Poldark Mine

Poldark Mine

Poldark Mine was a tin mine in Cornwall worked sometime between 1720 and 1780. The mine was originally called Wheal Roots and little is known of its early workings. In 1856 it became part of the Wendron Consols Mine and is shown on the surface plan of that mine as 'old men's workings' meaning that it was at that date considered a very old mine. The origins of the mine were researched by the late authority on Cornish mining history, Dr. A. K. Hamilton Jenkin.

Mine

Because of the unusual way in which Wheal Roots Lode had been worked, there is little doubt that it had been discovered by tin streamers in the bed of the River Cober and was from there mined into the hillside. This is exactly the same way that the lodes of the nearby Medlyn Moor, Basset and Grylls and Wendron Consols mines had been discovered and worked. Within the mine, in an area inaccessible to ordinary visitors, are tunnels which were dug without the help of explosives and where the marks of miners' picks are still clearly visible. This indicates that some of the workings may well have been made before the introduction of explosives in the mines of Cornwall in 1689.

The mine was worked using horses and water wheels to power all the machinery and to pump water from it. In the Museum there are the remains of an early 'Rag and Chain' pump used before the days of steam to raise water from mines and which was found when the mine was rediscovered in the 1970s. The pump consisted of a series of wooden pipes made from tree trunks and through which a large endless chain was pulled. The chain had rags tied to it at intervals which when pulled up through the pipes lifted the water out of the mine.

The tin ore was hauled through almost vertical uneven shafts using large buckets known as kibbles which were raised up and down by horses driving a large drum around which a rope was attached which went down the shaft to a chain attached to the kibble. The drum was known as a horse whim.

In the mine at Horse Whim Shaft the granite on the side of the shaft has been worn smooth by the rubbing of the kibble against it, this shaft is well over 200 feet deep and its further depths remain unexplored. In the Museum a large cast and wrought iron kibble recovered from the main shaft can be seen, it dates from the 1700s when the mine was at its zenith of tin production.

The waterwheel pit on the surface at Trenere Wolas a Tin Stamping or Scoffen Mill was created by 1493 along with its leat that is over a mile long and its water continues to run through the present museum gardens and ponds. The lease is recorded in the Duchy of Cornwall Rolls of that time and was granted to a Mr John Trenere, the present hamlet of Trenear being a corruption of the name. This is the world's first record of a mechanical tin stamping mill. It is likely that the wheel pit and leat were in existence before 1493 as the lease appears to have been granted retrospectively. The waterwheel pit, leat and mill race remain today.

Miners entered the mine through shafts and had to climb down long ladders carrying their tools with them. Their only means of light in the pitch black mine was from candles made of tallow. Their tools were a heavy hammer and a bar with a chisel shaped end. Hitting the bar with the hammer and at the same time turning it to prevent it jamming in the rock, the miners would make a hole a little under a yard (metre) in depth. Usually three such holes at an angle to the face of the rock were made. The holes would then be filled with gunpowder, a fuse made from a bird's quill (often from a goose) filled with fine gunpowder would be put into the hole which would be sealed with clay and then the fuse lit.

Many accidents occurred as a result of the gunpowder exploding before the miners had time to reach a place of safety. Gunpowder produces a lot of smoke and fumes; however, the miners would return to their work as soon as the air had cleared enough to allow their candles to burn. They would remove the rock broken by the explosion and start to drill new holes.

One particular mine close to Poldark had a female manager which was otherwise unknown. Generally females were not employed in Cornish Mines, in fact it was considered by some to be bad luck for a woman to go into a mine. Surface work was acceptable for females. Known as Bal Maidens they were employed on the surface "vanning" and "spalling" sorting and treating the ores that had been mined, they wore a distinctive headdress known as a gook.

Boys as young as 8 or 9 worked in the mines, usually with their father. Younger boys and girls might often be found on the surface working with their mother, there were many dreadful accidents and fatalities. Regulations to restrict younger children working were introduced in Victorian times. The hours were long for six days a week (largely thanks to Methodism and Sundays from the mid 1700s) Pay was low and most lived in abject poverty in tiny two roomed cottages. Miners tea treats were an annual highlight to be looked forward to.

