Boswedden

Grid reference SW356322

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Boswedden Mine is located about 600m southwest of St. Just on the southern flanks of the picturesque Cot Valley. The stream in the valley floor marking the boundary with Wheal Castle, its nearest neighbour, 100m to the west. It is bounded to the south and east by the Cape Cornwall Golf and Country Club and to the west by the coast and Wheal Call. Boswedden was a tin and copper mine but was never very profitable, although at its height it employed around 150 people. It was formed by tha amalgamation of Wheal Call, Great Weeth and Wheal Castle in 1782, being formally named 'Boswedden and Wheal Castle' in 1836. This group was consolidated into a larger group including Boscean and Wheal Cunning named Wheal Cunning United in 1872. The main shafts were: Wheal Call Engine, Diagonal and Praze Shafts.

Wheal Call wheelpit in the Nancherrow Valley

For more information on this area in particular or the Cornish mines in general please see Roger Burt's excellent Cornish Mines: Metalliferous and Associated Minerals, 1845-1913 (Mineral Statistics of the United Kingdom, 1845-1913) or what is widely regarded as the mining enthusiasts bible by H G Dines - The Metalliferous Mining Region of South-West England: Vols I & II (Economic Memoirs) for more details.

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