The post South Condurrow appeared first on Explore Cornwall.
]]>South Condurrow Mine in Troon has a long and convoluted history. The whole area has been a successive line of mine amalgamations and closures, with records going back at least to before the 1830’s. The mine reopened in 1844 as part of Great Condurrow, officially becoming South Condurrow in 1850 when its predecessor Old Tye Mine was renamed. Like all others in the area, it started its life as a copper mine, but with discovery of the Great Flat lode, it eventually moved towards tin as commodity prices changed. Despite ongoing issues with flooding in the lower parts of the mine, it remained successful until the sinking of Marshall’s shaft in the western section of the mine, closing in 1896. In 1897, some of the eastern end was presented to Camborne School of Mines and was renamed King Edward Mine.
Between 1899-03, work was attempted again on the western end, but proved unsuccessful, with ownership being handed over to Wheal Grenville. Wheal Grenville closed in 1920, leading to flooding of the King Edward Section, with work having to move to the more northern part of the mine. King Edward is now a museum, opened in 2002, as part of the Mineral Tramways project.
The South Condurrow stamps engine was built in 1869 to house an engine of unknown size. It ran 48 heads of stamps initially, which was upped to 96 in 1872. The crank and twin flywheels would have sat on the very prominent granite grating in front of the engine. It’s boiler house would have stood behind, housing two boilers.
A 55″ pumping engine originally worked out of Engine shaft, however this was taken down after CSM took over he site in 1897 and replaced with a headgear to give students access down to the 40-fathom level (73m). The engine would have sat on the northern side of the shaft.
The King Edward whim engine was built in 1868 to house a 25″ engine that came from another part of the mine to hoist from Engine shaft. She worked until 1908, before the engine was sent off to Castle-an-dinas mine; it then spent some time at Poldark mine before being reinstalled back in it’s house.
Plantation (290-fathoms/530m), Engine/Sump (70-fathoms/128m), King’s (77-fathoms/141m), Vivian’s, Junction, Marshall’s (208-fathoms/380m) New and Frazer’s.
King’s, South Condurrow Copper, Pease’s and William’s.
1864-1902
11,403 tons (11,585,983 kg) of black tin, 1,060 tons (1,077,010 kg) of 10% copper and 4 tons (4,064 kg) of arsenic
Marshall’s pumping engine house sits on the side of the road in Troon. Built in 1881 for a 60″ engine bought second hand from Wheal Jane (the old one) where it previously worked on Giles’ shaft. Behind the pumping engine are the remains of the 26″ whim. This was built in 1886 for an engine that came from West Chiverton Mine. It had one boiler in its boiler house.
All areas of South Condurrow mine are currently free to see and explore. The King Edward mine site has public access to everywhere but it’s museum (which is still totally worth a visit) and the remains of Engine shaft. The Marshall’s complex has a public footpath to it, although when I was there I couldn’t see any way to get to the whim without battling the gorse. All engine houses are consolidated and shafts capped/grilled.
There is a small free car park at King Edward.
King Edward Mine https://www.kingedwardmine.co.uk/
Brown, K. and Acton, B. (2007) Exploring Cornish Mines: Volume Two. 2nd edn. Truro: Landfall Publications.
Dines, H. G. (1956) The metalliferous mining regions of south-west England. British Geological Survey.
Nance, D. and Brown, K. (2014) A complete guide to the engine houses of West Cornwall. Gloucestershire: Lightmoor Press.
The post South Condurrow appeared first on Explore Cornwall.
]]>The post Great Condurrow Mine appeared first on Explore Cornwall.
]]>Great Condurrow Mine in the back and beyond on Troon has been around for a while, although in varying forms.
A Higher Condurrow mine was working as far back as 1815, but closed in 1830. It reopened again at some point, producing fairly good amounts of copper and then tin before closing again in 1873.
The sett was reworked again from 1880-81 (although output record dates differ) under the name Pendarves United, following its amalgamation with Tryphena Mine, Wheal Nelson, West Condurrow and Tolcarne. It was reworked for the final time between 1906-14 as Condurrow United. The final reworking was fairly unsuccessful as they struggled to make Woolf’s shaft safe to use, with costs mounting.
Woolf’s (or Neame’s) pumping engine house was built in 1906 during the final reworking. This housed a 80-inch engine built by Harvey’s & Co, having originally come first from West Chiverton where it worked from 1869-1882; the engine then went to Garland shaft at Gwennap United from 1899-1905, before finally making its way to Troon. The engine house was originally going to be built on the north side of the shaft, but the ground proved too unstable. It’s boiler house used to stand on the east side and housed four Cornish boilers.
Remains of a horizontal whim and air compressor lie on private land to the east.
Woolf’s (283 fathoms/518m), Pryce’s/Sump/Engine (330 fathoms/603m), Hope’s (290 fathoms/530m), Llandower (130 fathoms/238m), Smith’s (110 fathoms/201m) and Adit (12 fathoms/22m).
Main, Llandower, Robert’s and South.
1856-65
30,495 tons of 6.75% copper, 2,030 tons of black tin, 6.5 tons of pyrite and 35 tons of arsenic.
1854 and 1866-81 Pendarves United
2,660 tons of black tin, 575 tons of 6% copper and 56 tons of arsenic.
As well as Woolf’s 80″ pumping engine there were several others on the mine. Pryce’s had a 36″ pumping engine by 1850 and a 21″ whim in 1863. There was an 18″ whim on Hope’s shaft which later worked a crusher as well.
Woolf’s pumping engine house is right on the side of the road and free to access, the site has been consolidated and made safe. The Carn Brea Mining Society own the Pryce’s/Llandower part of the mine and are busy putting it all back together; this section can be seen from the footpath running along it, but the land is private. Other bits and pieces are also on private land.
The closest parking is at King Edward Mine.
Barton, D. B. (1965) A Guide to the Mines of West Cornwall. Truro: Worden Limited.
Brown, K. and Acton, B. (2007) Exploring Cornish Mines: Volume Two. 2nd edn. Truro: Landfall Publications.
Cornwall Archaeological Unit (1991) Engine House Assessment: Mineral Tramways Project.
Dines, H. G. (1956) The metalliferous mining regions of south-west England. British Geological Survey.
Nance, D. and Brown, K. (2014) A complete guide to the engine houses of West Cornwall. Gloucestershire: Lightmoor Press.
The post Great Condurrow Mine appeared first on Explore Cornwall.
]]>