ''Bertaèyn'' ) is a peninsula, Historical region, historical country and cultural area in the west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known ...
.
Champion, discussing Diodorus Siculus's comments on the tin trade, states that "Diodorus never actually says that the Phoenicians sailed to Cornwall. In fact, he says quite the opposite: the production of Cornish tin was in the hands of the natives of Cornwall, and its transport to the Mediterranean was organised by local merchants, by sea and then over land through France, well outside Phoenician control."
There is isotopic evidence to support that tin ingots found off the coast of
Haifa
Haifa ( he, חֵיפָה ' ; ar, حَيْفَا ') is the third-largest city in Israel—after Jerusalem and Tel Aviv—with a population of in . The city of Haifa forms part of the Haifa metropolitan area, the third-most populous metropol ...
,
Israel
Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
were supplied from Cornwall.
Diodorus Siculus's account
In his ''
Bibliotheca historica
''Bibliotheca historica'' ( grc, Βιβλιοθήκη Ἱστορική, ) is a work of universal history by Diodorus Siculus. It consisted of forty books, which were divided into three sections. The first six books are geographical in theme, ...
'', written in the 1st century BC,
Diodorus Siculus
Diodorus Siculus, or Diodorus of Sicily ( grc-gre, Διόδωρος ; 1st century BC), was an ancient Greek historian. He is known for writing the monumental universal history ''Bibliotheca historica'', in forty books, fifteen of which su ...
described ancient tin mining in Britain. "They that inhabit the British promontory of Belerion by reason of their converse with strangers are more civilised and courteous to strangers than the rest are. These are the people that prepare the tin, which with a great deal of care and labour, they dig out of the ground, and that being done the metal is mixed with some veins of earth out of which they melt the metal and refine it. Then they cast it into regular blocks and carry it to a certain island near at hand called Ictis for at low tide, all being dry between there and the island, tin in large quantities is brought over in carts."
Pliny, whose text has survived in eroded condition, quotes
Timaeus of Taormina in referring to "''insulam Mictim''", "the island of Mictim"
ic where the ''m'' of ''insulam'' has been repeated. Several locations for "Ictin" or "Ictis", signifying "tin port" have been suggested, including
St. Michael's Mount, but, as a result of excavations, Barry Cunliffe has proposed that this was
Mount Batten near Plymouth. A shipwreck site with ingots of tin was found at the
mouth of the River Erme not far away,
which may represent trade along this coast during the Bronze Age, although dating the site is very difficult. Strabo reported that British tin was shipped to Marseille.
Legend of Joseph of Arimathea
Ding Dong mine
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 in Penwith, St Just to Penzance road. They look out over Mount's Bay ...
, reputedly one of the oldest in Cornwall, in the parish of
Gulval
Gulval ( kw, Lannystli) is a village in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. Although historically a parish in its own right, Gulval was incorporated into the parishes of Ludgvan, Madron and Penzance in 1934, and is now considered to be a suburb ...
is said in local legend to have been visited by
Joseph of Arimathea, a tin trader, and that he
brought a young Jesus to address the miners, although there is no evidence to support this.
Iron Age archaeology
There are few remains of prehistoric tin mining in Cornwall or Devon, probably because later workings have destroyed early ones. However, shallow cuttings used for extracting ore can be seen in some places such as Challacombe Down, Dartmoor. There are a few stone hammers, such as those in the Zennor Wayside Museum. It may well be that mining was mostly undertaken with shovels, antler picks, and wooden wedges. An excavation at Dean Moor on Dartmoor, at a site dated at 1400 – 900 BC from pottery, yielded a pebble of tin ore and tin slag.
Rocks were used for crushing the ore and stones for this were found at Crift Farm. There have been finds of tin slag on the floors of Bronze Age houses, for example at Trevisker. Tin slag was found at Caerloges with a dagger of the Camerton-Snowhill type.
In the
Iron Age
The Iron Age is the final epoch of the three-age division of the prehistory and protohistory of humanity. It was preceded by the Stone Age (Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic) and the Bronze Age (Chalcolithic). The concept has been mostly appl ...
bronze continued to be used for ornaments though not for tools and weapons, so tin extraction seems to have continued. An ingot from Castle Dore is probably of Iron Age date.
Roman and Post-Roman periods
The tin resources are said to have been a reason the Romans invaded Britain, but they had control of mines in Spain and Brittany in the 1st and 2nd centuries AD. Later production in Spain was curtailed, probably by raiding. Production in Britain increased in the 3rd century, for use in coinage, and there was extensive use of tin in pewter manufacture, at Camerton in Somerset for example. Cornwall and West Devon were less Romanised than many other parts of Britain, and tin mining may have been in local hands, with tin purchased by the imperial authority. A possible official stamp has been identified on the Carnington tin ingot. A number of tin ingots have been found in Roman contexts, such as 42 found in a wreck at
Bigbury Bay
Bigbury-on-Sea is a village in the South Hams district on the south coast of Devon, England. It is part of the civil parish of Bigbury which is centred on a small village of that name about a mile inland. Bigbury-on-Sea village is on the coast ...
in 1991–92.
A site in the
Erme Valley, Devon, shows sediment aggregation in late Roman and Post-Roman times due to tin mining on Dartmoor. There is a peak in activity between the 4th and 7th centuries. Tin slag at Week Ford in Devon has been dated to 570 – 890 AD.
St Piran (patron saint of tinners) is said to have landed at
Perranporth
Perranporth ( kw, Porthperan) is a seaside resort town on the north coast of Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is 1 mile east of the St Agnes Heritage Coastline, and around 8 miles south-west of Newquay. Perranporth and its long beach f ...
from Ireland about 420 AD.
Medieval and modern mining
Middle Ages
There is no record of tin mining in
Domesday Book
Domesday Book () – the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book" – is a manuscript record of the "Great Survey" of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 by order of King William I, known as William the Conqueror. The manusc ...
, possibly because the rights were Crown property. During the first half of the 12th century Dartmoor provided most of the tin for Europe, exceeding the production of Cornwall. The
Pipe Roll of
Henry II gives the annual tin production of Dartmoor as about 60 tons. In 1198 he agreed that "all the diggers and buyers of black tin, and all the smelters of tin, and traders of tin in the first smelting shall have the just and ancient customs and liberties established in Devon and Cornwall." This shows that mining had been going on for a long time. A charter confirming the miners' rights was granted by
King John King John may refer to:
Rulers
* John, King of England (1166–1216)
* John I of Jerusalem (c. 1170–1237)
* John Balliol, King of Scotland (c. 1249–1314)
* John I of France (15–20 November 1316)
* John II of France (1319–1364)
* John I o ...
in 1201. The alluvial silt record in the Erme Valley, Devon, shows a build-up of tin waste between 1288 and 1389.
