Gurnard’s Head Mine overlooks Treen Cove to the east of Gurnard’s Head.
Work here was underway by 1821 under the name Treen Copper Mine and its first shaft was so close to the high water mark that it needed a stone collar to prevent flooding.
During the early working, Engine shaft reached a depth of 47-fathoms (86m), however this was in very poor ground. The only other mentioned shafts are the creatively named North and South shafts, which reached final depths of 90 and 80-fathoms respectively (165 and 146m).
The mine was known as Gurnard’s Head from 1834 until 1843. From 1844 it was worked under the name North United and Gurnard’s (Gurnett’s) Head mine. The remaining engine house is that of the 30″ Harvey’s pumping engine built in 1844 on South shaft. It’s boiler house with its one boiler would have stood on the south-eastern side next to the separate stack. The engine was sold in 1848 to the Spanish Guadalcanal Mine. To the south of the engine house are remains of another building, however it is not clear what this was.
Output includes:
1834 and 1842
24 tons (24,385 kg) of copper
1853
25 tons (25,401 kg) of 12% copper
The engine house can be easily found on the coastpath. The shaft remains open and fenced off.
There is no official parking for this site, although it may be possible to park near the Gurnard’s Head Pub and walk.
Dines, H. G. (1956) The metalliferous mining regions of south-west England. British Geological Survey.
Hamilton-Jenkin, A. K. (1961) Mines and Miners of Cornwall: I St Ives. Marazion: Worden Limited.
Nance, D. and Brown, K. (2014) A complete guide to the engine houses of West Cornwall. Gloucestershire: Lightmoor Press.