Callington Mining District - Wheals Arthur and Edward

OS Explorer Map 108: Grid references SX434700 and SX428699

View Larger Map

Location
These two relatively small mines worked in the Tamar Valley in East Cornwall in the Calstock area of the Callington Mining District. They were located about a mile northwest of Calstock. Wheal Edward dates from about 1830 whilst Wheal Arthur began life in the early 1850's. The mines were mainly copper mines and worked several lodes, with the chief ones being: North; Old; South; Middle; Albaston's (also known as Watson's Lode); Whimple; Great South; Calstock Consols Lode and Mundey's Lodes. The lodes were worked from Engine Shaft; Diagonal Shaft; Flat Rod (also known as North Shaft); Old Hundred Shaft and South Engine Shaft.

View Larger Map

History
Records of output for Wheal Edward (1855-69) were: 8160 tons of 5% copper ore and 10 tons of pyrite in 1876.

Records of output for Wheal Arthur 11,300 tons of 5% copper ore (1852-78 and 1884-85) and 156 tons of black tin for the periods 1856-61 and 1870-85. There was also 30 tons of pyrite produced between 1863 and 1885 as well as 101 tons of arsenic soot.

For more information on production dates and so on please see Roger Burt's excellent book Cornish Mines: Metalliferous and Associated Minerals, 1845-1913 (Mineral Statistics of the United Kingdom, 1845-1913).

For those of you with possibly a little more time to explore, once you've done 'the tourist bit', why not explore Cornwall's industrial heritage through its Tin and Copper Mines or learn more from my Cornish Bookstore