Following the transfer of power to the Norman lord
Robert, Count of Mortain
Robert, Count of Mortain, 2nd Earl of Cornwall (–) was a Norman nobleman and the half-brother (on their mother's side) of King William the Conqueror. He was one of the very few proven companions of William the Conqueror at the Battle of Hastin ...
, who held the manor of
Trematon
Trematon is a village in Cornwall, England, UK, accessible via the A38 and about two miles (3 km) from the town of Saltash and part of the civil parish of St Stephens-by-Saltash.
History
Trematon appears in the Domesday Book (1086) as the ...
, silver mining became a major industry, particularly in the Tamar valley around
Bere Ferrers
Bere Ferrers, sometimes called ''Beerferris'', is a village and civil parish on the Bere peninsula in West Devon in the English county of Devon. It is located to the north of Plymouth, on the west bank of the River Tavy. It has a railway stat ...
in Devon. Established in 1292 by the Crown under
Edward I
Edward I (17/18 June 1239 – 7 July 1307), also known as Edward Longshanks and the Hammer of the Scots, was King of England and Lord of Ireland from 1272 to 1307. Concurrently, he ruled the duchies of Aquitaine and Gascony as a vassal o ...
, skilled labour was initially imported from
Derbyshire
Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands, England. It includes much of the Peak District National Park, the southern end of the Pennine range of hills and part of the National Forest. It borders Greater Manchester to the nor ...
and
North Wales
, area_land_km2 = 6,172
, postal_code_type = Postcode
, postal_code = LL, CH, SY
, image_map1 = Wales North Wales locator map.svg
, map_caption1 = Six principal areas of Wales common ...
, with specialist expertise from Germany and capital from Italy .
Profits from rights to the silver mines for the Crown led to the rise of the ancient Cornish
Edgcumbe family at
Cotehele
Cotehele ( kw, Kosheyl) is a medieval house with Tudor additions, situated in the parish of Calstock in the east of Cornwall, England, and now belonging to the National Trust. It is a rambling granite and slate-stone manor house on the banks ...
and later
Mount Edgcumbe Mount Edgcumbe may refer to:
; Places
* Mount Edgcumbe Country Park, in Cornwall, United Kingdom
* Mount Edgcumbe House, located within Mount Edgcumbe Country Park
* Mount Edgecombe, KwaZulu-Natal, a sugar-growing town in KwaZulu-Natal, South Afric ...
.
In 1305 King Edward I established separate stannaries for Devon and Cornwall. Water was used to operate
stamp
Stamp or Stamps or Stamping may refer to:
Official documents and related impressions
* Postage stamp, used to indicate prepayment of fees for public mail
* Ration stamp, indicating the right to rationed goods
* Revenue stamp, used on documents to ...
s to crush the ore, the lighter waste being washed away. The mineral "black tin" was placed in furnaces and layered with peat. The molten metal was poured into granite moulds which produced ingots of tin. These were taken on pack horses to the stannary towns for assaying. Usable deposits in Devon became worked out, and so Cornwall became the centre of tin production. In 1337 Cornish tin production was 650 tons, but in 1335 it had been reduced to 250 tons by the
Black Death
The Black Death (also known as the Pestilence, the Great Mortality or the Plague) was a bubonic plague pandemic occurring in Western Eurasia and North Africa from 1346 to 1353. It is the most fatal pandemic recorded in human history, causi ...
. In 1400 Cornish production rose to 800 tons. The production in Devon was only 25% of that of Cornwall in 1450–70.
The tin works of Devon and Cornwall were of such importance that the medieval kings established
stannary court
Stannary law (derived from the la, stannum for tin) is the body of English law that governs tin mining in Devon and Cornwall; although no longer of much practical relevance, the stannary law remains part of the law of the United Kingdom and is ...
s and
stannary parliament
Stannary law (derived from the la, stannum for tin) is the body of English law that governs tin mining in Devon and Cornwall; although no longer of much practical relevance, the stannary law remains part of the law of the United Kingdom and is ...
s to administer the law in Cornwall and part of Devon. Up to the mid 16th century, Devon produced about 25–40% of the amount of tin that Cornwall did, but the total amount of tin production from both Cornwall and Devon during this period was relatively small.
The
Cornish Rebellion of 1497 originated among Cornish tin miners who opposed the raising of taxes by
Henry VII to make war on
Scotland
Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...
. This levy was resented for the economic hardship it would cause; it also intruded on a special Cornish tax exemption. The rebels marched on London, gaining supporters as they went, but were defeated at the Battle of Deptford Bridge.
Quarrying was of very limited importance in medieval Cornwall. Stone for church building was very rarely imported from outside the county: they used whatever stone could be found within a short distance. For some ornamental features such as doorways, pillars and fonts good use was made of varieties of
elvan
Elvan is a name used in Cornwall and Devon for the native varieties of quartz-porphyry. They are dispersed irregularly in the Devonian series of rocks and some of them make very fine building stones (e.g. Pentewan stone, Polyphant stone and Cata ...
(e.g. Polyphant and Catacleuze). The granite was not quarried but collected from the moorlands and worked on site. Quarrying of slate developed in north Cornwall in the later Middle Ages and later developed in early modern times into larger undertakings.
Early modern period
After the 1540s, Cornwall's production increased rapidly and Devon's production was only about 10% - 11% of that of Cornwall. From the mid-16th century the Devon stannaries generated very little income for the Crown, and they were sidelined under the
Privilege of Parliament Act 1512
The Privilege of Parliament Act 1512 or the Parliamentary Privilege Act 1512The citation of this Act by this short title is authorised for the Republic of Ireland bsection 4(a)of, anof Schedule 1 to, the Statute Law Revision Act 2007. ( 4 Hen. 8. ...
. The first
Crockern Tor stannary parliament
Stannary law (derived from the la, stannum for tin) is the body of English law that governs tin mining in Devon and Cornwall; although no longer of much practical relevance, the stannary law remains part of the law of the United Kingdom and is ...
in Devon was held in 1494 and the last in 1748. At
Combe Martin
Combe Martin is a village, civil parish and former manor on the North Devon coast about east of Ilfracombe. It is a small seaside resort with a sheltered cove on the northwest edge of the Exmoor National Park.
Due to the narrowness of the ...
several disused silver mines are located on the eastern ridge and evidence of tunnels can still be seen, as well as the remains of a wheelhouse used to lift ore from the mine. There are items in the
Crown Jewels made from Combe Martin silver.
