Mines of the Callington District - Holmbush Mine

OS Explorer Map 108: Grid Reference SX358720

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Holmbush Mine, lies just north of the village of Kelly Bray, to the northwest of Kit Hill in the Callington Mining District of East Cornwall. The mine was known to have been at work from at least 1845 and produced lead and silver as well as copper ore. Over the years it has been known by several names: In 1868 it was known as Holmbush & Kelly Bray United and in 1877 as Holmbush Mining Co. Ltd. Between 1888 and 1893, Holmbush Mine was amalgamated with Kelly Bray and Redmoor Mines to form Callington United Mines. It was abandoned in 1893.

Production reports show:
Holmbush
1822-68 & 1880-86 - 42,900 tons of 7.25% copper
1846-63 & 1882-86 - 1,689 tons of 64% lead ore
1853-63 - 20,093 ounces of silver
1877-86 - 20,326 tons of mispickel (arsenical pyrite), 10,554 tons of arsenic, 3 tons of wolfram and 108 tons of fluorspar.

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