Mines of Crowan - South Crenver Mine

OS Explorer Map 104: Grid Reference SW633334

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South Crenver Mine lies to the southeast of Leedstown and just south of Crenver and Wheal Abraham Mine. There is not a lot of information on South Crenver Mine apart from the fact that it was a small cooper mine producing just a trace of tin. Thomas Spargo in his book of 1865 entitled 'The mines of Cornwall and Devon; Statistics and Observations', has little to say, simply reporting: 'South Crenver, in Crowan, is idle, so far as machinery is concerned. There are 3 or 4 men driving at adit level. Materials sold. Nil. This mine has disappointed the expectations of the adventurers'.

The mine worked from three shafts: Varnishe's Shaft, Carne's Engine Shaft and Gore's Shaft but produced only 5,207 tons of copper ore in the period 1853 to 1856, with its best years output being in 1853 and 1854. The mine was never profitable and was suspended in 1865.

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