Wendron Mining District - Crowan and Wendron Consols

OS Explorer Map 103: Grid reference SW668329

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Crowan and Wendron Consols, otherwise known as Releath Mine is situated at Lower Releath midway between Crowan and Wendron. It worked from Engine Shaft. There are no records of production.

Thomas Spargo reports in his book 'Statistics and Observations on the Mines of Cornwall and Devon' (1865) that '... Crowan and Wendron Tin and Copper Mining Company Limited, late, Releath Mine, in Crowan and Wendron. In 8,000 shares. Purser, Mr F. Michell, C.E. Redruth, Agent. Captain, Richard Reynolds, Gwinear. Landowners, Sir R. R. Vyvyan, Bart. and Mr. St. Aubyn. Dues 1-18th. Depth of adit, 6 fathoms; depth under it 49 fathoms. Rock - Granite. 26 men and 2 boys employed. Pumping engine 40-inch.
This mine was worked 2 or 3 years ago under the name of Releath Mine, in great poverty, but some say not fairly... The present Company took it in hand in 1864. No returns since. It is a tin mine, whose resources have not been developed'.

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