Tamar Valley Mining District - Drakewalls

OS Explorer Map 108: Grid reference SX424707

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Drakewalls mine lies about threequarters of a mile south-southwest of Gunnislake, in the Tamar Valley Mining District. The mine was at work before 1850 and produced tin, copper and arsenic there was also some lead, silver, wolfram and molybdenum raised.

Drakewalls worked two main lodes - Stringer's (or Main) Lode and No.2 (or North) Lode from Engine Shaft, Matthew's Shaft and Brunton's Shaft. Between 1877 and 1897 the mine was run by a number of companies such as 'Drakewalls United' and 'British Mining and Metal Co. Ltd.' The mine was in liquidation between 1897 and 1898, suspended in 1904 and between 1911 and 1913 it was said to be 'keeping levels open'.

Thomas Spargo, the mining historian, has little to say in his book, 'The Mines of Cornwall and Devon: Statistics and Observations' in 1865, that Drakewalls was '... (Tin) Mineral sold in 1864 was 203 tons 2 cwt. and 11 lbs. for £13,626 2s. 11d'.

Thomas Gregory was Manager at Drakewalls between 1859 and 1871, He was succeeded by William Skewis (1872-77) and Moses Bawden (1878-81). Never a large employer, Drakewalls employed a maximum of 130 people in 1884. Production figures for the period 1852 to 1879 are as follows: 5,433 tons of tin, 2,015 tons of copper and 2,638 tons of arsenic.

Now that 'World Heritage' status has been achieved Cornwall in Focus will monitor developments and learn how the mines of the Tamar Valley Mining District fare within the overall Mining framework.

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