Gwennap Mining District - Hallenbeagle

OS Explorer Map 104: Grid reference SW727449

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An important copper producing mine, Hallenbeagle is situated about half a mile east of Scorrier and actually lies in the parish of Kenwyn. The mine sett lay just east of Wheal Rose and is bounded by the South Wheal Hawke section of Great North Downs to the southwest, East Downs and North Treskerby to the northwest, Wheal Rose to the west, Wheal Chance to the southeast. It lay to the southwest of Boscawen Mine and became part of that mine some time in the 1860's. It should not be confused with the short-lived North Hallenbeagle Mine of St Agnes District to the west. Hallenbeagle worked four main lodes: North Lode from King's Shaft, Engine Shaft, Stone's Shaft and Eastern Shaft; Read's Lode from Read's Shaft; South Lode and Oats' Lode. The mine was dewatered into the Great County Adit.

Mining historian Joseph Yelloly Watson gives us a brief insight into Hallenbeagle in his book of 1843 entitled 'A compendium of British Mining', where he reports '... In Kenwyn, near Chacewater, is returning large quantities of ore, but barely paying the expenses of working; about two hundred persons are employed — the monthly cost averages £1,500 — and the machinery on the mine is valued at £4,500. From June 1834 to June 1842, the mine returned seventeen thousand one hundred and forty-eight tons of ore yielding £77,604 2s 5d'.

Some twenty-two years later Thomas Spargo says of Hallenbeagle '... in Kenwyn, Cornwall, in 6,000. shares. Secretary, Mr. Edward King, 22A Austin Friars. Manager, Captain Edward Richards, St. Agnes. Lord, Viscount Falmouth. Dues, 1-24th. Depth of adit, 50 fathoms. Under adit, 50 fathoms. Pumping-engine, 60-inch, at work. Winding-engine, 22-inch, at work. 70 men, 37 females, and 30 boys employed; total, 137 persons. Rocks, clay-slate, and elvans. Copper Ore Sold in 1864 - 737 tons 14 cwt. 0 qrs sold for £4,282 10s. 6d.
The present Company commenced operations in 1864, and the time has been occupied in preliminary works chiefly. This sett was a part of Great Wheal Busy United. The prospects are good. The name "Hallenbeagle" was, a few years ago, the name of the mine now called "Boscawen." Great Wheal Busy 'was so very large as to render a tripartite division desirable, and that has been accomplished. This seems to be a fair speculation in a great mining county; nevertheless, the granites are rather too far in the background to render this site a fancy locality; scientific geology seems to point to depth as the goal of success for the Great Busy range of mines.'

Hallenbeagle produced 30,580 tons of 6% copper ore between 1835 and 1846 as well as 3,242 tons of 6% copper ore between 1864 and 1867. Its best years production taking place in 1845 when the 2,879 tons raised were sold for £10,478.90. It also produced a small amount of tin. At the time of writing (2009), the area is undergoing inspection by the local District Council with a view to regenerating the area with industrial units as part of the Cornwall Food and Energy Park Project.

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) 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 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