Wendron Mining District - Penhale Wheal Vor

OS Explorer Map 103: Grid reference SW624309

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Situated about one and a half miles north east of Breage, in the parish of the same name, lies Penhale Wheal Vor. It was once part of Great Wheal Vor and includes North Wheal Vor. It adjoins Polladras Mine and worked four main lodes from the following shafts: Penhale Lode and Branch Lode were worked by Gutierrez's Shaft, Engine (or Hollingsworth's) Shaft, Battye's Shaft and Sandford's Shaft (after the Company Secretary William Battye). South Lode was worked from Holryd Shaft (named after the Company Secretary J. Holryd) and Moon Shaft, whilst North Lode was worked in the former North Wheal Vor part of the sett at Engine Shaft, White's Shaft and Payne's Shaft.

Thomas Spargo gives us an insight into the state of the mine in 1865 in his book 'The Mines of Cornwall', he reports that Penhale Wheal Vor was '... in 2,000 shares. Purser: Mr P. Grenfell Hill, Helston. Manager: Captain William Chappell of Breage. Landowner: Duke of Leeds. Dues 1/24th. 20 men employed. Rock: Clay-slate. The present company purchased the engine and other machinery belonging to the late North Wheal Vor Company, whose sett they have also taken and added thereto some ground to the south, adjoining and called 'Penhale Mine'. When Penhale was worked by the Wheal Vor late Company, it yielded good profit and I have no doubt it would do so again if fairly worked. North Wheal Vor having been in the hands of a poor company has not be sufficiently tested.'

Reports on Penhale Wheal Vor are difficult to track down, but it is known that between 1866 and 1873 the mine raised just over 85 tons of black tin worth around about £4,700. In the period between 1886 and 1889 it also raised 85 tons.

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