A second tin boom came around the 16th century when open cast mining was used. German miners who had knowledge of the techniques were employed. In 1689, Thomas Epsley, a Somerset man, developed a method to blast the very hard granite rock loose, using gunpowder with quill fuses. It revolutionised hard rock mining. Six days' work with a pick could be accomplished with one blast. There was a third boom in the 18th century when shafts were dug to extract the ore.
Later modern period
In the 19th century Cornish mining reached its zenith, before foreign competition depressed the price of copper, and later tin, to a level that made the extraction of Cornish ore unprofitable. The areas of Cornwall around
Gwennap and
St Day and on the coast around
Porthtowan
Porthtowan ( kw, Porth Tewyn, meaning ''cove of sand dunes'') is a small village in Cornwall, England which is a popular summer tourist destination. Porthtowan is on Cornwall's north Atlantic coast about west of St Agnes, north of Redruth, w ...
were among the richest mining areas in the world. At its height the Cornish tin mining industry had around 600
steam engine
A steam engine is a heat engine that performs mechanical work using steam as its working fluid. The steam engine uses the force produced by steam pressure to push a piston back and forth inside a cylinder. This pushing force can be trans ...
s working to pump out the mines (many mines reached under the sea and some went down to great depths). Adventurers put up the capital, hoping that the mine would return them a profit, but the outcomes were very uncertain.
Caradon Hill
Caradon Hill ( kw, Bre Garn) is on Bodmin Moor in the former Caradon district of Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. The summit is above mean sea level. Caradon Hill is on the southeastern edge of the moor; it is between the villages of Minions ...
had the most productive mine in east Cornwall. The South Caradon Copper Mine, 1 km to the southwest of the
Caradon Hill transmitting station
The Caradon Hill transmitting station is a broadcasting and telecommunications facility on Bodmin Moor in the civil parish of Linkinhorne, located on Caradon Hill, Cornwall, United Kingdom. It is 4 miles (6 km) north of Liskeard, and ¾ mi ...
, was the largest copper mine in the UK in its heyday in the second half of the 19th century. Other disused copper and tin mines are scattered around the base of the hill. By the mid-19th century Looe had become a major port, one of Cornwall's largest, exporting local tin, arsenic, and granite, as well as hosting thriving fishing and boatbuilding industries. At
Callington
Callington ( kw, Kelliwik) is a civil parish and town in east Cornwall, England, United Kingdom about north of Saltash and south of Launceston.
Callington parish had a population of 4,783 in 2001, according to the 2001 census. This had inc ...
arsenic was found with copper ores and was processed by crushing and condensing; the poisonous nature of dust containing arsenic made the work very hazardous. Numerous precautions were taken but the workers tended to die in middleage.
Menheniot was a centre of lead mining and is now surrounded by disused shafts and engine houses. Lead seams were discovered in the 1840s and Menheniot became the centre of a mining boom which lasted until the 1870s. During this period the population doubled.
Kit Hill Country Park
Kit Hill ( kw, Bre Skowl), at 334 metres high, dominates the area between Callington and the River Tamar in southeast Cornwall, England, UK. The word 'Kit' comes from Old English for kite, a reference to birds of prey (and not specifically the ...
is steeped in mining history. Metals extracted included tin, silver, copper, and tungsten. The main mines were Kit Hill Summit Mines (which included a windmill near the present stack) (started about 1826; Kit Hill United closed in 1864); East Kit Hill Mine, worked from 1855 to 1909;
Hingston Down
Hingston Down is a hill not far from Gunnislake in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is the subject of an old rhyme, due to the prolific tin mining that formerly took place in the area:
This Hingston Down should not be confused with the ...
mine (which worked westwards towards Kit Hill, may have started in the 17th century, it closed in 1885; and South Kit Hill Mine, worked from 1856 to 1884.
The last Cornish Stannary Parliament was held at Hingston Down in 1753, and the Devon Stannary Parliament last met in 1748. The Stannary Courts of Devon and Cornwall were combined in 1855 and their powers transferred to local authorities in 1896.
By the middle and late 19th century, Cornish mining was in decline, and many
Cornish miners emigrated to developing mining districts overseas, where their skills were in demand: these included South Africa, Australia and North America. Cornish miners became dominant in the 1850s in the iron and
copper districts of northern
Michigan
Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...
in the United States, as well as in many other mining districts. In the first six months of 1875, over 10,000 miners left Cornwall to find work overseas.
20th century and after
During the 20th century, various ores were briefly profitable, and mines were reopened, but today none remain.
Dolcoath mine
Dolcoath mine ( kw, Bal Dorkoth) 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 n ...
(
Cornish for ''Old Ground''), the 'Queen of Cornish Mines', was 3,500 feet (1,067 m) deep, and was for many years the deepest mine in the world, not to mention one of the oldest before its closure in 1921. The last working tin mine in Europe was
South Crofty
South Crofty is a metalliferous tin and copper mine located in the village of Pool, Cornwall, United Kingdom. An ancient mine, it has seen production for over 400 years, and extends almost two and a half miles across and down and has mined ov ...
, near
Camborne
Camborne ( kw, Kammbronn) is a town in Cornwall, England. The population at the 2011 Census was 20,845. The northern edge of the parish includes a section of the South West Coast Path, Hell's Mouth and Deadman's Cove.
Camborne was formerl ...
, until its closure in March 1998. After an attempt was made to reopen it, it was abandoned. There were local media reports in September 2006 that South Crofty was being considered for re-opening as the price of tin had soared, but the site was subject to a
compulsory purchase order (October 2006). On the wall outside the gate is some graffiti dating from 1999:
(This is from the chorus of the song 'Cornish Lads' by Cornish singer/songwriter Roger Bryant, written at the time of the closure of Geevor Mine. See cd "The Writing's on the Wall" by Roger Bryant. Other recordings by Jinks' Stack and Mike Nicholson)
The collapse of the
International Tin Council The International Tin Council (ITC) was an organisation which acted on behalf of major tin producers and consumers to control the international tin market.
An ''International Tin Study Group'', which was established in 1947 to survey world supply o ...
in 1986 was the end for Cornish and Devonian tin mining. The most recent mine in Devon to produce tin ore was Hemerdon Mine near
Plympton in the 1980s. The last Cornish tin mine in production at
South Crofty
South Crofty is a metalliferous tin and copper mine located in the village of Pool, Cornwall, United Kingdom. An ancient mine, it has seen production for over 400 years, and extends almost two and a half miles across and down and has mined ov ...
closed in 1998. The
Hemerdon tungsten and tin mine in south-west Devon re-opened as
Drakelands Mine
Drakelands Mine, also known as Hemerdon Mine or Hemerdon Ball Mine, is a tungsten and tin mine. It is located northeast of Plymouth, near Plympton, in Devon, England. It lies to the north of the villages of Sparkwell and Hemerdon, and adjacent ...
in 2015.
