killifreth Archives - Explore Cornwall https://explorecornwall.org/tag/killifreth/ & The Cornish Abroad Sat, 06 Feb 2021 16:49:52 +0000 en-GB hourly 1 https://explorecornwall.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/cropped-Explore-Cornwall-Colourless-32x32.png killifreth Archives - Explore Cornwall https://explorecornwall.org/tag/killifreth/ 32 32 164779662 Unity Wood Mine https://explorecornwall.org/unity-wood-mine/ Tue, 28 May 2019 09:05:51 +0000 http://explorecornwall.org/?p=1492 Unity Wood Mine sits near Scorrier, mostly hidden amongst the trees of Unity Wood. Originally known as Wheal Bush, this mine has been working since […]

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Unity Wood Mine sits near Scorrier, mostly hidden amongst the trees of Unity Wood. Originally known as Wheal Bush, this mine has been working since at least the 16th century, with tin workings dotted throughout the wood.

Unity Wood

In 1790 the Great County Adit reached the sett, allowing for deeper lodes to be reached. While it may have started as a tin mine, in the early 18th century it also became a significant copper producer which lasted until 1843 when output ground to a halt.

Unity Wood

The mine was reopened in 1870 for tin and the remaining engine houses were built during this period, but work only lasted for a further 10 years. Between 1880-85 it was opened as West Poldice and again as Tolgullow United from 1886 to 1903.

Between 1898-1900, the area was worked in combination with its neighbour Creegbrawse. The mine was worked for a final time in 1912 alongside another neighbour Killifreth.

Unity Wood
Unity Wood

Engine Houses

1819 – 52″ engine on Wood’s
1819 – 60″ and 58″ engines
1834 – 80″ on William’s
1872 – 70″ pumping engine on Magor’s

1872 – 20″ whim and stamps on Trefusis
60″ pumping engine on Western
20″ whim and copper crusher on William’s
Manual capstan and horse whim on Reed’s

Unity Wood

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]]> 1492 Killifreth Mine https://explorecornwall.org/killifreth/ Thu, 21 Feb 2019 20:14:37 +0000 http://explorecornwall.org/?p=1107 Killifreth mine sits just off the Redruth to Chacewater road and dates back to the 16th century.  Between 1826 and 1860 it was a copper […]

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Killifreth mine sits just off the Redruth to Chacewater road and dates back to the 16th century. 

Between 1826 and 1860 it was a copper mine utilising shallow workings with the mine joining the Great County Adit system sometime before 1856, although the exact date remains a mystery.

In 1864 the mine was worked under a new company, mining tin and during this period reached a depth of 100-fathoms below the County Adit. Hawke’s pumping engine house was built in 1891 for a 80″ engine that came from North Treskerby mine, although it had worked at Falmouth and Sperries mine previously. By 1897 the bob on the Hawke’s engine broke and the area was abandoned. It was used by Truro Mining School for a while before reopening again in 1912 as a joint venture with Unity Wood mine.

Killifreth

During this reworking, a second hand 85″ engine was put in Hawke’s house and a new boiler house built on its western side. This held four boilers which supplied not only the pumping engine, but also a horizontal whim and air compressor. To ensure the boilers had enough draught the stack had to be doubled in height.

Work was suspended during the first world war, but pumping started again in 1919 and ore was sent across the road to Wheal Busy for treatment. This venture only lasted a year, closing in 1920. In 1923 Killifreth was bought by Wheal Busy, this venture again only lasting a year. The last attempt at working the sett occurred in 1927, however no mining actually happened and it closed for a final time in 1928

Killifreth

For the 1913 reworking of the sett, another second hand engine was purchased. This one was a 85″ built by Perran Foundry in 1872 for Great Fron Fownog mine where it worked for ten years at which point it was moved to Gwern-y-Mynydd mine. The engine sat idle here for 20 years before coming to Killifreth. The boiler house originally sat on the eastern side, but was moved to the western side during the 1913 reworking.

Old Sump or Engine pumping engine house was built in 1875 for a 50″ engine. This engine was bought secondhand from Wheal Daniel mine and was unusual in that it was set lower down in its cylinder loading. Its boiler house would have stood on the south-western side and housed three boilers.

Hawke’s winding engine house sits half way between Hawke’s and Old Sump shafts, enabling it to pull from both. The majority of the house was demolished by US troops just before D Day, along with Wheal Busy’s Black Dog house; only part of the southern wall and loadings survive in the trees. This house was accompanied by two boilers along its north side, and the chimney sat in the centre of the rear wall.

Killifreth
Killifreth

The stamps engine that lives on the Todpool road was built in 1875 for a 32″ engine. This worked 64 heads of stamps and is currently being renovated. The loadings for the crankshaft are still in place, although nothing of the boiler house which would have sat along the back of the building remains. The engine was removed following the 1897 closure and moved to Gwennap United.

The dressing floor is somewhere beyond the engine house, where apparently there are remains of buddles and other structures, although these are now well hidden in bushes and brambles. Near the stamp engine house sits a lone chimney, built as part of arsenic works on the mine from the 1890’s. Other kit on the mine included an air compressor, horizontal double cylinder whim engine, 36-inch stamps engine built in 1872 and a steam hoist which worked out of Skip shaft.

Killifreth

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