The Tin Mine, Industrial Heritage & Mining Museum & gardens 1966 to 2015

Poldark Tin Mine and Open Air Museum started life in 1966 when Peter Young, a retired Royal Marine, attended an auction in the local hamlet of Trenear with his young daughter Carol. The purpose was to buy a much needed wardrobe. The local smithy, Wendron Forge, came up for auction and as the price very slowly rose to £10 Peter thought that the forge was going for a bargain but was fed up with the slow bidding - to everyone's surprise he bid £100 and became the proud owner.

Peter then acquired some adjoining land which was needed for his growing collection of historic steam engines. In 1972 a large beam engine was acquired from the now vanished village of Greensplat where it had been pumping 500 gallons of slurry a minute from 280 fathoms at a china clay pit near St Austell. The engine was the very last to work in commercial service in Cornwall when the engine was stopped.

Steam was finally turned off in Christmas week 1959. The engine dates from 1850 when it was built for the Bunny Tin Mine probably by Harvey of Hayle. It was the very last Cornish Beam Engine to be relocated in such a fashion and took six months to erect at Poldark Mine at £8,000 for the moving costs alone. A team of volunteers under the direction of an engineer the late Peter Treloar did much of this work. That was in 1972 and the same year Wendron Forge opened to the public - that first June day no visitors attended!

The historic Trenear Tin Stamping Mill and the mile long leat which dates from 1493 along with some riverside meadows were acquired by Peter in 1974.

The Poldark land now extended to around 4 acres of rural Cornwall. The hill farmland above the mine itself added several more acres which was leased from farmers the late Mr and Mrs Lawrence and the meadows were used for additional parking during special events and busy times, the cows being banished from their normal pastures during the day.

The Lawrence family soon became good friends with Peter and Jose Young. The late Mrs Mary Lawrence turned the ground floor of the farmhouse into wonderful cream tea rooms which were highly renowned and very much part of the experience at Poldark, their herd of dairy cows, grazing in the meadows above the mine, produced the milk, cream and butter used in the tea room. Mr and Mrs Lawrence worked closely with the Youngs and the tearoom was included in the mine's advertising and guide book. Their son and his wife continue live at the farm and that same neighbourly friendship continues, sadly the farmhouse tea room was closed many years ago.

The collection and discovery of the mine

Peter continued to acquire interesting steam engines that were being scrapped at the time. Many were donated to the museum, some from far afield mingled with many from Cornwall and Devon. The engines and beam engine were operated by compressed air and the steam engines soon required a larger compressor. The noise generated by the compressor was sometimes a little intrusive. Peter discovered a short man made tunnel which he called "the cave" in the escarpment that overlooks the gardens and the compressor was sited near there to deaden noise. The grounds continued to have excess water and neighbouring farmer Mr. Lawrence advised Peter that the water was coming from an old mine and there were some old filled in shafts and an old drainage adit on the farm.

Exploration soon followed and this proved to be the long forgotten workings of Wheal Roots, a tin mine described in 1856 as 'old mens workings' that had become part of a group of mines called Wenrdron Consols (consolidated) to which it was linked underground. Ever the entrepreneur Peter decided to open the mine workings to the public. With the assistance of many volunteers, work to clear the mud and debris filled mine commenced. Many were from the Camborne School of Mines. Five shafts were discovered along with a labyrinth of tunnels and caverns on several levels. A 1' 10" narrow gauge railway was built in the mine and another on the fields above to remove the mud using the 1905 Holman Bros winch and some mining trucks.

In 1975 a new adit tunnel was driven in to the hillside granite at considerable cost to allow safe and more convenient public access and the mine opened during that year. Lighting and forced ventilation had been added, some miles of cables were installed to facilitate this. Peters Wendron Forge Showrooms were selling many things that were hand made on site in the Wendron Forge workshops, these included etched stainless steel clocks and pictorial plaques. The money raised was invested into the gardens and museum.

A further long tunnel was driven through the granite in 1985 to open up deeper parts of the mine to provide a more extensive tour, these new tunnels were a major investment of over £150,000 at the time, but more and more visitors came to see Poldark Mine. Money generated by the craft shop sales was continuously ploughed into the mine and the machinery collection to improve the visitor's experience.

Half Penny Park

The rural demesne created by Peter became known as "Ha'penny Park" as Peter wanted to have a Licenced restaurant and to do this had to charge an entry fee - so he made it a nominal sum of a halfpenny to get around the licencing laws at the time so that drink could be served during the gardens daytime opening hours. A working waterwheel was soon installed inside the Garden café and the pub was soon a great success. A legal battle commenced as the council took Peter to Court over the entry fee and the press had a field day and the resulting publicity went on for months gaining even more business for Peter who enjoyed the challenge it presented and business boomed.

