The Mines of Redruth - Wheal Bucketts

OS Explorer Map 104: Grid reference SW702411

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Location
Wheal Bucketts sett lies near the Southgate area of Redruth beside the Redruth to Helston Road. The mine has had a very chequered history and has been known by a number of names in its time. Mines on or around this site have at one time or another been called Wheal Bucketts, Cllijah and Wentworth, East Wheal Uny and Wheal Perserverance. Its nearest neighbours are Wheal Buller and Pednandrea Mine just a kilometre or so away to the southwest and north respectively.

History
There was a mine around this area in 1824 as shares were offered for sale in Wheal Wentworth according to The West Briton. Wheal Bucketts is first mentioned by name in early 1836 when it formed part of the short-lived 'Redruth United Mines Company'. When the company went into liquidation the following year, equipment at Wheal Bucketts was offered for sale. In summer 1845 the mine was reopened by a group of out-of-county adventurers and by the autumn a 60-inch pumping engine began work. Between 1846 and 1849 over 2,600 tons of copper ore, of average quality, was raised but the slump in the industry a short time later effectively put paid to the mine. Mine equipment was for sale once more in mid-1849.

Wheal Bucketts followed its near neighbours at Clijah and Wentworth Mine by opening in 1853 under the new title of East Uny Consols. Once again the company could not make a success of the mine as a going concern and so the mine was abandoned again in about 1854. The sett was now acquired by Clijah and Wentworth in 1856. The mine closed again in 1866 before being purchased by the East Wheal Uny costbook company. The new owners set about installing three new engines - a 70-inch pumping engine, a 24-inch winding engine and a 36-inch stamps engine almost immediately with six boilers also purchased. Engine Shaft was refurbished with new woodwork and the other shafts and adits cleared up. The 70-inch engine commenced working on 2nd January 1873, but falling metal prices caused the owners to reconsider their investment and so Wheal Bucketts / East Wheal Uny was sold once more

The new owners, Crawshays of Gloucester, renamed the mine Wheal Peserverance and reports state that over 400 tons of tinstone were sold between 1875 and 1877. New discoveries of copper and tin overseas in 1876 caused a glut of ore on the metal markets and a slump in the prices paid. Once again the holding company was not in a strong enough position to weather the storm and so Wheal Perserverance was abandoned. In 1880 the mine was reopened and renamed East Wheal Uny. The mine was developed and production of 10 tons of copper ore and 188 tons of tinstone in 1881 increased to 117 tons of copper ore and 785 tons of tinstone in 1882 as the mine broke into the Great Flat Lode. Production however did not remain at these levels and the low production figures coupled with spiralling costs caused the mine to close for good in November 1884.

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