Mining in Cornwall
Encyclopedia : M : MI : MIN : Mining in Cornwall
Mining in Cornwall has existed from the days of Stone Age man and mining in Cornwall dates back to between 1000 and 2000 B.C. when Cornwall is thought to have been visited by metal traders from the eastern Mediterranean. They named Britain, the Cassiterides, that is Tin Islands. Cornwall and the far west of Devon provided most of the United Kingdom's tin, copper and arsenic. Originally the tin was found as alluvial deposits in the gravels of stream beds, but eventually underground working took place. Tin lodes outcropped on the cliffs and underground mines sprung up as early as the 16th century.
However it was in the 19th century that mining reached its zenith, before foreign competition depressed the price of copper, and later tin, to a level that made Cornish ore unprofitable. Cornwall was one of the richest mining areas in the world and at its height the Cornish tin mining industry had around 600 steam engines working to pump out the mines. Adventurers put up the capital, and the mines would hopefully return them a profit. During the 20th century various ores became briefly profitable, and mines were reopened, but today none remain. Dolcoath, (Cornish for Old Ground), the 'Queen of Cornish Mines' was, at a depth of 3500 feet (1067 m), for many years the deepest mine in the world, not to mention one of the oldest before its closure in 1921. Indeed, the last tin mine in Europe, South Crofty, was to be found near Camborne until its closure in 1998. South Crofty Tin Mine was the last working tin mine in Cornwall but it closed in March 1998. An attempt was made to reopen it but the mine was then abandoned. On the wall outside the gate is some graffiti dating from 1999:
"Cornish lads are fishermen and Cornish lads are miners too. But when the fish and tin are gone, what are the Cornish boys to do?"
The collapse of the world tin cartel in 1986 was the last nail in the coffin for Cornish tin mining.
The main mining areas in Cornwall
- Penwith
- St Just in Penwith, Zennor
- Camborne, Redruth and Illogan, and St. Agnes
- Wendron area in the west
- Gwennap and the Carnon Valley in mid-Cornwall
- A large area bounded by St. Austell, and Wadebridge to Bodmin, Callington in the east
- North Cornwall
Camborne School of Mines
World Heritage Site
In 1999 the Cornwall and West Devon historic mining landscape was added to the UK goverment's tentative list for submission to the World Heritage list. It was announced on 13 July 2006 that the bid had been successful. [link].See also
External links
- [Camborne School of Mines]
- [Cornish Mines]
- [Map of Cornwall (Kernow)]
- [The Trevithick Society]
- [Cornwall's Mining Collapse Revisited]
- [Carn Brea Mining Society]
- [King Edward Mine]
- [Cornwall's World Heritage Mining Status]
- [Cornish Miners Association]
- [Geevor Tin Mine]
- [Levant Mine]
- [Poldark Mine]
- [Rosevale Mine, Zennor]
- [The Wheal Buller Project]
- [St Just Mining Project]
- [Camborne-Redruth Mineral Tramways]
From Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Original article here. Support Wikipedia by contributing or donating.
All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License See Wikipedia Copyrights for details.