Visitors continued to flock in droves to visit the now lovely gardens, to buy crafts and to explore the depths of the very first mine in Cornwall that had been opened to the public - it was also the pioneer of visitor places in Cornwall and the very first Mining & Industrial Heritage Museum in Cornwall. Peter coined the advertising phrase " A little piece of heaven on the A3297" Brass bands, Morris Dancers and the band of the Royal Marines were regular performers in the riverside gardens. Peter loved this as in his service career he had organised the tattoos for the Royal Marines and knew how best to organise such events. Helston and Hayle Brass bands and others became regular visitors during the summer.

The brass band concerts are due to commence in the summer of 2015

Media

The BBC approached Peter to use the mine as location for a number of scenes for their 1977 series "Poldark" based on WInston Graham's novels. This included some of the underground sequences and brought even more visitors to the mine.

A further but shorter BBC series Penmarrick was filmed at the mine in 1979. The series is currently available on DVD from the BBC shop.

There have been many TV uses at the rural Cornish demesne down the years and the Man in Iron Mask had his mask made and fitted on the anvil at Wendron Forge in the 1977 TV production most other locations being in France.

The most recent film location was in summer 2014 with the new BBC series of Poldark being broadcast from 8 March 2015.

Artifacts used in films

Two of the mine's bells collected by Peter will be seen in use during the new 2015 BBC Poldark series, the famous and unique Ting Tang Mine bell being the most iconic. It was cast in 1844 at the Perran Foundry. Other props such as the jumper gad and hammer were from the Poldark Museum collection along with a smaller bell.

Holman Brothers Museum Camborne - Collection acquired for Poldark Museum in 1979

Holman Brothers factory in Camborne Cornwall was the major maker of mining equipment and had made Richard Trevithick's first high pressure boiler in 1803. The Holman family and Compair were anxious to save the extensive collection for posterity as the company had great pride in its museum which was an important part of their factory, many items working on compressed air. The company had a dedicated curator for many years. Peter purchased the unique collection for a nominal £1 but the arrangement included the acquisition of the museum building at a more commercial price. With the assistance of a team of volunteers, the entire Holman collection was moved to Poldark during 1979 and the vacated Camborne building was then sold.

St Day Turret Clock and bell 1771

The Holman Museum contents included the St Day Turret Clock & its bell dating from 1771 that had been donated to the museum in 1948 having been moved to St Day in 1905. The workings of this 244 year old clock were from the original wooden Redruth Town Clock Tower, now replaced by a later stone tower.

The Turret clock mechanism and its cast bronze bell are both on display at Poldark. An original engraved brass plate on the clock confirms the 1904 date when it was moved from Redruth and erected at St Day. The bell casting includes the date of 1771.

The bell and clock were in use at Redruth during John Wesley's last preaching in the town in the 1790s when he preached within earshot of its chimes. The same bell is used today at the mine at the start of each underground mine tour and younger visitors are sometimes invited to toll the bell for a reward of one of Peters replica Cornish Pennies.

The bell was solemnly tolled 21 times before the first tour started on the day following Peter Young's death (Poldark Mine's founder)in summer 2014 as a fitting tribute and mark of respect to the great man. That day all visitors were presented with a replica Cornish Penny made for Peter in 1985.

Holman (Morgan) patented traversing winding winch 1898

The globally unique (1898) traversing winding engine deigned and patented by Holmans engineer Charles Morgan won a gold medal in Paris in 1900. In the Holman Museum from 1901 - 1979 the patented winch is now at Poldark mine museum. It is often incorrectly referred to as a model. In fact it was built by Holman Bros as a one-sixth size prototype of that later built at the Williams' Shaft of the Dolcoath Mine. They were so proud of this patented machine that it went to Paris to be seen by many millions at that time. The Gold and Bronze medals won by the company are on display in the Poldark Museum, the winder being outdoors.