In 1992,
Geevor mine was acquired by Cornwall County Council as a heritage museum, which is now run by Pendeen Community Heritage. Both Geevor Tin Mine and
Morwellham Quay
Morwellham Quay is an historic river port in Devon, England that developed to support the local mines. The port had its peak in the Victorian era and is now run as a tourist attraction and museum. It is the terminus of the Tavistock Canal, and ...
have been selected as "anchor points" on the
European Route of Industrial Heritage
The European Route of Industrial Heritage (ERIH) is a tourist route of the most important industrial heritage sites in Europe. This is a tourism industry information initiative to present a network of industrial heritage sites across Europe. The a ...
.
The extraction of
china clay (kaolin) continues to be of considerable importance: the larger works are in the
St Austell
St Austell (; kw, Sans Austel) is a town in Cornwall, England, south of Bodmin and west of the border with Devon.
St Austell is one of the largest towns in Cornwall; at the 2011 census it had a population of 19,958.
History
St Austell wa ...
district. The amount of waste in proportion to kaolin is so great that huge waste mounds were created whose whiteness in the early years means that they can be seen from afar. The
Eden Project
The Eden Project ( kw, Edenva) is a visitor attraction in Cornwall, England, UK. The project is located in a reclaimed china clay pit, located from the town of St Blazey and from the larger town of St Austell.Ordnance Survey (2005). ''OS E ...
has been developed on the site of a former china clay and tin quarry. Extraction of slate and roadstone by quarrying still continues on a reduced scale: it was formerly an important industry, and has been carried on in Cornwall ever since the Middle Ages. Several quarries have been productive enough to need their own mineral railways.
Granite
Granite () is a coarse-grained (phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies undergro ...
of high quality has been extracted from many Cornish quarries such as De Lank and
Porthoustock
Porthoustock ( kw, Porthewstek) is a hamlet near St Keverne in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom, on the east coast of The Lizard, Lizard Peninsula. Aggregates are quarried nearby and Porthoustock beach is dominated by a large concrete stone ...
. Some granite has been taken very long distances for use in building. There are also some important quarries in Devon, such as
Meldon (a source of railway ballast for the
Southern Railway) and granite quarries on Dartmoor such as
Merrivale.
In 2017, plans were reported to extract lithium reserves from beneath Cornwall by
Cornish Lithium, who had signed agreements to develop potential deposits.
In April 2019, a British based company, MetAmpère Limited, drilled 6 lithium exploration holes in the UK at a site near St Austell. MetAmpère has successfully extracted lithium from hard rock at a laboratory scale, resulting in plans for a further 20 drill holes. In 2021, a new mine was extracting
battery-grade lithium carbonate
Lithium carbonate is an inorganic compound, the lithium salt (chemistry), salt of carbonate with the chemical formula, formula . This white Salt (chemistry), salt is widely used in the processing of metal oxides. It is listed on the World Health O ...
.
=Disasters
=
In the
metalliferous mines of Cornwall, some of the worst accidents were at
East Wheal Rose
East Wheal Rose was a metalliferous mine around south east of the village of St Newlyn East and is around from Newquay on the north Cornwall coast, United Kingdom. The country rock at the mine was killas and its main produce was lead ore ( ...
in 1846, where 39 men were killed by a sudden flood; at
Levant Mine
The Levant () is an approximate historical geographical term referring to a large area in the Eastern Mediterranean region of Western Asia. In its narrowest sense, which is in use today in archaeology and other cultural contexts, it is equ ...
in 1919, where 31 were killed and many injured in a failure of the
man engine; 12 killed at
Wheal Agar
Wheal may refer to:
* Wheals, a type of skin lesion
* Brad Wheal (born 1996), British cricketer
* Donald James Wheal (1931–2008), British British television writer, novelist and non-fiction writer
* David John Wheal, Australian businessman
* "Th ...
in 1883 when a cage fell down a shaft; and seven killed at Dolcoath mine in 1893, when a large
stull collapsed.
Main mining areas
;Cornwall
*
Penwith
Penwith (; kw, Pennwydh) is an area of Cornwall, England, United Kingdom, located on the peninsula of the same name. It is also the name of a former Non-metropolitan district, local government district, whose council was based in Penzance. ...
**
St Just in Penwith and
Zennor
*
Camborne
Camborne ( kw, Kammbronn) is a town in Cornwall, England. The population at the 2011 Census was 20,845. The northern edge of the parish includes a section of the South West Coast Path, Hell's Mouth and Deadman's Cove.
Camborne was formerl ...
,
Redruth
Redruth ( , kw, Resrudh) is a town and civil parishes in Cornwall, civil parish in Cornwall, England. The population of Redruth was 14,018 at the 2011 census. In the same year the population of the Camborne-Redruth urban area, which also inc ...
and
Illogan
*
Gwennap and the Carnon Valley in west Cornwall
*
Wendron
Wendron ( kw, Egloswendron (village), Pluw Wendron (parish); historically St. Wendron) is a village and civil parish in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom, to the north of Helston. The parish population at the 2011 census was 2,743. The electora ...
area in Kerrier
*
St Agnes and
Porthtowan
Porthtowan ( kw, Porth Tewyn, meaning ''cove of sand dunes'') is a small village in Cornwall, England which is a popular summer tourist destination. Porthtowan is on Cornwall's north Atlantic coast about west of St Agnes, north of Redruth, w ...
*
North Cornwall
North Cornwall ( kw, An Tiredh Uhel) is an area of Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is also the name of a former local government district, which was administered from Bodmin and Wadebridge . Other towns in the area are Launceston, Bude, P ...
(a few mines but no tin)
* A large area bounded by
St Austell
St Austell (; kw, Sans Austel) is a town in Cornwall, England, south of Bodmin and west of the border with Devon.
St Austell is one of the largest towns in Cornwall; at the 2011 census it had a population of 19,958.
History
St Austell wa ...
,
Wadebridge,
Bodmin
Bodmin () is a town and civil parish in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is situated south-west of Bodmin Moor.
The extent of the civil parish corresponds fairly closely to that of the town so is mostly urban in character. It is bordere ...
and
Callington
Callington ( kw, Kelliwik) is a civil parish and town in east Cornwall, England, United Kingdom about north of Saltash and south of Launceston.
