MapNotes

This is an example of the I.A.Recordings Industrial Archaeology MapNotes for one British Ordnance Survey 1:50,000 series map.
We have produced these notes over the years for our own use as a concise digest of industrial sites in a given area.
Map 203 covers Land's End, the South-western extremity of the Cornish peninsula.
As you would expect, most of the historic industry in Cornwall is tin or copper mining!
Each numbered entry has a National Grid Reference (NGR) code, such as SW 697 494. This code is the coordinate system of the British Ordnance Survey (OS) and may be used to locate a site on any map printed with an NGR grid.

1. SW 700 501 St.Agnes Head; Wheal Coates mine, NT restored Towanroath pumping engine house & grilled shaft near cliff edge, derelict tin
   streaming plant buildings, cliff workings, whim engine house above being restored by NT, derelict stamps & other bldgs, shafts, car park. An adit, some shafts and a paved area may be part of Wheal Owles? (Also one at Botallack) or Wheal Bungay, aka Wheal Devonshire. [vid+NT]
   SW 697 494 Chapel Porth; stamping mill site. NT car park on site of stamping mill is start of walk to:
   SW 698 501 Wheal Coates beach adit accessible at half tide (paddling). Waterfall from adit 2m above floor in end of cave.
   BEWARE fast incoming tide. [vis+NT,DK]
   
   
2. SW 567 379 Copperhouse; Copper Smelting works, built in 1750’s to smelt in Cornwall rather than Swansea. Used ores from Camborne and Gwennap Mines. Only remains are walls of ‘canal’ dock wharf, made of blocks of slag (‘scoriae’) & parts of the lock gate. Large quantities of coal needed and powerful Welsh Smelters caused the demise of the works in the 19th century. N bank to be site of Co-op.
   Local church & other walls also made of slag blocks. [YG+vis]
   
   
3. SW 699 420 Redruth; Mining exchange in Alma place near centre of town. [YG,vis]
   
   
4. SW 721 517 Trevaunance cove; St.Agnes harbour, wall reduced to pile of granite blocks by sea; Ore storage hutches. Approach via v.
   private road. Blue Hills & Wheal Kitty engine houses nearby. [YG]
   SW 722 516 Polberro Mine, shaft & beach adits, timbering, wooden launders & flooded winzes visible underground. [YG]
   
   
5. SW 678 393 Treskillard; Basset Mines Ltd. South Wheal Frances sett: [BM32,vis]
   SW 6781 3936 Pascoe’s shaft, 80" pumping engine house.
   SW 6777 3930 Pascoe’s shaft; 36" whim engine house.
   SW 6745 3906 Daubuz whim/pump engine house.
   SW 6721 3912 West Wheal Frances; Smith's 24" whim engine house.
   SW 681 394 Marriott’s shaft area: [BM32,vid]
   SW 6802 3937 stone crusher base & crusher engine house,
   SW 6804 3937compressor engine house for 30 drills,
   SW 6806 3937 inverted compound beam pumping engine house (40" & 80", Hathorn Davey) beside 5m diameter brick lined shaft, boiler house (6 Lancashire),
   SW 6810 3938 winding house, miner's dry. Views west across Newton
   Moor of 13 engine houses.
   
   
   
6. SW 557 373 Hayle; Harvey’s foundry, ‘Slades of Hayle’ currently occupy remaining buildings, about to be demolished. [ROAR,vis]
   SW 558 372 Hayle; railway viaduct. [vis]
   
   
7. SW 688 402 Carnkie; Basset Mines Ltd. West Wheal Basset sett, Stamps, buddle floors, vanner house, Brunton calciner. Unusually complete [BM32,vid]
   SW 6815 3970 Thomas's 60" pumping engine house
   SW 6878 4024 Stamps engine house.
   SW 6880 4006 South Wheal Basset; Lyles 80" pumping engine house.
   SW 6877 4006 Lyle's/Grace's winding engine house.
   SW 6880 4020 Dressing floor water pumping engine house.
   SW 6912 3989 New stamps (2)
   
