Mines Archives - Explore Cornwall

Wheal Georgia

Caitlin — Mon, 03 Nov 2025 09:26:30 +0000

Just south of the hamlet of Rosudgeon is the overgrown remains of Wheal Georgia mine. This tiny sett was working in the late 19^th century, independently and as part of a larger group which included its close neighbours.

Wheal Georgia’s may have been called South Grylls at some point, and it’s plans frequently overlapped with those around it, making it difficult to discern where one ended and another began. Wheal Grylls (or Wellington), East Grylls (or Greenberry Moor), Great Grylls, West Grylls, New Grylls (Vaddon or Noble Dale) and Wheal Florence all worked together with Wheal Georgia at one point or another. Even St Aubyn and Grylls, slightly further away, is attributed to this group.

Like many of the mines in this area, Wheal Georgia was worked early on by ‘private’ miners, resulting in a lack of any records. It definitely worked between 1872-74, possibly under a Captain James Pope, and operated on Georgia Lode from Georgia (66 fathoms/121m) and Engine shafts.

The mine only had one engine house, a 45-inch pumping engine on Engine shaft. Over it’s life there are only two recorded outputs, one from 1866 as South Grylls, where 18 tons (18,289 kg) of copper was raised, and another in 1873 for just 1 ton (1,016 kg) of black tin.

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Burra Mine

Caitlin — Sun, 28 Jan 2024 07:43:09 +0000

Eight years after the formation of the South Australian colony and just one year after ‘Coppermania’ started at Kapunda, more copper was found at what would become Burra Mine.

In 1845, not one, but two copper deposits were found; one by William Streair and another just after by Thomas Pickett. Due to their close proximity the two finds were grouped together and sold for £1 ($165 now) an acre. However, an ongoing economic crisis meant that few companies could afford this hefty price. Three contenders for the lease arose. The South Australian Mining Association (SAMA), a newly minted cost-book company made up of merchants and landowners, the Mining Association of the Northern Monster Lode and a group of capitalists and pastoralists that for the Princess Royal Mining Company.

None of the companies had the funds to buy the entire lease by themselves, but combined they could. The first two groups joined forces under the SAMA title and with Princess Royal paid half each. The lease was itself divided in two and straws were drawn to determine who would get which end; SAMA won the rights to the northern section which became Monster Lode or Burra Mine and the southern section went to Princess Royal, naming their mine after themselves.

After buying the land, little money was left and lots of financial juggling was required in the early years. This however did not stop the mine from growing exponentially. Since the discovery of copper at Kapunda, hundred’s of Cornish miners began to flock to South Australia and Burra was no exception. The town wasn’t named Burra until much later on, with the Cornish miners setting up smaller settlements, naming them after places from home, like Redruth and Copperhouse.

1947 saw the purchase of the first steam engine as water in the mine became increasingly unmanageable. This was of course ordered from Perran Foundry in Cornwall; this arrived into Port Adelaide two years later and began the 100 mile trip to the mine. Smelters were built at Burra Creek in 1849 by Scheider’s Patent Copper Company. Prior to this all the higher quality ore had to be sent down to Port Adelaide, a journey of two weeks, and then onto Wales for processing. Poor quality ore had been smelted on site since 1947 and the installation meant that all of the ore could be smelted nearby, reducing costs immensely.

The Princess Royal closed in 1851. During this time, gold was found in Victoria and large numbers of miners left to join the rushes and work at the mine ground to a halt. The pumps were turned off and many of the lower levels flooded.

Just three years later, lots of the miners returned and work began again in earnest. Water continued to be a problem and a new larger engine was sought. This was purchased in 1858 and installed two years later. In 1860 the Monster Mine was considered the largest in Australia. However, this did not last and just seven years later underground work had come to a halt. Attention turned to above ground offerings and a new dressing floor with a tower was erected to treat this lower grade ore.

The mine struggled on for several more years, closing in 1877 as copper prices fell. One last attempt at working the site occurred nearly 100 years later in 1970, under Adelaide & Wallaroo Fertiliser Ltd, lasting ten years. Samin Ltd continued to process stockpiled ore on site for several years afterwards. In 1981 the mine closed for good and was later transformed into the heritage site it is today.

Engine Houses

The first engine house was ordered in the late 1840’s; this came second hand from Perran Foundry and was named after the principle mine captain, who may have worked at Tresavean in Lanner. Installed and working in 1849, it was inactive only three years later. The 50″ engine was dismantled the following year and sold to Bon Accord in 1859 for £2000 ($240,438 now). In 1887 it then went to Bird-in-Hand Mine. A 30″ crusher was added to the mine in 1850. As water became an increasing problem, this also started to pump water in 1855 before being sold to Karkulto Mine the year after.