The prototype or "model" weighs several tons and was exhibited at the Holman museum for 78 years and since 1979 at Poldark Museum where it is demonstrated from time to time. It has been in museums for over 114 years. The actual steam traversing winding engine weighed over 120 tons and lasted till the failure of the company in 1921. I had larger 28 inch diameter cylinders fitted circa 1911. It was mounted on 16 railway wheels and moved laterally on rails rather like the bobbin on a sewing machine, that was to save on limited space and wear and tear on the cables. There were two large balanced cages. The roofless and vandalised winding house is Grade 2 listed but in an out of the way location. At the time the Williams shaft (named after the chairman Michael Henry Williams) was the deepest mine shaft in the world at over 3000 feet, the shaft is brick-lined throughout. The unusual lattice winding head gear was moved to another shaft later in its life. Holmans were engineers for the shaft and the headgear.

Ting Tang Mine Bell 1844

The Ting Tang Mine bell is a unique survivor and is believed to weight at least 2 cwt. - 250 pounds (approx. 100 kilos). All Cornish Mines had a bell that was used for various purposes but this is the only known surviving Cornish Mine bell. Used for shaft signals, calls to work and changing of the shifts, at other times the continuous tolling would summon wives and others to a mine in the event of major accident. Ting Tang Mine is located near St Day at Carharrack, the remains of the Count House can still be seen and the mine was active between 1750-1867 producing tin and copper. The mine bell was cast at the Perran Foundry in 1844. The Perran family were related to the Trevithick family by marriage.

Two Holman steam or air driven winching engines dating from 1905 and 1910, the Pendarves Estate Turret clock made in the mid 1700s by John Bennett of Helston and a range of Holman Drills and other items from the Holman Museum can be seen at Poldark Museum.

Holman Cornish Boiler

Although not from the Holman museum a large Holman made riveted wrought Iron Cornish boiler from Medlyn Moor Mine close to Poldark Mine dating from the mid to late 1800's is also at Poldark Museum having been rescued from a local farm.

Winston Graham & Poldark

The author of the Poldark books Winston Graham, became good friends with Peter and Jose Young. Winston kindly gave permission to use the title of his books as the name of the mine and thus the Poldark Mine of fiction became a place of fact. Mines in Cornwall often changed names to attract new adventurers so the name change was nothing new, even so this change was not universally approved at the time.

Winston Graham was often at Poldark Mine and launched some of his books there. The launch of the very last Poldark book was at Poldark Mine in 2002 a year before his sad death.

Actress Angharad Mary Rees, Lady McAlpine CBE (16 July 1949 – 21 July 2012) had the leading role as Demelza Poldark in the 1970s BBC TV costume drama Poldark. She too became a regular visitor to the mine and gardens up to the time of her sad passing, there is now a memorial to her at Poldark which was dedicated by her son.

1995–2014

Peter and Jose Young retired to Spain and sold Poldark to Mr John McCloud. The mine and museum continued much as before for some years winning a series of annual awards for the lovely flower filled gardens.

However, despite John's efforts, in 1999 Poldark was placed in receivership due to dwindling tourism, localised competition and global recession. The gardens and mine were acquired by some "mining heritage enthusiasts" (as they described themselves).

Sadly this was a time of a disgraceful cashing in on Peter's amazing collection of industrial heritage machinery as the new "enthusiasts" started selling off the museum's collection of working machinery for enormous sums of money – this amounted to a staggering sum in excess of £200,000 in their first year alone.

The evidence shows that they cared little for the remaining items on site and allowed many to fall into disrepair. Little or no maintenance was done, none of the money was invested, salaries were paid to fuel a lifestyle. Only one engine was to stay working. The shop was filled with tat and various "amusements" were introduced along with a series of haphazard badly run schemes that were all to fail. The mine and museum were neglected for some 14 years. The whole place was in a shambles, scrap and rubbish was everywhere, much was so offensive that specialist contractors had to be engaged to deal with the situation after their departure from the closed mine in 2014. Many skip loads of household waste had to be cleared up and removed. The mine needed to be restored.

The historic Cornish Mining related Holman Museum Collection of drills and mining artifacts was decimated. Some wonderful objects were left to rust outdoors and a collection of many rare items was sold for over £20,000. Some later found their way to King Edward Mine Museum which was a mixed blessing, a major loss for Poldark but fortunate in that the artifacts were saved and kept together.

Many of the other precious Holman items remained at Poldark albeit dumped or lying in leaky and rusty sheds awaiting their fate. Many framed images were left in wet piles in their high quality Holman frames in various sheds.

The vast Holman paper collection was ransacked and some was sold off piecemeal, some went to the Royal Cornwall Museum but was a sad loss to the collection at Poldark as they will not see the light of day again.