   
8. SW 689 443 Illogan; Tolgus Tin Company; Tin streaming here since 1800's. In 1976 became museum of tin processing operated by Madam Tussaud's, producing small amounts of concentrate. Taken over by Concord minerals 1981, & museum closed. Stopped producing 1985. Buildings & machinery remained in neglected state. Still extant 8/87: James & Holman shaking tables, waterwheel operated Cornish stamps ('best in UK'), round frame, settling ponds, waterwheel operated scoop wheels, Frue vanner, ball mill, flotation plant, watercourses,
   shanty-style buildings. '93: brash new 'Tolgus Tin Streaming & Gold Centre' beside still-rotting tin works, owned by Cornish Goldsmiths. '98: Trevithick Trust preserving site. Open 7 days/ week. [TTA,vid]
   
   Another firm north of Tolgus has mobile screening plant & ex ball mill outdoors. [vis]
   SW 6902 4304 Tolgus Calciner. [MTP,vis]
   
   
9. SW 377 341 Pendeen; Geevor Tin Mines plc. tin mining museum; Wethered shaft headgear, Nancledra waterwheel stamps, wheel not stamps turned by motor. Museum contains models of shaft, stopes, man engine, miners, C19th. mine buildings & 3D view of levels. Another building housing Wethered electric winder has Trevithick collection inc. working models of stamps & Archer productions 16min. video. Shop has minerals, books & refreshments. 0736 788662. [vis] Weekdays, tours of:
   SW 375 345 Pendeen; Geevor Tin Mines plc. Victory shaft 480m, electric winder, compressor house, air receiver, pumped water settling tank, cone crushers, Archimedes screw, reject gravel conveyors, sizing screens, Newall Dunford & Hardinge ball mills, shaking tables, froth flotation plant, magnetic separator, rotary drying kilns, bagging area (70p.c. grade) 8/87: only maintenance crew underground, mill processing stock pile of won ore until 11/9/87. [vid] Half of mill plant since scrapped.
   SW 377 347 Pendeen, Geevor Tin Mines plc. Boscaswell Downs mine Treweeks shaft 411m. Headframe removed?
   
   
10. SW 647 401 Camborne; Holman’s museum, once housed Rostowrack rotative pump, since moved to Wheal Martyn Museum ? (& Trevithick collection ?) Museum gone. [BP+vis]
    
    
11. SW 500 355 Nancledra, stamps in 1948 working on original site, since moved to Geevor tin mine museum & extensively restored. [BP,vis]
    
    
12. SW 368 346 Pendeen; Levant Mine. levels extended 1.5 miles out to sea at depths of 178, 338, and 260 fathoms. Still in use as ventilation for Geevor Mine. Mine ‘knocked’ in 1930. 1840’s Michell whim Engine House preserved by the National Trust. Beam Engine, unusual in that both beam & flywheel are inside, built by Harveys (24" x 1.2m). Restored by Trevithick Soc. Occasionally in steam. Viewing by arrangement with Geevor Tin Mines Plc. 0736 788662. Adit below in cliff down miner’s path has access to skip shaft (laddered) and other workings above sea level. [vid,DK]
    SW 369 345 Chimney. The ornate stack served the compressor house which held a 4 cylinder cross triple compound (17", 27" and 2 30")
    by Holman Bros. (1901). Used to power rock drills and underground haulage. Other buildings e.g.: Pumping House, miners dry, and the
    infamous man engine can be found. [vid]
    SW 369 345 Settling pond. The settling pond walls have been used for house building, but the red slime mud & timbers of sluices
    remain. The sea here used to be stained red by water pumped from the mines. [vid]
    
    
13. SW 592 272 Breage; Wheal Prosper; NT preserved engine house overlooking Rinsey Cove. Adits in nearby cliff accessible.
    [GIASB,DK]
    SW 600 265 Trewavas Mine, New & Old engine houses on cliff edge. Back walls have large slots for beam fitting. Worked copper under
    sea bed. Most active 1836-46. [YG]
    
    
14. SW 683 316 Wendron; ‘Poldark Mine’ formerly Wendron Forge Museum; 30" Greensplat pump (c 1850 and last commercial worked beam engine in Cornwall), moved from Holman Museum & erected on pillar. Worked by hydraulic piston! Other engines, underground exhibit, playground. [GIASB]
    
