Miners Dry South Caradon Mine Cornwall

by Richard Brookes

Title

Miners Dry South Caradon Mine Cornwall

Artist

Richard Brookes

Medium

Photograph

Description

Abandoned Victorian copper mining activities dominate the spectacular landscape on the flanks of Caradon Hill above the River Seaton Valley high on a remote part of Bodmin Moor, St Cleer, Cornwall, SW England, UK.

From research of web sources, this shot was taken just above the ore dressing floor and shows the derelict and overgrown miners' dry with boiler house chimney stack and yard. The dry ensured miners could change and walk home in dry clothing after their shifts. Other adjoining buildings here included a barbers, box store and tool shed.

Tin oxide deposits (alluvial cassiterite) originally drew medieval miners to the area and eventually the tin streaming mine of Gonamena was established just upstream to the left of this shot. The extensive South Caradon mine shown, one of many in the area, was established by Captain James Clymo and his sons and the Kitto (also Kittow shown) family after copper was discovered in 1834 from an adit driven into the hillside at Sump shaft. This became the deepest shaft of the mine sett at 250 fathoms (1,500 feet or 457m). The mine ran until the 1890s and produced some 218,000 tons of copper ore making it the 6th largest copper mine in Cornwall.

The site is rich in industrial remains including, engine house ruins, choked shafts, adits, cobbled dressing floors, other ancillary buildings, leats, reservoirs, the line of old tramways and mineral railway and a horse whim. Some remains are buried beneath the massive spoil heaps from later workings that can be seen in the background.

The mines were serviced by the long dismantled Liskeard & Caradon Railway. The old granite setts (blocks) to hold the rails can still be seen in situ.

This view was taken one October.

Due to the importance of this site in the development of pioneering mining skills and technology which were exported around the whole world, the site is part of the UNESCO World Heritage Mining Landscape of Cornwall and West Devon no 1215.

Uploaded

January 13th, 2021

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