In 1852, a much larger pumping engine was ordered from Perran Foundry. This was a 80″ engine that worked until 1862 called Schneider’s. A 30″ whim was installed on Peacock’s shaft in 1857. It actually arrived in Australia, again from Perran Foundry seven years prior, but significant delays in building and installing the engine meant it did not go to work when it should have. It was converted to pumping water in 1872 and was scrapped in 1916.

Two engine houses were installed around Morphett’s shaft. The first was a 80″ pumping engine costing £8,688 ($1,058,970 now) erected 1860 by Thomas Paynter and Ambrose Harris, two Cornishmen. It stopped work for two years between 1868 and 1870, before stopping for good in 1877. The engine house caught fire in 1925 and was reconstructed as part of South Australia’s Jubilee 150 celebrations in 1986. A 20″ whim was also installed in 1861 until it was adapted to drive dressing machinery seven years later.

The last pumping engine to be built on the site was Graves. It was erected in 1868 by Thomas Payne. The house was originally supposed to have a new engine from Cornwall, but the order was cancelled and the idle engine in Schneider’s was going to be installed. While the bedstones from Schneider’s were moved into the new house, the engine never made it.

Two further engines were installed later in the mines life. 1876 saw a small horizontal whim being installed to haul ore trucks from the open cut up to the dressing tower and a 22″ crusher in 1874.

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Wallaroo Mine

Caitlin — Sat, 02 Dec 2023 07:21:31 +0000

On the Yorke Peninsula are the scant remains of Wallaroo mine, the mine that started the third South Australian copper rush after Kapunda in 1842 and Burra in 1845. Copper was discovered here in 1859 after local shepherd James Boor spotted it while herding his sheep. Land owner Walter Hughes quickly secured the mining lease and opened the Wallaroo Mine, naming it after a sheep station with the same name that he also owned. By February of the following year work had begun around what would later be Home shaft by four miners.

Within a year, 150 men were employed at the venture and the neighbouring town of Kadina had been gazetted in 1861.The discovery of this copper added some financial stability for South Australia which at this time was going through a period of depression.

The peak for the mine was between 1870 and 1876, employing over 1,000 individuals and having five Cornish engines at work. Unfortunately copper prices began to dip in 1878 and activity began to decline with it. Despite this, the railway was still extended from Adelaide, improving the connectivity of the region. In 1899 nearby Matta Mine was incorporated into Wallaroo; this venture started work in 1863 but had ongoing water problems.

In 1890 the mine amalgamated with its neighbour Moonta Mine. The joint venture struggled on, with the Moonta section focusing on shallow levels and the installation of a new leaching plant. In 1904 a fire broke out underground at Taylor’s shaft, trapping miners until volunteers managed to control the flames and rescue them. No one was killed, but several miners suffered from smoke inhalation. The mine managed to continue on for a little longer, closing for good in 1904.

Engine Houses

The mine had a number of engine houses over its lifetime. The first was a 12″ whim and stamping engine in 1861, quickly followed by a 24″ pumping engine just a year later. A larger engine was installed on Taylor’s shaft; this was a 60″ engine built in 1863 and was the location of the 1904 fire, with the engine being replaced with electric pumps. In 1876 two new engine was erected, another 60″ pumping engine on Harvey’s shaft made by Harvey & Co and a 48″ engine on Hughes. Hughes shaft also had a man engine installed at some point, the only one in the southern hemisphere.

Lastly was Elder’s 80″ pumping engine, a second hand engine made by Harvey & Co for the New Cornwall Mine for £30,000. This venture collapsed in 1887 and the steam engine was sold to Wallaroo for just a tenth of the price, stones and all. There were three other engine houses built at some point, all were whim engines on Young’s Taylor’s and Office shafts.

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Shafts on the mine include Robinson, Hosking, Elder, Home, Hancock, Smith New, Weighbridge, Harvey, North Hughes, Higgs, Hughes, Richman, North Mair, Mair, Youngs, Old Engine, Matta, Stirling, North Young, Boors and Office.

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Hallenbeagle Mine

Caitlin — Fri, 05 Aug 2022 09:00:37 +0000

Not far from the rail line that runs from Redruth to Truro is the remains of two engine houses belonging to Hallenbeagle Mine.

Hallenbeagle Mine was at work by 1835, producing over 30,ooo tons (30,481,407 kg) of copper by 1846. During the first few years of the 1860’s it was reworked as part of Great Wheal Busy along with several other neighbouring mines, but separated again in 1864. Just prior to the 1870’s, it was again mined with another mine, this time East Downs.

