West Wheal Towan

OS Explorer Map 104: Grid reference SW683473

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West Wheal Towan, otherwise known as Wheal Lushington and Wheal Clarence, lies on the coast to the west of Porthtowan Valley with the sett extending over a mile further west to Kerriack Cove. The sett has undergone many changes over the years as the ancient sett boundaries changed or smaller concerns were amalgamated. The combined area included, at one time or another:
As Wheal Lushington - Wheal Sally, Wheal West, Wheal Sterran, Wheal Tye, Metal Work and Wheal Vincent.
As Wheal Clarence (also known as Nancekuke Mine) - Wheal Fox, Cliff Down Mine, Wheal Mary and Wheal Sparrow.

Capped shafts near Lushington Cove, Porthtowan

Taken individually: Wheal Sally lay on the eastern side of Kerriack Cove and raised zinc and lead as well as the metals' sulphides (sphalerite and galena) from Wheal Sally Lode via Sally Bottoms Shaft. Wheal West lay on the headland immediately north of Kerriack Cove and worked Tye Lode and Taylor's Lode from Kite's Shaft. Sterran Mine and Tye Mine were worked together extracting ore from Tye Lode, Taylor's Lode and Langdon's Lode via London Shaft, Eastern Shaft, Caroline's (Wheal Tye) Shaft and Vivian's Shaft (also known as Ladder Shaft). Wheal Metal Work otherwise known as East Wheal Towan, lay just south of Tobban Horse rock on the cliffs. It worked Lead Lode, Great South Lode, Thomson's Lode, Lushington Lode, Towan Coath Lode, North Grambler Lode and North Lode. Metal Work Lode was cut by Metal Work Shaft. The sett also included Taylor's Shaft. Wheal Vincent Mine lay just to the east of Wheal Metal Work, with the sett dotted with five un-named shafts.

Kites Shaft, part of West Wheal Towan

Wheal Fox lay just to the west of Porthtowan working Wheal Fox Lode and Towan Lode from Whim Shaft. Wheal Mary, otherwise known as Wheal Clarence, included Cliff Down Mine and lay to the south of Wheal Fox. It worked Wheal Towan Lode and Wheal Mary Lode from a number of shafts including: Lushington Engine Shaft (otherwise known as Reynolds' Shaft), Towan Coath Shaft, Goyn's Shaft, Wheal Mary Shaft, Whim Shaft and Mitchell's (Nelsons) Shaft. Lastly, Wheal Sparrow sett lay just to the south of Wheal Mary with its workings now obscured by the village of Porthtowan. It worked Lead Lode from Skews' Shaft, Middle Shaft, South Shaft and New South Shaft; Wheal Clarence Copper Lode from Footway Shaft and Valley Shaft; Willow's Lode from Davey's (Eastern) Shaft. Other lodes included North Part United Hills Lode, South Part United Hills Lode and Wheal Sparrow Lode.

Chimney at West Wheal Towan

Production records for the mines are as follows:
Cliff Down Mine 1823-41 - 316 tons of 6% copper ore
Wheal Sparrow 1763-76 - 142 tons copper ore, 1807-08 - 493 tons of copper ore and 1829-41 - 2,227 tons of 6.5% copper ore
Wheal Clarence 1835, 1863, 1866 - 67 tons of 3% copper ore
As Nancekuke (after 1851) 40 tons of black tin, 747 tons of of 67% lead ore and 13,709 ounces of silver.
West Towan 1852-85 - 555 tons of black tin, 200 tons of pyrite, 1.5 tons of zinc ore
Wheal Tobban 1759 - 6 tons galena (lead sulphide)
Wheal Metal Work 1762 - 42 tons of copper ore.

Bottom Shaft part of Wheal Sally, Kerriack Cove

Now that 'World Heritage' status has been achieved Cornwall in Focus will monitor developments and learn how the Porthtowan Mines fare within the overall Mineral Tramways 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