Although there is exceptional evidence for
tin-streaming at Gonamena, it was the extraordinary copper riches
found at South Caradon Mine that were responsible for the rapid
development of the Caradon Mining District. Over a period of fifty
years its copper output ranked third in Cornwall.
Engine houses, such as the one at Jope’s Shaft
(1862; subsequently the site of the last man-engine to be built in
Cornwall in 1872) and at Holman’s Shaft (1875), form distinctive
landmarks. The massive waste tips on both sides of the Seaton
valley (West and South Caradon Mine) and on the southern flanks of
Caradon Hill are a striking testament to the scale of operations
beneath the moorland landscape. The mine’s well-preserved cobbled
dressing floor can still be seen in the valley floor.
