St. Austell Mining District - Restormel Royal Mine

OS Explorer Map 107: Grid reference SX098614

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Restormel Royal Mine lies threequarters of a mile northwest of Lostwithiel in the Lanivet Area of the St. Austell Mining District. Nearby lay the mines of Wheal Magdalen (Maudlin), a mile to the northwest; Silver Vein Mine, two miles to the south east and Lanivet Consols (Tretoil Mine), three miles to the northwest. Formerly known as Trinity Mine and known to have been at work from at least 1797, this iron mine worked East and West Lodes and was named 'Royal' after the visit of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert in September 1846. The mine produced over 120,000 tons of iron ore with associated minerals such as Goethite, Pyrolusite, Bismuthine, Barite and Uranium Ochre also present. Restormel Royal re-opened briefly between 1908 and 1910.

Records of production for Restormel Royal are: 127,796 tons of iron ore between 1855 and 1883.

Now that 'World Heritage' status has been achieved Cornwall in Focus will monitor developments and learn how the mines of the St. Austell District fare within the overall Mining framework.

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