Tolgus Mines - Great South Tolgus

This sett is located between South Wheal Tolgus, Wheal Tehidy and Wheal Union. The mine operated between 1855 and 1871 and was mainly a copper producing mine with a little tin. Formerly known as North Wheal Buller, its principal shafts were Lyle's, Whim, Noel, Flat Rod and Carthew's. The mine's heyday was between 1856 and 1861 with its highest production occuring in 1859 when 3,346 tons of copper ore was sold with a value in excess of £23,500. A price of £7.04 per ton giving a dividend of £13,200. Reserves of copper were exhausted by the early 1870's and the mine was finally abandoned in 1871.

See the excellent Cornwall's Central Mines: The Northern District by Tom Morrison, for more information.

'World Heritage' status has been gained for this area and works should take place in 2008 to connect the mines of Redruth to the Portreath to Devoran (Coast to Coast) Trail via Tolgus. Cornwall in Focus are waiting to see just how the Tolgus mines fit into the mineral tramway framework. See The Mineral Tramway Heritage Project 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