South Caradon Mine Ruins Bodmin Moor Cornwall
by Richard Brookes
Title
South Caradon Mine Ruins Bodmin Moor 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. 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 Kittow family after copper was discovered in 1834 from an adit driven into the hillside at Sump shaft which became the deepest shaft of the mine sett at 250 fathoms (1,500 feet or 457m). The ran until the 1890s and produced some 218,000 tons of copper ore making it the 6th largest copper mine in Cornwall. Rule's South Shaft pumping engine house can be seen on the skyline to the left. To the middle right is Jope's Shaft engine house above the waste material spoil heaps. Ore processing and the cobbled dressing floors are in the foreground. The northern ‘Main’ lode is marked by the ruins of Sump Shaft, Pearce’s Shaft, and Engine Shaft, which trace it up the steep hillside. The southern lode comprised lodes along the southern flank of the hill: Clymo’s, Jope’s, Kitford’s, Holman’s (all directors of the company) and Caunter Lode (means a lode running at an offset angle to the main lode). These are marked by ruins at Jope’s Shaft (where the well-preserved chimney stands in the valley), Holman’s (where the archway over the tramline remains) and Kitto’s in the far east of the sett. The mines were serviced by the long gone Liskeard & Caradon Railway from a branch of which this view was taken near the West Caradon Mine one October. The site is now part of the UNESCO World Heritage Mining Landscape of Cornwall and West Devon no 1215.
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October 25th, 2017
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Comments (3)
Nisah Cheatham
Congrats! This photo has been featured on the •UNESCO World Heritage Sites• group on FAA/Pixels. ||| Featured images are capped around 30, so you are invited to archive your photo to the "2020 Features!" discussion topic.