This all resulted in the "enthusiasts" company closing Poldark Mine down at the end of the 2013 season and receivership (administration) followed soon afterwards. As a parting gesture the museum and offices were literally ransacked and pillaged, many items were taken away, this included an international mineral collection that came from the former Holman Museum in Camborne (claimed to be otherwise by the departing owner) - practically all of the historic tin was sold off including some irreplaceable items recovered from shipwrecks much of which also came from the Holman Museum.

Waspishly, a small dated (1735) seal made of bottle glass was also taken - of no particular commercial value save that its of great importance to Poldark having been found by Peter Young in the lower part of the old workings. The image collection was taken with nearly all deeds and other records. Some items of modern accounts papers and computers were eventually returned following the threat of police involvement, but even so much remains missing. Some things appeared to have been auctioned, all of this damage was perpetrated by the "mining enthusiasts".

Falmouth Docks Steam Locomotive & railway items

Cornwall's last steam railway locomotive in industrial commercial service had come to Poldark in 1986 from nearby Falmouth Docks along with some other machinery as a gift to the museum. Built in 1919 as no 1530 by Peckett of Bristol for the CWS factory in Irlam beside the Mancherster Ship Canal, it was moved to Falmouth Docks where it worked to the end of their steam operations, the last driver being the late Mr Tarry. It was at one time owned by the British Transport Commission until the docks were privatised by Mrs Thatcher. Following many years preservation at Poldark it was destined to be sold off on E-bay in 2013 by the self-styled mining enthusiasts! This action took further visitor interest away from Poldark.

Happily the engine was found in 2014. The new custodian had the good fortune to have been able to chat with Peter Young a few weeks before he died and to give him the good news of the finding of the railway engine and its pending return to the mine from the Chasewater Railway in Staffordshire where it had been found hidden in a shed. Peter was delighted and pleased to learn of some of the other restorations planned.

The chunky little 26 ton saddle tank engine (No 6) arrived back at Poldark at the end of October and has caused much interest from visitors and local people ever since. It is to be restored and named "Peter".

Apart from the rescued 96 year old standard gauge locomotive from Falmouth, a largely restored narrow gauge steam engine made in Berlin in 1912 has been presented to the mine. This was made by Orenstein and Koppel who supplied a similar narrow gauge engine to the Basset Mines nearby.

On St Piran's day 2015 the locomotive was loaded up in Ross On Wye and was dispatched to Poldark Mine. This is a three foot gauge well tank 0-4-0 locomotive. Hopefully this will be finished during this season and ready to be steamed for 2016.

The two locomotives are currently the most southerly located preserved steam engines in the British Isles and will be complemented by an eclectic railway museum gallery some of which is already on display at the mine museum.

The mine has a few historic narrow gauge explosives waggons too, in 2014 one of these was recovered from a hedge at the mine and the other from the local pub! Another mine tip waggon is on loan to the Camborne School of Mines.

Holman Winding Engine, King Edward Mine

Although a profound loss to Poldark Mine, one good thing was the sale of a Holman steam winding engine to King Edward Mine Museum at Troon where it can be seen running on its original foundation. A very large sum of money was obtained for this - for an item that had been originally gifted to the museum at Poldark!

New era – May 2014

In early 2014, the mine was put up for sale as a potential housing development site after going into administration. A rescue bid was made by an interested party and in May 2014 control changed to the new custodian and the former "enthusiasts" were dispossessed.

Work to repair and restore the mine commenced immediately. In June 2014 the mine reopened for medium length tours and these were soon extended as work progressed. Thanks to the support of the BBC in filming and to renewed interest from returning visitors the tills started to ring again. The grounds were tidied, the museum was relocated and eventually opened by the end of July, with many artifacts having been rescued from leaking sheds.

Restyled as Poldark Tin Mine & Rural Open Air Museum all is now in the ownership of a new custodian with conservation and restoration of the heritage machines and the mine itself very much to the forefront. Much of the Holman collection that remains at the mine is being exhibited again and there are plans for the restoration and conservation of the machinery collection of the late Peter Young.

Several antique Cornish Beam engines and other models are now on display and this includes a number of scale model working engines. The largest Cornish Beam Engine was made in 1850 by Boulton & Watt as a salesman's model. It is a six pillar single cylinder tank-bed engine complete with Watts parallel motion, this can be demonstrated upon request to interested visitors. One of the smaller engines is also a tank-bed engine of considerable age.

