# West Penwith Engine Houses And Surface Workings



## hydealfred (Dec 15, 2010)

I struggled to know where to put this. Although mines, the shots are of surface workings remains, I suppose they are industrial sites as well. So I have put this in the Misc section which hopefully is acceptable. 

I have had a fascination with Cornish tin and copper mining remains for over 30 years, so this is my small tribute to the tenacity of the Cornish Miners who worked in truly dreadful conditions to work the various mineral lodes. Water was always the biggest enemy of the miner in Cornwall so ways had to be developed to drain the mines so they could be worked. Enter the Cornish Beam Engine in the 19th Century. These huge engines were housed in massive granite engine houses many of which survive today. When you look at the remains of these houses, consider the construction and the tools the 19th Century workers had to construct them. No cranes only block and tackle if they were lucky. Also consider how they managed to construct the beam engines which were made up of heavy cast iron castings weighing many tons. No wonder so many died in the construction of the surface workings and underground in the mines. Also remember all the women and children who worked on the surface in the stamps houses and dressing floors. Today many of the engine houses have been preserved and decay arrested. To my mind these Sentinels of a bygone age and of underground exploration, very often in dreadful conditions, are truly Derelict Places. The shots are mostly from November 2010. 

Levant Mine Pumping Engine House - this housed a Cornish Beam Engine which pumped water from the 
mine 







This drawing shows a typical Cornish Beam Engine as would have been installed in the above engine house. 






A drawing showing a typical Cornish Engine House 






Levant mine surface workings - this mine was the site of a very bad accident in 1919 - 
Details can be found here - http://www.cornwallinfocus.co.uk/history/levant2.php






Higher Bal Engine House near Levant - this housed a rotary steam winding engine which were 
used to haul ore from the mine or to power batteries of stamps






Surface workings - Geevor Mine - to the right of the column is a round buddle which was used in tin separation 






Surface workings Geevor - the headgear and workings behind is the former Geevor mine which is now
a museum 






Surface workings at Geevor - note Pendeen Lighthouse in the far distance 






Settling tanks - Geevor Mine 






This is a fire bar from one of the boilers used at Geevor 






Brunton Calciner at Bottalack Mine 






The wall in the top right is part of Botallacks Mines Power House - part of the dressing floors are in the 
foreground 






The Crowns Engine Houses Botallack - the mine shaft here descending out under the Atlantic Ocean. 
The lower pumping engine house was built in 1835 - the higher house in 1865 to provide winding power.
Consider how you would get those heavy granite blocks to such a position






The flue for the winding house boiler is built up the side of a hill






Part of the labyrinth that served the Arsenic workings at Botallack mine 






In 1984 a new headgear was erected over Allens Shaft at Botallack. It was hoped to reopen the mine 
but it was not to be and was never used. The winding house is behind the headgear 






The sealed Allen Shaft 






The flue serving Allen Shaft Engine House 






Wheal Edward Winding Engine house with the Crowns at Botallack visible in the distance 






Within the engine house is this granite block which was used to anchor the beam engine cylinder to 
the ground. The forces were tremendous as these engines worked - hence the heavy construction 






Wheal Owles seen from Wheal Edward. Wheal Owles was the scene of an underground disaster in 
January 1893. The disaster claimed the lives of 19 men and a boy. It was caused when the miners 
broke into an adjacent disused flooded mine (Wheal Drea) due to poor surveying. Water poured in 
and the miners were drowned. Their bodies were not recovered and they remain underground to 
this day






The sun sets over Wheal Edward 






Thanks for looking.


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## Andymacg (Dec 16, 2010)

great work there my friend ,the sunset pictures is fantastic
there just something about abandoned mine workings that i find fascinating

funnily enough me and the wife have booked a weeks holiday in cornwall next year so looks like i might getting a few days exploring in as a bonus


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## night crawler (Dec 16, 2010)

Excelent hydealfred great report on a place I have only seen a few photo's from and very little history. It is somewhere I would like to visit.


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## Foxylady (Dec 16, 2010)

Fantastic report, Alf. I love Cornish Engine Houses and it's great to see not only several different ones, but also the other various remains. These are places I'd love to visit too. The only one that I came across, and have a pic of, is just above Fowey on the eastern side but I've no idea what it was called.
Good stuff. 