    
15. SW 637 389 Penponds; Trevithick’s cottage. NT, viewing by arrangement with occupants. [NT]
    
    
16. SW 362 335 Botallack; Crowns Mine; Famous engine houses perched on cliffs. Lower engine house is pump on Crowns engine shaft. The
    other contained the winder for the ‘Diagonal shaft’, 797m long at an angle of 32.5 degrees, 414m below sea level & 786m beyond
    cliffs. Queen Victoria visited & Prince & Princess of Wales went down. Possibly still explorable. [MIC2+vid+DK]
    SW 362 329 Botallack; Wheal Edward. Mined for Tin, Copper, Bismuth, Uranium, Pitchblende and Arsenic. 2 engine houses here. Workings were linked to Wheal Drea and Wheal Owles (SW 364 343). Former caused the mine to flood when holed in 1893, resulting in the mines closure. Had 30" engines (heavy pumping unnecessary), 2 inclined shafts with a gradient of 1 in 3. The shaft a little way from the
    engine houses is still visible. [YG+vis]
    
    
17. SW 673 416 Pool; East Pool Mine Michell shaft whim, NT preserved & operated. Last rotative beam engine made in Cornwall. Also only one of the type made by Holman Bros. 30" x 2.7m 17rpm. Driven by motor. Rebuilt boiler house NT centre with books & minerals [NT+vid]
    SW 675 417 Pool; East Pool Mine Taylor’s shaft pump, NT preserved & open. Harvey & Co. Hayle, 90" x 3m, 52t bob, moved from Carn Brea Mines 1924 & thus last Cornish engine to be put up anywhere in the world. Pumped for South Crofty until 1954. Surface balance bob was beam of last Cornish engine built. Walls of boiler house (5 Cornish), EPAL chimney. Rectangular shaft currently ventilating South Crofty (upcast) together with Roskear shaft to west. [NT+vid]
    SW 6745 4188 Wheal Agar, Taylor’s whim & compressor house.
    
    
18. SW 668 412 Camborne; South Crofty Ltd. Robinson’s shaft pump. NT preserved. Viewing by arrangement with S.C.Ltd. 0209 714821. 80" Sandys Vivian & Co. Copperhouse foundry 1854 cast in outdoor end of beam. Moved 1924 & worked until 1955. ‘Mothballed’ in grease. 689m shaft in use for men & materials. (downcast) Nearby are offices, medical centre, ‘tin bonus’ sign, water tank, timber impregnation vessel. Palmer’s Shaft was nearby. [NT+MICT+vis]
    
    
19. SW 664 410 Camborne; South Crofty Ltd. New Cook’s Kitchen shaft; headgear, winding engine house & disused processing mill,
    Carnon Aggregates plant. All ore now taken by road to Wheal Jane as mill there is more modern. Parts of this mill taken as spares. All ore hoisted in this shaft; rectangular 730m deep, ore skips 7t, 1100kW electric winder. South Crofty Ltd. is now part of Carnon Consolidated (RTZ). The mine includes the old workings of New Dolcoath, Cook’s Kitchen, Tincroft, East Pool & Agar etc. It is probably the oldest tin mine in Cornwall as it was working in 1670 as Penhellick Vean, and probably 100 years before that. [MICT+vid]
    SW 6650 4060 Camborne; Cook’s Kitchen shaft: Chapple's 50" pumping engine house by track to Carnon Aggregates. [vis]
    SW 6654 4062 Chapple's 26" whim engine house.
    SW 6692 4071 Camborne; South Tincroft mine; compressor house (Harvey 1890),
    SW 6687 4067 whim engine house (26" 1863) also drove man engine, which had a rod break due to dry rot! Now the best surviving man- engine house in Cornwall. [YG+vis]
    SW 658 368 Copper Hill, Troon; Experimental mine Was Holman Bros. test mine, now owned by Camborne School of Mines. Walls of passages are pock-marked with drill-test holes![OS, vid]
    
    
20. SW 664 389 Higher Condurrow; Grenville United South Condurrow mine, taken over 1897 as Camborne School of Mines training mine & renamed King Edward mine, flooded 1920 when Grenville United closed. CSOM kept surface plant & moved underground training to Great Condurrow. Now noted as most complete set of mine buildings from 1900 period. Sheet metal & wooden buildings contain tin dressing plant including Californian stamps driven by a horizontal engine. To be developed as visitor facility. Engine Shaft whim engine house conserved.[vid]
    SW 662 393 Great Condurrow CSOM training mine & horizontal whim engine house.
    SW 6606 3850 Marshall’s 60" pumping engine house. [EHA]
    SW 6600 3847 Marshall’s 26" whim engine house. [EHA]
    SW 6630 3888 Stamps engine house on King Edward’s Mine site. [EHA]
    SW 6615 3930 Great Condurrow mine, Neame’s 80" pumping engine house on Woolf’s shaft. [EHA]
    