A wooden and metal model of Trevithick's water pumping engine is well over 100 years old and is alongside some other elderly wooden models including a hand cranked demonstration stamps engine that came from the Holman Museum having been used at one of the Schools of Mines.

The collection of surface mine models largely made by former miners or workers at Holman Brothers are now all in the new museum along with a section of an underground shaft and loading point. Due to the lack of care by the former owners some of these are in extremis but will be restored as funds allow.

One naïve mine model made by an injured miner from Lanner over 100 years ago is in working order in a novel 120 year old former fortune teller's case can be electrically operated on insertion of a token to the delight of young and old visitors alike.

The wrought iron riveted Wheal Roots Mine kibble (a kind of bucket) was discovered in the main horse whim shaft of the mine by Peter Young in the 1970s along with a long length of hand-forged chain. This heavy item was returned to display in February 2015 and dates from the 1700s. It is rare to find such an item on display at the mine where it once worked.

NEW EXHIBITIONS PLANNED

New permanent exhibitions are planned for later in 2015. This will include an historic telephone, teleprinter, telegraph and communications gallery, with a number of 1930's exchange racks that came from Little Gaddesdon, the Wartime 1930's test engineers desk and equipment from Bath Trunk Exchange, and a supervisor's desk from the worlds first international telephone exchange at Faraday House in London. A collection of instruments and a cord exchange from the National Telephone Company dating from the late 1890's will be on display. Some items of equipment from the Cold War era related to the four minute warning will also be included.

A former Methodist chapel pipe organ will form the centrepiece of a new Methodist gallery related to the social and religious lives of tin miners that will include John and Charles Wesley, Billy Bray (the legendary tin miner preacher) and other non conformist groups.

The instrument is on the National Pipe Organ Register No G00087 and has a complete tubular pneumatic action with over 1000 pipes and dates in part from the 1880s with many Hope Jones pipes & regulator weights.

It was installed in 1950/51 by the renowned Rushworth & Dreaper of Liverpool, in the 750 seat Bethel Chapel at Heathfield Road Liverpool (at the top of the famous Penny Lane). It was rescued along with the pulpit and many other fittings from the since demolished Calvinistic Methodist place of worship. A new smaller modern chapel has been built and remains in use which is somewhat unusual news.

These exhibits have a distinct "tin" connection in one way or another as modern, mobile and older telecoms use large amounts of tin (and copper). Organ pipes contain a large percentage of tin, the greater the content, the better the tone.

WORLD HERITAGE SITE

The mine and it's museum are important parts of the UNESCO Cornish Mining World Heritage Site and Poldark is the Wendron Mining District's interpretation centre. The Wendron mining area once employed over 9000 workers and was more than twice the number of those in Redruth and Camborne combined at the time.

SCHEDULED ANCIENT MONUMENT

Poldark Tin Mine is the rural location of a unique Bronze Age Scheduled Ancient Monument to alluvial tin processing, no other is known to exist. This is the Trenear or Poldark Mortar Outcrop, a huge partly exposed granite slab that is part of the "living" 290 million year old granite rock and not a loose boulder, its close to the public entrance of the mine and by the flood plain of the river Cober which was famed for its rich content of alluvial tin deposits.

"The mortar outcrop at Trenear, 9m north east of Poldark Mine entrance is the only known example of an early hand tin-crushing site in the South West of England. The outcrop survives very well because it has until recently been protected by a layer of soil, which may also preserve rich environmental and archaeological information; particularly in the area adjacent to the southern edge of the rock."

The Cober River valley had no less than 25 tin streaming sites. Additional land purchased by Peter Young in 1970 secured its future as part of what was to become Poldark Mine. The pre-historical outcrop was discovered again in 2001 and listed as a Scheduled Ancient Monument of national importance by English Heritage in 2009 as No 36032. The outcrop has a series of 17 mortar holes and depressions made by the pounding of alluvial tin bearing ore in ancient times, the deepest being about 10cm.

The mine museum has three other ancient well used mortar stones that were discovered on the historic site, one of these has been turned and used on both sides with several oval holes. These are difficult to date with any precision but are believed to have been in use in Mediaeval times or perhaps in early Roman times well before 400 A.D. These are large blocks of granite that were pounded with "bull" stones to pulverise the ore so that the "black" tin particles could be panned from the crushed cassiterite. Having been excavated or found at the Poldark Demesne they remain close to where they were once used and are particularly fine examples of similar mortar stones discovered in other stream tinning locations whereas the Trenear or Poldark Granite Outcrop is a fixed mortar stone from much earlier times in the Bronze Age some 3000 years ago.

