Mining in Cornwall

Mining in the southwest corner of England has been going on since prehistoric times. A source for both copper and tin this area provided our ancestors with the materials to make bronze.  Bronze tools were a factor in the evolutionary process. 

Our visit to Cornwall brought us in contact with the remains of several engine houses that had served the commercial mining efforts of this area in the 1700's through the 1900's. Mining for lead, tin, arsenic, copper and silver the miners were a tough lot, beginning work at 6 and working 12 hour shifts.  The mines varied in depth from 100' to 1000'.  Men and boys, over 6 years old, would work in the ground while women and girls, also over 6, would work on the surface.  Temperature in the mine would be around 50F and with constant moisture it was  an environment where lung diseases were common. 

It was the moisture that these engines were working to eliminate.  The regular rainfall and the granite rocks meant that any mine shaft was just a pocket to be filled with runoff water, To combat this, huge steam driven pumps were built and operated by mine owners. These pumps could lift water from the deepest 1000' mines through pipes that ranged in size from 6" to 36". The low pressure steam cylinders for these engines could be as large as 60' to 72" diameter (compared to the high pressure cylinders on a train of 24") and would work at a rate of 6-10 cycles per minute. Using a rocking beam they would work 24 hours to keep the mines from flooding. If you have seen an oil well with the rocker arm, these would be similar to that only driven by a steam engine and moving giant columns of water instead of 2" column of oil.

In the mines the men would find a "load" and follow it sending the rock pieces to the surface in wheeled carts (later replaced with horse pulled carts) where the women would send it through stamping machines to be pulverized and sifted to extract the minerals, also working the 12 hour shifts.

Another product of this area, created out of necessity, is the Cornish Pasty.  This delicious sandwich like food is a mixture of meat, potatoes, and veggies contained in a pouch of dough which is then baked with a handle to allow eating without washing your hands.  Cooks have created variations but the traditional Pasty is still favored.

Idyllic countryside, deep history filled with fascinating side-trips, and deep flavored foods make this corner of England a place worth a revisit.

Typical vent pipe for the mines of Cornwall. These were very evident around the Porthtowan area,

The remaining engine houses and vents are a popular walking destination and the trails to them are often very well worn.

The English walker must place one foot directly in front of the other when stepping. the trails are often deep ruts barely over a shoe width as you can see in this photo.  I suspected cattle as the creator of these narrow trails but we saw very little evidence of them.

Our destination is this derelict engine house.

Mines are a danger to hikers and animals. the government and the national trust have erected these covers over many of the larger shafts. Smaller shafts have been caved in or filled.

entrance to the engine room.

from the soot on the ceiling and walls this hole looked like  a firebox to heat the steam box.

During our walk about we encountered  this camp site that included a caravan (trailer), motor home, and a teepee. Strange site in the Cornish countryside.

Another view of the engine house showing the differing material use in the stack area.  Many of these stacks have been struck by lightening shattering them.  This example has survived in better condition than many.

From one vantage point we could see another engine house and the caved in main shaft (off to the right of the engine house)

Dry laid stone walls are common sites in the countryside. Nature respects the time and effort needed to create such walls and adorns them with bright colored flowers to honor the builders.

After visiting the derelict engine houses, we drove to the last mine open to the public.  the Poldark Mine was about 800' deep, however we only went down to the 100' level.  In its day was a very profitable tin mine.  Tin is a natural metal and is important not only for the manufacturing of bronze item but also for plating of other metals to make them rust resistant (think of "tin cans" used for food). 

An example of one of the dewatering pumps used in mining.

Going into the mine this "load" (not called a vein in tin mining) is evident on one side of the shaft.  The tin ore is the blue-gray rock running parallel to the wire on the right side of the picture.  this load contains about 15% metal according to our guide.

Walking through the mine we got an idea of the close, damp conditions facing the early miners.

This shows how a load would be followed. bits of ore would be hauled out by hand to the main shaft where it could be wheeled out.

an ore load would be followed even if it went down, making the ore retrieval even harder.

The lowest (deepest?) mail box in England.  Mail is retrieved each weekday and carries a special postmark noting the deep location.

There is a diorama set up in one of the side shafts to show the working conditions of the children who were employed. 12 hours underground, breaking rocks or holding the end of a star bit drill and then wheeling out barrows of rock. Unhealthy, dangerous work for children who would probably not live to be over 40.

Recall the Cornish Pasty mentioned earlier?  Here a couple of friends, Reuben and Gemma show off a typical one.  OKAY maybe not a real one, which are about 7" long , but this shows the "handle" of dough that miners would use to avoid dirtying the edible portions. This concern over eating sanitation is interesting given the truly dangerous conditions encountered in the mine shaft.