    
21. SW 646 384 Killivose; Wheal Pendarves mine, Simms shaft 331m; sinking commenced 1968, in production 1971, became part of South Crofty Ltd. 1973. Very wet & bad ground. Stopped 1987, but site still occupied. [MICT+vis]
    
    
22. SW 667 415 Camborne; Camborne School of Mines; geological museum contains one of Britain’s best mineral specimen collections including polished vein sections & fluorescence displays. Small book
    shop. [vis]
    
    
23. SW 664 402 Brea; telephone wires by chapel still have corks for birds? & views of South Crofty Ltd. [vis]
    SW 665 401 Brea; buddle circles of various sizes & views of South Crofty Ltd. [vis]
    SW 665 400 Brea; Medway Tin recovery plant treating old mine dumps in 20m radius then restoring sites. Gravity separation with
    electronic control. Stopped 1987? 50 employees. [vis+MICT]
    
    
24. SW 6678 3890 Troon; Grenville United Mines Fortescue’s shaft pumping engine house (90" Harvey) [vis]
    SW 6681 3885 Grenville United Mines Fortescue’s shaft whim engine house. [vis]
    SW 6664 3860 Grenville United Mines New stamps foundations & engine house. [vis]
    SW 6632 3870 Grenville United Mines Goold’s/North shaft pumping engine house. [EHA]
    
    
25. SW 498 378 Penderleath Nr.St.Ives; mining remains. Large set of stamps? buildings inc. storage bins & chimney at one end (St.Ives Consols?) [vis]
    
    
26. SW 659 415 Tuckingmill, Camborne; Red River north & downstream of
    
    South Crofty Ltd. is very red! Many dressing floors buried beneath new bypass. [vis+DK]
    SW 658 416 South Crofty Ltd. mill & tailings heap; good views from A30 (T) embankment & 2 chimneys in valley. [vid]
    SW 660 412 Cornish Tin & Engineering Ltd. Tin streaming company formed 1981 to recover South Crofty tailings from river & process in small gravity plant, flotation section installed 1982, then pipes for fine & coarse tailings laid from S.C. to bypass river. Computer assisted. 60p.c. recovery. 25 employees. [vis+MICT]
    
    
27. SW 661 410 Tuckingmill, Camborne; miner’s houses. Several ‘rows’ of miners houses & Methodist chapel. South end of Pengellys Row has good views of South Crofty Ltd. tailings conveyor & heap, & a shaft with shears & emerging pipes. [vis]
    SW 662 407 Tuckingmill valley, Camborne; mining site. Fenced ‘conservation area’ consists of tree saplings planted on cleared
    site of previously considerable I.A. interest. Good views of South Crofty Ltd. tailings. [vis]
    SW 663 405 Tuckingmill valley, Camborne; portal of South Crofty Ltd. decline shaft, viewing possible from conservation area or road. [vis]
    
    
28. SW 701 471 Porthtowan; Tywarnhale copper mine 1750, Royal School of Mines (London) training mine since 1907. When operating, had world first commercial froth flotation plant, Cornwall’s first submersible electric pump. Specialises in surveying & timber preservation. [MICT,vid]
    SW 698 473 United Hills Mine, lower engine house. Small ruined building supposed to have had the last wooden beam engine built in Cornwall. [IASOB]
    SW 702 472 United Hills Mine, upper engine house, high above valley. [IASOB]
    SW 703 468 Wheal Ellen. Engine house chimney has castellated top. [vid]
    
    
29. SW 737 537 Perranporth, Cligga head; Cligga Head Mine. Many levels visible in cliff & good exposures of greissen veins. No2 level has massive timber stulls. Remains of gunpowder works? [OU,YG,vid]
    
    
30. SW 515 301 Marazion, St.Michaels mount; mineralised veins. Many mineralised veins visible below castle because mining & even hammering for rock samples not allowed. [OU]
    
    
31. SW 729 514 St.Agnes; Wheal Kitty, remains of Blue Hills waterwheel powered Cornish stamps in undergrowth in valley. [DK,ET,vis]
    SW 726 509 Wheal Kitty, engine house & count house survive. [IASOB,ROAR,vis]
    