Tin Stamping Mill Circa 1493

The world's first recorded site of a mechanised Tin Stamping Mill (1493) is at Poldark along with an aqueduct over a mile long, a water wheel pit of the same date and the location of a busy tin processing site for close on 500 years. The 1493 lease appears to have been granted retrospectively and is contained in the Rolls of the Duchy of Cornwall in London.

In the mid 1800s as part of Wendron Consolidated Mines (Wendron Consols) no less than 74 Bal maidens were at work breaking stone (spalling) and fanning for tin just where the gardens are today. The rock was brought from the two neighbouring mines and other tin streaming locations to be processed on the grounds.

Trenear Dairy, Waterways & Mill Race

Tin prices fell in the late 1800s. The former Stamping Mill was sold and became a dairy from the 1880s until 1972. This was the Trenear Dairy Company Limited who used the water wheel to drive the machinery needed for the dairy for making butter and cheese, this company became part of Unigate. Known locally as "The Factory" it employed many people and took the produce from a goodly number of local farms.

The waterwheel was latterly used to produce electricity. The pit and all of the water courses date from 1493 and flow from Porkellis Moor over a mile up the valley.

The River Cober flows first in a deep wooded gully between the road to Porkellis and the west side the Mine car park and then levels out to cross under the entrance and almost immediately turns under the Porkellis Road, dividing again to serve another mill, it flows on towards Helston. The mill supply leat forms a boundary all along the north eastern side of the Poldark Mine Demesne's car park, but at a higher level. As the grounds fall away to the south the leat reaches a head of about 20 feet above the water wheel behind the original mill.

The mill race flows under four concealed bridges through the gardens and ponds of Poldark Mine Demesne and then alongside the lower car park. All of the water pumped from the mine is added to the leat and can be heard and seen flowing from the mine's electric pumps.

It is then called the Wendron Leat and flows under Trenear Bridge down the valley behind St Wendron's Church. It supplied two further wheels before rejoining the River Cober. Water from the same source flows along both sides of the main street in Helston.

A wheel of smaller size and made in 1904 at Harveys of Hayle is now fitted in the pit.

The compressor house used by the dairy for refrigeration remains today as does the egg packing station and cold store which has three loading bays with large sliding doors at dray level. This latter building at over 150 feet long and specially insulated is now the main museum for the mine but was used by Peter Young for his Wendron Forge factory making plaques and other items.

The dairy canteen, staff lavatories and offices were here too in an adjoining building. The mine office is in the former canteen kitchen. A detached small concrete building served as a "fireproof" document store. A similar concrete paint store complete with a WC remains behind the compressor house. Underground tanks are known to exist for the storage of whey and old milk that was used by local farms as pig feed.

The Tin Mill was enlarged by the creation of a matching building alongside the original in 1896 or thereabouts. A ramp to the rear of the building at first floor level enabled the raw milk in churns to be delivered easily and poured into the machinery below. A round hole remains in the floor.

The mine and rural open air museum and gardens today

Poldark is today the only complete tin mine in the UK open to the public for genuine underground 18th Century mine tours and the only mine in Cornwall that pumps water (at a rate of around 50 million litres per annum - that's 30 to 40,000 gallons a day) just to allow public access. Most of the machinery and winding equipment is well over 100 years old and much is unique.

See also

• Mining in Cornwall and Devon
• Wendron
• History of Cornwall

Sources

• Poldark Mine & Open Air Museum 2015, information from various sources provided by current custodian
• The Making of Wendron Forge: an illustrated booklet published by Peter Young 1972, 1973, 1974 et seq
• Wendron Tin by Dr A K Hamilton Jenkin: a definitive book on tinning in the Wendron area with detailed mapping published in conjunction with Peter Young
• Poldark Mining Limited: illustrated guidebook published in several editions
• Poldark People: an illustrated A4 guidebook published by John McCloud
• Richard & Pam Williams, managed Poldark Mine between 1999 and 2013.
• http://www.westbriton.co.uk/Poldark-administration-sale-350-000/story-20846136-detail/story.html#yY42Fivw5l8Sa4Sw.99

External links

• Cornish Mining
• Official Web site of Poldark Mine