Mines of St Ives - Rosewall Hill & Ransom Utd.

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Location
Rosewall Hill lies about one and a half miles southwest of St. Ives, just south of the B3306 road. The Rosewall Hill and Ransom United Group includes West Providence Mine (also known as Wheal Winze) and was itself swallowed up into the larger St. Ives Consolidated Mines in 1908. Chimneys from the mine - Grid Ref. 497394, overlook Bussow Reservoir and Rosewall Farm and are clearly visible on the hillside as you drive along the St. Ives to Zennor road. The mine extracted tin from two major lodes - Main Lode and Wheal Winze Lode from a number of shafts. The best known of these would be Kernick's, Ivey's; Martin's; Fane's; Tredinnick's; Harris'; Ransom Whim and Townplot Shafts.

History
The mine is thought to date from about 1818 and is known to have produced over 16,000 tons of black tin between 1827 and 1892. A 21-year lease allowing mining on the land was granted in 1858 by local landowner William B. Tyringham. The management team of Rosewall and Ransom consisted of Thomas Treweeke (jnr.) as Purser and Captain Thomas Treweeke as Mine Manager - a post he held from 1859 to 1868. Thomas Spargo states in his book The Mines of Cornwall (1865) that the mine had the 'elements for success'. A shaft was being sunk at Ransom Mine, with the group employing 170 people, including 20 mine girls and 30 boys. Spargo also reports that Rosewall Hill and Ransom United was equipped with a 40-inch pumping engine, a 32-inch stamps engine and a 24-inch winding engine. Captain Treweeke was replaced by Josh. Daniel in 1869 who in turn was replaced by William Buglehole as manager from 1872 to 1874. Kelly's Directory for 1873 states that the purser at this time was Thomas Wallis Robinson.

To visit Rosewall Hill simply park beside the B3306 in the small parking area. From the car park pass the NT omega and follow the signed route through the metal gate. There is a well trodden path leading up the hillside to your right. Take this, before long you pass the overgrown remains of a concrete plinth and other buildings. Continue to climb steadily looking ahead to see a shaft enclosed with a sturdy granite wall. As you continue up the path another walled shaft comes into view, sadly neither are named. As you near the crest of the hill it is possible to spot other fenced shafts once again their names are not signed. Make your way up to the rock outcrop at the summit of Rosewall Hill where you get a good view north-east to St Ives and on a clear day you can spot St. Agnes Beacon lying behind Godrevy Island with its lighthouse. To your left across the fields lies a lone chimney near to Folly Farm whilst across the saddle of the hill another footpath leads east.

Once you have explored this part of the hill make your way back down the hill taking a path leading off east towards Rosewall Farm. The path leads up to some granite cairns. Look down to your left just after this rocky outcrop to see a pair of mine chimneys overlooking the Farm and Bussow Reservoir. Some distance behind that lies Knill's Monument - easily visible with a pair of binoculars or a zoom camera. To the north-east across the fields lies St. Ives Island and beyond that the north Cornish coast at Godrevy.

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