    
32. SW 351 315 Cape Cornwall, Preist’s Cove; mine adits. Adits in cliff accessible. [DK]
    
    
33. SW 584 316 Godolphin Hill; mining remains. Extensive surface remains. Godolphin Bal, or Great Work in saddle between this hill & Tregonning hill working 1825 to 1902. Leeds 60" pump. [DK+HCMSAS]
    
    
34. SW 654 403 Camborne; CompAir Holman Ltd. (Holman Bros.) Established 1801. Own rail sidings at construction & mining works. Other works in Pool; CompAir Maxam Ltd. [MICT]
    
    
35. SW 570 420? Gwithian; alluvial tin working. Single-mooring buoy, 1km pipeline storage lagoon & mill for Marine Mining (Cornwall) Ltd. Floating dredge recovers tin-bearing sands from sea bed e.g. off Porthtowan, using trailing suction pipe, & screens coarse waste. When loaded with 2600t, sails to buoy. Unique flotation process to remove sea shells! Mining restricted by weather to 6m per year. [MICT, CMDA]
    
    
36. SW 687 324? Porkellis Moor; alluvial tin prospect. In 1980 the Malaysian tin mining firm, Gopeng Consolidated Ltd. had planning
    permission to investigate alluvials here. [CMDA]
    
    
37. SW 654 412 Roskear Croft; Dolcoath Roskear shaft, circular, 610m. Headgear dismantled for war scrap. Now upcast for South Crofty Ltd. together with Taylor’s shaft. [HCMSAS]
    SW 6615 3990 Williams shaft winding engine house.
    SW 6542 3991 Stray Park 65" pumping engine house.
    SW 6580 4071 Harriet shaft 65" pumping engine house.
    SW 6609 4043 New East beam whim engine house.
    
    
38. SW 702 445 North Country; Wheal Peevor. 3 engine houses: for pump, winder & stamps. 2 sets of dressing floors & a calciner.[vid]
    SW 7080 4422 70" pumping engine house.
    SW 7083 4421 22" winding engine house.
    SW 7074 4422 36" stamps engine house.
    SW 7060 4420 calciners.
    SW 7063 4404 West Wheal Peevor: 50" pumping engine house.
    SW 7063 4406 22" winding engine house.
    SW 7050 4406 30" stamps engine house.
    
    
39. SW 655 420 ? Tolvaddon Downs; Tolvaddon Stamps. [MTP]
    
    
40. SW 655 455 Portreath; Mining port served by Poldice plateway & later the WCR Portreath branch. The Poldice tramway was the first mineral railway in Cornwall, 1820-60, always horse drawn. Route is now mostly a right of way. [MTP,vis]
    
    
41. SW 720 507 ? St. Agnes; Mechanics & Miners Institute. Has collection of old photos of working mines. [IASOB]
    
    
42. SW 650 415 Roskear Croft; West Wheal Seton. Very successful copper mine, later tin working failed due to poor dressing plant. [YG]
    
    
43. SW 6950 4078 Wheal Uny; Hind's 70" pumping engine house. Large deep rectangular open shaft.[vis]
    SW 6951 4073 Hind's whim engine house. [vis]. Nearby is fenced entrance to inclined shaft, 30 degrees 50m, slippery slope to blind end. Another entrance leads via 3 short fixed ladders to another 30 degree inclined shaft. 50m down slippery slope cross-cuts lead east & west. Another 20m descent leads to flooded stopes with blue copper sulphate stains.[vis]
    SW 696 412 St.Uny church; Tin ingot stamps. Gravestones commemorating mine captains. [vis]
    SW 691 406 Private mine. [vis]
    
    
44. SW 6983 4035 Wheal Buller (Copper Hill); Copper Hill 40" pumping engine house. [EHA]
    
    
45. SW 7129 4056 Lanner; Pennance mine, 50" pumping engine house. [EHA]
    
    
46. SW 7172 4155 Buseval; Cathedral mine, Colonel's 60" pumping engine house. [EHA]
    
    
47. SW 7174 4228 Buseval; Grambler & St.Aubyn mine, 60" pumping engine house. [EHA]
    
    
48. SW 6564 4190 Tolvaddon; Tolvaddon stamps engine house. [EHA]
    
    
49. SW 6748 4089 Tregajorran; Carn Brea stamps engine house. [EHA]
    
    
50. SW 703 510? St Agnes; Wheal Bungay. Shaft with fixed ladders?
    
    
51. SW 356 309 Cot Valley; several adits in cliff, building foundations, line of stone columns. [vid] 06/98 (vid & vis '87 & '93)

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