The Mines of Redruth - South Carn Brea

OS Explorer Map 104: Grid reference SW688407

View Larger Map

Location
South Carn Brea sett lies on the eastern flank of the Carn Brea Granite. The sett lies between the Carn Brea and Tincroft Group of mines and the mines of the Basset Group. The main Engine Shaft was located about 400 metres east of Carn Brea monument. To the east of the sett lies Wheal Uny whilst to the west lies North Wheal Frances. South Carn Brea lies on the Great Flat Lode and produced copper, tin and some arsenic.

History
'An unproductive mine...', formerly known as Carn Brea Mine. There has been some sort of working here since the 1700's. The mine appears on an 1819 map but little is known of the mine until 1850. A lease was applied for from the mineral lord and this was granted. Afurther lease was obtained in 1852 superseding the old one. A pumping engine was installed over Engine Shaft after its refurbishment and this shaft was connected to a former adit shaft to the east by flat rods. The new shaft once connected was deepened and known as New or Flat Rod Shaft.

In 1856 the first ore was raised, the 2 tons of black tin having a value of £144. Output over the next couple of years was very low picking up to 232 tons of copper ore and 77 tons of black tin in 1858. A steam powered stamping engine was purchased and set to work clearing a 2,000 ton stockpile. The investment made possible by some good ore discoveries at the mine. As the mine entered the 1860's, South Carn Brea, along with several other mines in the region suffered as the metal prices fell. Copper ore fell from £6.917/ton in 1857 to just £4/ton in 1863. The price for a ton of tin also fell from over £70 to around £60 in the same period. Production levels were low and this allied to the poor price of ore meant that the mine struggled financially.

Development of the mine continued into the 1870's but apart from returns from a small high grade copper deposit amounting to £7,490 (628 tons at £11.927/ton) in 1872, the mine continued to struggle. Flooding in the winter months of 1875-76 compounded these problems and breakages first of the balance bob and then the angle bob a few months later effectively scuppered the mine. Low output and depressed ore price finally caused South Carn Brea to be abandoned completely in August 1877.

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).

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