Callington parish had a population of 4,783 in 2001, according to the 2001 census. This had inc ...
in mid and east Cornwall
; River Tamar
*
Tamar Valley - copper, tin, lead, silver, and arsenic. See
Morwellham Quay
Morwellham Quay is an historic river port in Devon, England that developed to support the local mines. The port had its peak in the Victorian era and is now run as a tourist attraction and museum. It is the terminus of the Tavistock Canal, and ...
. Particularly in the nineteenth century, ores were internationally traded through
Plymouth Dock
Devonport ( ), formerly named Plymouth Dock or just Dock, is a district of Plymouth in the English county of Devon, although it was, at one time, the more important settlement. It became a county borough in 1889. Devonport was originally one ...
;Devon
*
Lydford – an ancient Saxon
burh
A burh () or burg was an Old English fortification or fortified settlement. In the 9th century, raids and invasions by Vikings prompted Alfred the Great to develop a network of burhs and roads to use against such attackers. Some were new constru ...
; the early medieval location of the most westerly silver mint and later ceremonial parliament and prison of the
Stannary Court
Stannary law (derived from the la, stannum for tin) is the body of English law that governs tin mining in Devon and Cornwall; although no longer of much practical relevance, the stannary law remains part of the law of the United Kingdom and is ...
for Dartmoor
*
Bere Ferrers
Bere Ferrers, sometimes called ''Beerferris'', is a village and civil parish on the Bere peninsula in West Devon in the English county of Devon. It is located to the north of Plymouth, on the west bank of the River Tavy. It has a railway stat ...
– a unique Crown-operated medieval silver (and lead) mine
*
Combe Martin
Combe Martin is a village, civil parish and former manor on the North Devon coast about east of Ilfracombe. It is a small seaside resort with a sheltered cove on the northwest edge of the Exmoor National Park.
Due to the narrowness of the ...
– lead/silver deposits
*
Exmoor and
Brendon Hills
The Brendon Hills are a range of hills in west Somerset, England. The hills merge level into the eastern side of Exmoor and are included within the Exmoor National Park. The highest point of the range is Lype Hill at above sea level with a secon ...
– iron lead, silver, copper
*
Dartmoor – ancient
stannary towns include
Tavistock,
Ashburton,
Chagford
Chagford is a market town and civil parish on the north-east edge of Dartmoor, in Devon, England, close to the River Teign and the A382, 4 miles (6 km) west of Moretonhampstead. The name is derived from ''chag'', meaning gorse or broom, and ...
and later
Plympton
*
West Devon
*Bampfylde Mine,
North Molton
North Molton is a village, parish and former manor in North Devon, England. The population of the parish in 2001 was 1,047, decreasing to 721 in the 2011 census. An electoral ward with the same name also exists. The ward population at the ce ...
*
Blackdown Hills
The Blackdown Hills are a range of hills along the Somerset-Devon border in south-western England, which were designated an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) in 1991.
The plateau is dominated by hard chert bands of Upper Greensand wit ...
– copper deposits
Methods and processing
See
Dartmoor tin-mining
Study and education
The
Royal Geological Society of Cornwall
The Royal Geological Society of Cornwall is a geological society based in Penzance, Cornwall in the United Kingdom. It was founded in 1814 to promote the study of the geology of Cornwall, and is the second oldest geological society in the world ...
was founded in 1814 to promote the study of the
geology of Cornwall, and is the second oldest geological society in the world. The
Cornish Institute of Engineers
The Cornish Institute of Engineers (CIE) was founded in 1913 by the then Principal of the Camborne School of Mines, J.J. Beringer. Its first President, Josiah Paul, was appointed on 1 March 1913. It is the only institute in Cornwall and maintain ...
was begun by mechanical engineers. Mining is an important area in which it is active.
Camborne School of Mines
Because of the importance of metal mining to the Cornish economy, the
Camborne School of Mines (CSM), founded in 1888, developed as the only specialist hard rock education establishment in the United Kingdom. It continues to teach mining as well as many other earth-related subjects (e.g.
engineering geology
Engineering geology is the application of geology to engineering study for the purpose of assuring that the geological factors regarding the location, design, construction, operation and maintenance of engineering works are recognized and accou ...
) relevant to the Cornish economy.
CSM now forms part of the
University of Exeter
The University of Exeter is a public university , public research university in Exeter, Devon, England, United Kingdom. Its predecessor institutions, St Luke's College, Exeter School of Science, Exeter School of Art, and the Camborne School of Min ...
, and has relocated to the University's
Tremough
Penryn Campus (formerly Tremough Campus, Cornwall Campus and similar names) is a university campus in Penryn, Cornwall, England, UK. The campus is occupied by two university institutions: Falmouth University and the University of Exeter, with th ...
campus in
Penryn. Despite this move, the School continues the use of "Camborne" in its name. CSM graduates are to be found working in the mining industry all over the world.
Terminology and symbolism
Several Cornish mining words are still in use in English language mining terminology, such as
costean
Costeaning is the process by which miners seek to discover metallic lodes. It consists in sinking small pits through the superficial deposits to the solid rock, and then driving from one pit to another across the direction of the vein
Veins are ...
,
gunnies
A gunnies, gunnis, or gunniss is the space left in a mine after the extraction by stoping of a vertical or near vertical ore-bearing lode. The term is also used when this space breaks the surface of the ground, but it can then be known as a cof ...
,
vug
A vug, vugh, or vugg (
) is a small- to medium-sized cavity inside rock. It may be formed through a variety of processes. Most commonly, cracks and fissures opened by tectonic activity (folding and faulting) are partially filled by quartz, cal ...
,
kibbal,
gossan, and
kieve.
Fish, tin, and copper together are sometimes used as a symbol of Cornwall because they show the three main traditional industries of Cornwall. Tin has a special place in the Cornish culture, the Stannary Parliament, and '
Cornish pennies' are a testament to the former power of the Cornish tin industry. Cornish tin is highly prized for jewellery, often of mine engines or
Celtic
Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to:
Language and ethnicity
*pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia
**Celts (modern)
*Celtic languages
**Proto-Celtic language
* Celtic music
*Celtic nations
Sports Fo ...
designs.
The houses at
Penair School
Penair School is a secondary academy school in Truro, Cornwall, England, for children aged 11 to 16. It is named after Penair House, a mansion built in the late 18th century by Rear-Admiral Robert Carthew Reynolds. It is currently graded as ...
are named after four notable tin mines. Among the pubs whose names refer to tin mining are the
Tinner's Arms in
Zennor and the former Jolly Tinners pub in
St Hilary. The pub sign at Zennor pictures a tin miner at work, testimony to its origins. The Jolly Tinners building at St Hilary was at one time used to accommodate the
St Hilary Children's Home.
