Wendron Mining District - Medlyn Moor Mine

OS Explorer Map 103: Grid reference SW706335

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Medlyn Moor Mine lies unsurprisingly on Medlyn Moor, near Viscar, roughly midway between the villages of Porkellis and Carnkie in Wendron parish. The mine worked a number of lodes including: No. 1 South, No. 1 North, No. 2 North, New North and Great North Lodes. Shafts on the sett include: Engine Shaft, Flat Rod Shaft, Whip Shaft, Puffet Shaft, Old Men's Shaft and New North Shaft. An engine house still stands on the sett about 500 yards south of the Porkellis to Carnkie road and can be reached by following the 'public footpath' sign. The sett was leased from the mineral lord, Sir William Lemon and bordered Duchy of Cornwall land. Definitive proof of boundary narkings were unclear and this an account of a trial in 1830 concerning this available online. Production records are at best sketchy, stating that 80 tons of black tin were raised between 1874 and 1880.

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