Mining in Cornwall Database - The Districts

Pysk, Sten ha Cober (Fish, Tin and Copper) - a Cornish Lament

There are eleven main metalliferous areas in Cornwall. A section dedicated to each area has been set up to complement the successful World Heritage Site Bid of 14th July 2006. Cornwall in Focus is currently revisiting these areas as well as researching their past in order to set up a comprehensive database of the mines of Cornwall. This mammoth task is well underway with over 80 dedicated pages completed so far on the major mines of Cornwall. Each page describes the position of the mining sett, the names of the shafts and in some cases the myriad of lodes of ore worked. Where possible a hyperlink to Google Map shows its location. In many cases there are still visible remains to be seen and photographs are available.

Click the hyperlinks below to be re-directed. Each section expanding to name and describe the chief mines of that district.

The areas in question are (from west to east):

• Penwith Area
• St. Ives Area
• Wendron Area
• Camborne and Crowan
• Redruth and Illogan
• St. Agnes Area
• Gwennap, St Day and the Carnon Valley
• St. Austell Area
• Wadebridge Area
• Caradon Mining District
• Tamar Valley Mining District

A taste of what it was like can be found at Geevor Mine at Pendeen; On film at the BBC's Nation on Film and also in the excellent Mining in Cornwall Series by J.H. Trounson & L.J. Bullen. What an epitaph to the thousands of men, women and children who toiled long hours in the 19th/20th centuries to 'win' that tin in the first place!. Can it still be said that: At the bottom of every hole in the ground in the world there is a Cornishman'?

There are still several industrial relics left from the heyday of mining and the Mineral Tramways Project aims to provide a network of multi-use trails - such as the Great Flat Lode trail and the Coast to Coast trail - for recreation and interested members of the public.