Three hares
The
three hares
The three hares (or three rabbits) is a circular motif or meme appearing in sacred sites from East Asia, the Middle East and to the churches of Devon, England (as the " Tinners' Rabbits"), and historical synagogues in Europe. It is used as an a ...
is a circular
motif
Motif may refer to:
General concepts
* Motif (chess composition), an element of a move in the consideration of its purpose
* Motif (folkloristics), a recurring element that creates recognizable patterns in folklore and folk-art traditions
* Moti ...
which appears in
sacred sites from the Middle and Far East to the churches of south west England (where it is often referred to as the "Tinners' Rabbits").
It occurs with the greatest frequency in the churches of the
West Country
The West Country (occasionally Westcountry) is a loosely defined area of South West England, usually taken to include all, some, or parts of the counties of Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Somerset, Bristol, and, less commonly, Wiltshire, Gloucesters ...
of England. The motif appears in architectural
wood carving
Wood carving is a form of woodworking by means of a cutting tool (knife) in one hand or a chisel by two hands or with one hand on a chisel and one hand on a mallet, resulting in a wooden figure or figurine, or in the sculptural ornamentation ...
,
stone carving
Stone carving is an activity where pieces of rough natural stone are shaped by the controlled removal of stone. Owing to the permanence of the material, stone work has survived which was created during our prehistory or past time.
Work carried ...
, window
tracery, and
stained glass
Stained glass is coloured glass as a material or works created from it. Throughout its thousand-year history, the term has been applied almost exclusively to the windows of churches and other significant religious buildings. Although tradition ...
. In South Western England there are nearly thirty recorded examples of the Three Hares appearing on '
roof boss
In architecture, a boss is a knob or protrusion of wood, stone, or metal.
Description
Bosses can often be found in the ceilings of buildings, particularly at the keystones at the intersections of a rib vault. In Gothic architecture, such roo ...
es' (carved wooden knobs) on the ceilings in
medieval
In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the Post-classical, post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with t ...
churches in Devon, (particularly
Dartmoor). There is a good example of a roof boss of the Three hares at
Widecombe-in-the-Moor
Widecombe in the Moor () is a village and large civil parish in Dartmoor National Park in Devon, England. Its church is known as the Cathedral of the Moors on account of its tall tower and its size, relative to the small population it serves. It ...
,
Another exemplary roof boss can be found in the town of
Tavistock, in Dartmoor, on the edge of the moor.
Tinners' Rabbits is the name of a dance of many forms involving use of sticks and rotation of three, six or nine dancers.
World Heritage Site
In 1999, the
Cornwall and West Devon Mining Landscape was added to the UK government's tentative list for submission to the
World Heritage
A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for h ...
list. It was announced on 13 July 2006 that the bid had been successful. This
World Heritage Site
A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for h ...
is unique in that it covers a technique exported worldwide, including Mexico and Peru, and will consist of a trail linking mining sites from Land's End in Cornwall, through
Porthtowan
Porthtowan ( kw, Porth Tewyn, meaning ''cove of sand dunes'') is a small village in Cornwall, England which is a popular summer tourist destination. Porthtowan is on Cornwall's north Atlantic coast about west of St Agnes, north of Redruth, w ...
and St Agnes up the spine of the county to the
Tamar Valley forming the border with Devon. There, the exporting port of
Morwellham is being developed alongside the
Devon Great Consols Mine to demonstrate the nature and scale of the operations, with the Eastern Gateway to the
World Heritage Site
A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for h ...
being anchored in the ancient
stannary town
A stannary was an administrative division established under stannary law in the English counties of Cornwall and Devon to manage the collection of tin coinage, which was the duty payable on the metal tin smelted from the ore cassiterite mined i ...
of Tavistock, the base for Devon's own 19th-century
gold rush
A gold rush or gold fever is a discovery of gold—sometimes accompanied by other precious metals and rare-earth minerals—that brings an onrush of miners seeking their fortune. Major gold rushes took place in the 19th century in Australia, New Z ...
.
Heartlands, the £35m National Lottery funded regeneration project, and gateway to the Cornwall and West Devon Mining Landscape World Heritage Site, opened to the public on 20 April 2012. This free visitor attraction had been 14 years in the planning (since
South Crofty
South Crofty is a metalliferous tin and copper mine located in the village of Pool, Cornwall, United Kingdom. An ancient mine, it has seen production for over 400 years, and extends almost two and a half miles across and down and has mined ov ...
mine closed in 1998).
In 2014, work was completed to preserve the iconic New Cooks Kitchen Headframe at South Crofty tin mine. at an approximate cost of £650,000.
Individual mines
Hemerdon Mine
Hemerdon Mine
Drakelands Mine, also known as Hemerdon Mine or Hemerdon Ball Mine, is a tungsten and tin mine. It is located northeast of Plymouth, near Plympton, in Devon, England. It lies to the north of the villages of Sparkwell and Hemerdon, and adjacen ...
, alternatively known as the
Drakelands Mine
Drakelands Mine, also known as Hemerdon Mine or Hemerdon Ball Mine, is a tungsten and tin mine. It is located northeast of Plymouth, near Plympton, in Devon, England. It lies to the north of the villages of Sparkwell and Hemerdon, and adjacent ...
or Hemerdon Ball or Hemerdon Bal Mine, is a historic tungsten and tin mine, NE of
Plymouth
Plymouth () is a port city and unitary authority in South West England. It is located on the south coast of Devon, approximately south-west of Exeter and south-west of London. It is bordered by Cornwall to the west and south-west.
Plymouth ...
, near
Plympton, in Devon. It lies to the north of the villages of
Sparkwell
Sparkwell is a small village and civil parish in the South Hams district of Devon. Historically it was part of Haytor Hundred.
Its local Anglican church is All Saints Church, Sparkwell.
Its local non-conformist church is Lee Mill Congregation ...
and Hemerdon and adjacent to the large
china clay pits near Lee Moor. The mine, which had been out of operation since 1944, except for the brief operation of a trial mine in the 1980s, hosts one of the largest tungsten and tin deposits in the world. It restarted production in 2015.
South Crofty Mine
In November 2007 it was announced that
South Crofty
South Crofty is a metalliferous tin and copper mine located in the village of Pool, Cornwall, United Kingdom. An ancient mine, it has seen production for over 400 years, and extends almost two and a half miles across and down and has mined ov ...
mine, near
Camborne
Camborne ( kw, Kammbronn) is a town in Cornwall, England. The population at the 2011 Census was 20,845. The northern edge of the parish includes a section of the South West Coast Path, Hell's Mouth and Deadman's Cove.
Camborne was formerl ...