From 1843, one of its shafts was reopened in search of tungsten after some had been found in some nearby dumps. However, the shafts had been filled with sawdust which proved difficult to remove; once the miners finally got to the 140ft level, they cleared 230ft if ground, but found no tungsten.

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There are two engine houses, the most intact being the 60″ pumping engine built in 1864 by Harvey & Co for Reed’s shaft. It was later sold to Perran Wheal Virgin mine in 1870.

Little remains of the smaller 22″ whim engine, which also worked from Reed’s shaft. This engine was moved to Dooneen Mine in Ireland in 1872.

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Polberro Mine

Caitlin — Sat, 11 Jun 2022 07:26:48 +0000

Situated on the cliffs south of Trevaunance Cove are the scant remains of Polberro Mine.

Polberro is an ancient mine composed to a great number of smaller setts. These include Trevaunance, The Pell, Wheal an Cleath, Pulstean, Seal Hole, North Seal Hole, East and North Pell, Dolga/Carnmeal, Balnoon, Old Polberro, East Trevaunance, Wheal Squidler, Wheal Prosper, Wheal Park, Wheal Hope, Wheal Sperries, Wheal Kine, Wheal Paul and Wheal Ferrol.

It originated as lots of small open cuts and adits scattered across the cliff, much like it’s neighbour Wheal Luna. Over time this developed into an unmappable mix of tunnels and stopes. Even the above ground parts of the mine were a jumble, with dressing floors next to the cliff while the engines were mostly inland away from the main shafts and all sorts in between.

Some of its earliest mines date from the 17th century, although the more serious work took place from 1800 onwards. Several engine houses were erected on the site, stopping and restarting several times, putting its equipment up for sale numerous times.

In 1843 it was working under the name Royal Polberro and was visited by Queen Victoria three years later. It closed again in 1848, with work commencing just two years after, producing 200 tons (203,209 kg) of tin a year. Underground work stopped during the 1870’s, with focused turned to processing the burrows. Between 1886-92 there was another attempt to make the sett work, but this too failed. In 1892 Polberro was amalgamated with neighbouring Trevaunance mine and continued until 1895 when low tin prices forced another closure.

The final endeavour occurred between 1937 and 41 under the name Polberro Tin Ltd. The engine house on Trevaunance mine was converted into a miners dry and a new dressing floor installed. Electrical equipment was moved from Wheal Kitty and the underground workings were joined with the West Kitty lodes, however discoveries were disappointing. It closed in 1941 due to lack of money, with one of the lodes they were searching for turned out to be disappointment and the other was never reached. Trounson described this as ‘one of the most regrettable happening in Cornwall for many year past”, particularly as he felt that the miners were very close to their goal and only erroneous advice from geologists inexperience’s in St Agnes lodes preventing them from getting there.

The only remaining engine house belongs to Trevaunance mine; a 60″ Harvey & Co engine, this was erected in 1885 and came second hand from North Pool Mine, briefly working at South Penstruthal before moving to St Agnes. In 1902 the engine went to Wheal Friendly.

Seal Hole was the first mine in the St Agnes district to have an engine; a Boulton and Watt 40″ was installed in the 1780’s and sold in 1805. Old Polberro Sump/Engine had a 60″ pumping engine by 1840, Seal Hole 60″ pumping engine by the 1860’s, 50″ pumping engine on Trevaunance Mine in 1885, 60″ pumping engine on Viger’s (could be the Seal Hole engine). An 80″ was put up for sale in 1848.

Two whim engines, a 22″ and 20″ were put up for sale in 1843, with another 18″ from Wheal Coates being erected in 1887. There were at least two stamps engines, one 36″ on the cliff edge that operated 72 heads of stamps and another 30″ stamps.

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Grambler and St Aubyn

Caitlin — Wed, 04 May 2022 03:28:08 +0000

Down a quiet country lane near the village of St Day is the only remaining engine house in the parish. This belongs to the Grambler and St Aubyn sett.

The mine itself is made up of a number of smaller ventures, including Wheal Grambler, Wheal St Aubyn and North Wheal Grambler. It’s unclear when each of these were started, although it’s likely they were Old Men’s workings.

Wheal Grambler, on the western side of the group, was at work by 1792 and closed six years later. It opened again for three years between 1805 and 1808.

The smaller mines all joined from 1834 to form St Aubyn United, although this remained a small venture. In 1861 it was only employing 40 men, 30 boys and 3 women; profits were also uncommon. The mine continued until 1893.

Several engine houses appear on the old maps, once of these is the 60 inch pumping engine house, the only building left on the mine. This was in place by 1865, though put up for sale three years later. There was also a 18 inch whim.

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