EDIT: Oh, and the one at British Ironworks, but that's in Wales, not Cornwall. lol


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## Munchh (Dec 16, 2010)

That's a corker alf. Some of those buildings are in the most precarious of positions. 

Wheal Owles from Wheal Edward pic is very appealing for some reason I can't put my finger on. Looks like you had good light for photos that day, not at all what I'm used to for Cornish Tin mines

Get what you mean about which section to post this in as well. I've got a Colliery sidings and rope incline part explored and had similar thoughts about where that would fit.

Thanks for this.


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## hydealfred (Dec 16, 2010)

Andymacg said:


> great work there my friend ,the sunset pictures is fantastic
> there just something about abandoned mine workings that i find fascinating
> 
> funnily enough me and the wife have booked a weeks holiday in cornwall next year so looks like i might getting a few days exploring in as a bonus



Thanks - you will not be disappointed in Cornwall - there is a huge amount of mining heritage to be discovered. However, I think the West Penwith area is one of the most interesting due to where some of the workings are located. 



night crawler said:


> Excelent hydealfred great report on a place I have only seen a few photo's from and very little history. It is somewhere I would like to visit.



Thanks NC 



Foxylady said:


> Fantastic report, Alf. I love Cornish Engine Houses and it's great to see not only several different ones, but also the other various remains. These are places I'd love to visit too. The only one that I came across, and have a pic of, is just above Fowey on the eastern side but I've no idea what it was called.
> Good stuff.
> 
> EDIT: Oh, and the one at British Ironworks, but that's in Wales, not Cornwall. lol



Thanks Foxy - there is a really superb working engine at Levant. It took years to restore and is perched right on the cliff edge. Well worth seeing when in steam. 

http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/main/w-levantmineandbeamengine



Munchh said:


> That's a corker alf. Some of those buildings are in the most precarious of positions.
> 
> Wheal Owles from Wheal Edward pic is very appealing for some reason I can't put my finger on. Looks like you had good light for photos that day, not at all what I'm used to for Cornish Tin mines
> 
> ...



Thanks Munchh - the shots were taken mostly in November 2010 but there were a few from earlier visits. Its not always this good with the weather especially when that dreaded sea mist comes down.


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## klempner69 (Dec 16, 2010)

Excellant report Alf..showing my age now ok,but I remember watching the Crowns being done up in around 84/85 when Kate Bush sang about "Running up that hill"..cos it s a long walk up to the top!!There used to be an old guy called Dick the stick who walked along the top by Allens and for a couple of quid he would reminisce about the time he worked down there and I got him on vid from way back in the early 90`s.Thanks very much for reminding me that I should return to Cornwall.


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## hydealfred (Dec 16, 2010)

klempner69 said:


> Excellant report Alf..showing my age now ok,but I remember watching the Crowns being done up in around 84/85 when Kate Bush sang about "Running up that hill"..cos it s a long walk up to the top!!There used to be an old guy called Dick the stick who walked along the top by Allens and for a couple of quid he would reminisce about the time he worked down there and I got him on vid from way back in the early 90`s.Thanks very much for reminding me that I should return to Cornwall.



Thanks K. - I too remember Dick Thomas. I seem to recall talking to him too at Botallack. I'm pretty sure he was involved with the Levant engine restoration although I cant be certain. I did meet an old chap there once and I think it was him. There is now a bench near the former Power House to his memory. He was quite a character. There was also a kind of covered area under/near the Brunton Calciner which had been turned into a meeting room with old car seats etc. Again I think this was Dick who created this - it had a sign on saying Last Of The Summer Wine.


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## borntobemild (Dec 16, 2010)

love these places ha. particularly the mixture of old and new. thanks for posting


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## scribble (Dec 16, 2010)

Spectacular shots. I've always found these engine houses fascinating. We have Magpie Mine in Derbyshire to a similar design.


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## muppet (Dec 16, 2010)

cracking pics and report . being surrounded by these i tend to overlook them must check them out . thanks for sharing


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