, may restart production in 2009. When it closed in 1998 it was Europe's last tin mine. Its owners Baseresult Holdings Ltd, which bought the mine in 2001, have created a new company, Western United Mines Limited (WUM), to operate it and has said it will be spending in excess of £50m on restarting the mine. The company claims that rising tin prices had given the mine, first opened in the late 16th century, another 80 years of life. More than £3.5m will be spent during the next seven months on continuing the mine development.
Crofty Developments, a partner of the new company, still has to resolve a row with the
South West
The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each sepa ...
Regional Development Agency (RDA) over use of more than of land surrounding the site. The RDA wants to make a compulsory purchase order on the site for leisure, housing and industry, but Crofty Developments has been fighting in the High Court to retain the site. The Cornish mining industry, started in 2000 BC, reached its peak in the 19th century, when thousands of workers were employed in up to 2,000 mines, before the industry collapsed when ores began to be produced more cheaply abroad.
Partial list of Cornish mines
Railways
''Note: The term "mineral railway" is usually understood to mean a railway operated in direct association with a single mine or a group of mines. An ordinary railway might convey the traffic of any consignor. However the terminology is not exact.''
Cornwall Minerals Railway
The Cornwall Minerals Railway opened in 1874, connecting harbours at Fowey and Newquay and sites of mineral extraction in the area between them, in particular in the Bugle and St Dennis areas. The railway absorbed and extended several existing short mineral lines.
East Cornwall Mineral Railway
The ECMR connected copper extractive industries in the Kit Hill area to a quay at Calstock on the Tamar.
Hayle Railway
The Hayle Railway opened in 1837, serving engineering works and copper quays at
Hayle
Hayle ( kw, Heyl, "estuary") is a port town and civil parish in west Cornwall, England. It is situated at the mouth of the Hayle River (which discharges into St Ives Bay) and is approximately seven miles (11 km) northeast of Penzance. ...
and the copper mines of Redruth and Camborne.
List of mineral railways in Cornwall
See also
*
Bal maidens, female ore dressers
*
Beam engine
A beam engine is a type of steam engine where a pivoted overhead beam is used to apply the force from a vertical piston to a vertical connecting rod. This configuration, with the engine directly driving a pump, was first used by Thomas Newco ...
*
Come, all ye jolly tinner boys
"Come, all ye jolly tinner boys" is a traditional folk song associated with Cornwall that was written about 1807, when Napoleon Bonaparte made threats that would affect trade in Cornwall at the time of the invasion of Poland. The song contains the ...
*
Cornish emigration
The Cornish diaspora ( kw, keskar kernewek) consists of Cornish people and their descendants who emigrated from Cornwall, United Kingdom. The diaspora is found within the United Kingdom, and in countries such as the United States, Canada, Austral ...
*
Cornish engine
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 Watt steam engine, engines designed by James Wat ...
*
Cornish Foreshore Case
The Cornish Foreshore Case was an arbitration case held between 1854 and 1858 to resolve a formal dispute between the British Crown and the Duchy of Cornwall over the rights to minerals and mines under the foreshore of Cornwall
Cornwall (; ...
*
Cornish Mines & Engines
*
Cornwall and West Devon Mining Landscape, a World Heritage Site
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Dartmoor tin-mining
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Geology of Cornwall
*
Hayle
Hayle ( kw, Heyl, "estuary") is a port town and civil parish in west Cornwall, England. It is situated at the mouth of the Hayle River (which discharges into St Ives Bay) and is approximately seven miles (11 km) northeast of Penzance. ...
, centre of copper smelting
*
John Taylor John Taylor, Johnny Taylor or similar may refer to:
Academics
*John Taylor (Oxford), Vice-Chancellor of Oxford University, 1486–1487
*John Taylor (classical scholar) (1704–1766), English classical scholar
*John Taylor (English publisher) (178 ...
, inventor of the Cornish rolls
*
Kenneth Hamilton Jenkin, historian
*
Knocker, said to inhabit the mines
*
Lostwithiel Stannary Palace
The Stannary Palace, also known as the Duchy Palace, circa 1265–1300, was a complex of buildings constructed by the Earls of Cornwall as the centre of their administration. The surviving exchequer hall is reputed to be the oldest non-eccles ...
*
Mineral Tramway Trails
*
Morwellham Quay
Morwellham Quay is an historic river port in Devon, England that developed to support the local mines. The port had its peak in the Victorian era and is now run as a tourist attraction and museum. It is the terminus of the Tavistock Canal, and ...
, inland port
*
Robert Hunt, mineralogist and statistician
*
Tin sources and trade in ancient times
*
Welcome Stranger (a notable nugget of gold found by two Cornish miners in Victoria, Australia)
*
William Jory Henwood
William Jory Henwood Fellow of the Royal Society, FRS (16 January 18055 August 1875), Cornish people, Cornish mining geologist, was born at Perranarworthal, Perran Wharf, Cornwall.
In 1822 he commenced work as a clerk in an office of the Perran F ...
, mining geologist
*
Williams family of Caerhays and Burncoose, mining entrepreneurs
*
Scorrier House
Scorrier House, located near the village of Scorrier, Cornwall, England, UK, is a country house and the seat of the Williams family of Caerhays and Burncoose, Williams family. Scorrier House is also home to an important Cornish garden, Scorrier Ho ...
, seat of the Williams family
References
Bibliography
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*
*
*
*
*
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* Gerrard, S. ''The Early British Tin Industry'', Tempus, 2000.
*
* Penhallurick, R. ''Tin in Antiquity''. 1986.
* Penhallurick, R. ''Europe Tin Deposits''. 1998.
*
Further reading
*Barton, D. Bradford (1961) ''A History of Copper Mining in Cornwall & Devon''. Truro: Truro Bookshop; 2nd ed. Truro, 1968; 3rd ed. Truro, 1978
*
*Booker, Frank (1967) ''The Industrial Archaeology of the Tamar Valley''. Newton Abbot: David & Charles; Revised impression 1971
* Brooks, Tony (2001) ''Castle-an-Dinas 1916–1957: Cornwall's premier tungsten mine with brief comparative histories of other wolfram mines in Cornwall & West Devon''. St. Austell, Cornwall : Cornish Hillside Publications
*Burt, Roger, with Raymond Burnley, Michael Gill and Alasdair Neill (2014) ''Mining in Cornwall & Devon: Mines and Men''. Exeter: University of Exeter Press
*Collins, J. H. (1897) ''The Miner in Cornwall and Devon''. (Cited by A. C. Todd (1972); p. 11.)
* Cunliffe, Barry "Ictis is it here?"; ''Oxford Journal of Archaeology'' 2/1, pp. 123–126, 1983.
*
*
* Hatcher, John ''English Tin Production and Trade before 1550''. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1973.
