Boscaswell Downs Mine

Grid reference SW383344

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Boscaswell Downs Mine lies alongside the B3306 coast road near Pendeen, about 2 miles northeast of St. Just. It lies about half a mile to the east of Geevor, with the sett boasting almost 30 shafts on numerous lodes at one time or another. Nearby lie the setts of Wheal Powle, Wheal Hearle and Wheal Zandras. To the north lies the sett of Pendeen Consols. Boscaswell and its sister East Boscaswell, half a mile to the southeast, mark the eastern fringe of the St. Just-Botallack-Pendeen mining area of north Penwith.

Having the two large concerns of Geevor and Levant on its doorstep the mine has been largely overlooked in the records, although we know it is an old mine being recorded as such by historian Joseph Y. Watson in his 'A Compendium of British Mining'in 1843. It produced Copper between 1852-71 with an output of 143 tons of copper at its peak and was about 200 fathoms deep. Boscaswell also produced tin between 1855 and 1877. Its peak tin production was in 1863 when it raised 168 tons of black tin worth over £10,000. The main lodes of the mine were Main Lode, Boxer, Bridgework, Lawry, and Peath Lodes. The chief shafts being Treweek's, Williams' otherwise known as Kevern's or Smith's, Grenfell's, Trease, Richard's, Milsted, Wheal Powle, Lawry's and Stewarts shafts.

East Boscaswell also known as Wheal Hearle, lies at Grid Ref. 390340. Records show that the mine started work in the mid 1850's and shares in Wheal Hearle were made available to purchase just five years later. Equipped with a 30-inch pumping engine and a 10-inch winder the mine produced copper in the 1860's and tin between 1861-77. The main shafts were known as Borlase Engine Shaft working on a section of Bill Lode and Skip shaft, sunk about 1863.

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

There are still several industrial relics left from the heyday of mining and the Mineral Tramways Project aims to provide a network of multi-use trails - such as the Great Flat Lode trail and the Coast to Coast trail - for recreation and interested members of the public.