* Hawkes, C. "Ictis disentangled and the British tin trade" in: ''Oxford Journal of Archaeology''; 3/2, pp 211–234, 1984.
* Hammersen, L. ''The Control of Tin in South West Britain from the 1st Century AD to the Late 3rd Century AD''. MA thesis, North Carolina University, 2007.
*Jenkin, Kenneth Hamilton ''The Cornish Miner: an account of his life above and underground from early times''. London: George Allen & Unwin, 1927: three editions, including 3rd edition, 1962 (reprinted by David & Charles, Newton Abbot, 1972 ; reprinted in facsimile with an introduction by John H. Trounson, Launceston: Westcountry, 2004 )
* Jenkin, Kenneth Hamilton ''Mines and Miners of Cornwall'' in 16 volumes, vols. 1–14 originally published by the Truro Bookshop, 1961 onwards and reprinted by various organisations:
** ''Pt. I. Around St. Ives''
** ''Pt. II. St. Agnes, Perranporth''
** ''Pt. III. Around Redruth''
** ''Pt. IV. Penzance-Mount's Bay''
** ''Pt. V. Hayle, Gwinear and Gwithian''
** ''Pt. VI. Around Gwennap''
** ''Pt. VII. Perranporth-Newquay''
** ''Pt. VIII. Truro to the clay district''
** ''Pt. IX. Padstow, St Columb and Bodmin''
** ''Pt. X. Camborne and Illogan''
** ''Pt. XI. Marazion, St Hilary and Breage''
** ''Pt. XII. Liskeard area''
** ''Pt. XIII. The Lizard-Falmouth-Mevagissey''
** ''Pt. XIV. St Austell to Saltash''
** ''Pt. XV. Calstock, Callington and Launceston'' Penzance: Federation of Old Cornwall Societies, 1969 (reprinted Bracknell: Forge Books, 1976)
** ''Pt. XVI. Wadebridge, Camelford and Bude'' Penzance: Federation of Old Cornwall Societies, 1970
** ''Index to Mines and Miners of Cornwall: Volumes 1–16''. St. Austell: Federation of Old Cornwall Societies, 1978
* Jenkin, Kenneth Hamilton ''Mines of Devon''. Newton Abbot: David & Charles, 1974
**Volume 1: South Devon
**Volume 2: Mines of Devon, north and east of Dartmoor: Sydenham Damerel, Lydford, Wheal Betsy, Wheal Friendship, Okehampton, Sticklepath, Chagford, Buckfastleigh, Ashburton, Ilsington, Teign Valley, Newton St. Cyres, and Upton Pyne. (Reprinted by Devon Libraries 1981 )
**Both volumes reprinted by Landmark, 2005
* Jenkin, Kenneth Hamilton ''Wendron Tin'' (commissioned by
Poldark Mine
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 tour ...
), 1978
* Laing, L. R. "A Greek tin trade with Cornwall" in: ''Cornish Archaeology''; 7, 1968, pp. 15–22.
* Lewis, G. R. : ''The Stannaries: a study of the English tin miner''. Cambridge MA: Harvard University Press, 1924.
*Lewis, Jim (2006) "Cornish copper mining 1795-1830: economy, structure and change", in: ''Cornish Archaeology''; ser. II, vol. 14, ; pp. 164–86.
*Murray, John, publisher (1859) ''Handbook for Devon and Cornwall''. London: John Murray
* Pearce, Susan C. ''Bronze Age Metalwork of South West Britain.'' (BAR; 190). Oxford: British Archaeological Reports, 1983.
* Quinell, H. ''Cornwall in the Iron and Roman Ages''.
* Rickard, T. A. ''Man and Metals: a history of mining in relation to the development of civilisation'' (2 vols). New York: McGraw-Hill, 1932.
*
*Stanier, Peter ''Mines of Cornwall and Devon: an historic photographic record''. Truro: Twelveheads Press, 1998
* Todd, A. C. & Laws, Peter (1972) ''The Industrial Archaeology of Cornwall''. Newton Abbot: David & Charles
*Trounson, J. H. (1980, 1981) ''Mining in Cornwall, 1850-1960''. 2 vols. Ashbourne: Moorland &
*Trounson, J. H. (1999) ''Mining in Cornwall''; rev. & enlarged ed. compiled by J. H. Trounson and L. J. Bullen Stroud: Tempus Vol. 1: The central district; vol. 2: The county explored. (v. 1) & (v. 2);
* Trounson, J. H. (1989) ''The Cornish Mineral Industry: past performance and future prospect, a personal view 1937–1951''; edited by Roger Burt and Peter Waite. Exeter: University of Exeter in association with the National Association of Mining History Organisations
* Trounson, J. H. (1993) ''Cornwall's Future Mines: areas of Cornwall of mineral potential''. Exeter: University of Exeter Press
;Devon
*
*
*
*
*
*Thorneycroft, V. R., Pirrie, D. and Brown, A. (2004) "Alluvial records of medieval and prehistoric tin mining on Dartmoor, southwest England" in: ''Geoarchaeology''; 19/3, pp 219–236, Feb 2004.
*
;United States
* Cornish, Joseph H. ''The History and Genealogy of the Cornish Families in America''. Higginson Book Company. 2003. ASIN: B0006S85H6.
* Ewart, Shirley. ''Highly Respectable Families: the Cornish of Grass Valley, California 1854–1954 (Nevada County Pioneers Series)''. Comstock Bonanza Press. October 1998. .
* Magnaghi, Russell M. ''Cornish in Michigan'' (Discovering the Peoples of Michigan Series). Michigan State University Press. October 2007. .
*
Payton, Philip ''The Cornish Overseas''. Cornwall Editions Limited. April 2005. .
*
Rowse, A. L.
Alfred Leslie Rowse (4 December 1903 – 3 October 1997) was a British historian and writer, best known for his work on Elizabethan England and books relating to Cornwall.
Born in Cornwall and raised in modest circumstances, he was encoura ...
''The Cornish in America''. Redruth: Dyllansow Truran. June 1991. .
* Todd, Arthur C. ''The Cornish Miner in America: the Contribution to the Mining History of the United States by Emigrant Cornish Miners: the Men Called Cousin Jacks''. Arthur H. Clark (publisher). September 1995. .
* White, Helen M. ''Cornish Cousins of Minnesota, Lost and Found: St. Piran's Society of Minnesota''. Minnesota Heritage Publications. 1997. ASIN: B0006QP60M.
External links
Cornish Mining
{{Cornwall
History of Cornwall
Cornwall
Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic ...
Cornish Mining
Tin mining
Cornwall
Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic ...