At the end of the 19th Century students at the Camborne School
of Mines much of their time doing practical mining and tin
dressing work in the local tin mines. The industry was almost in
terminal decline and the surviving mines were falling behind
technically. This was hardly ideal from the instruction point of
view. The only real solution was for the College to have its own
underground mine.
In 1897, the School took over the abandoned eastern part of the
South Condurrow Mine around Engine Shaft. This offered the
opportunity to work both William's Lode and the Great Flat Lode
down to 400 feet from surface. No pumping was necessary as all
water in the mine drained into the then working Grenville mine to
the south. Between 1897 and 1906 the mine was almost totally
re-equipped based on what was then the best of Cornish mining and
milling practice. Engine Shaft and William's Shafts were
re-equipped, the underground workings cleared and a number of
surface building erected including a complete modern full-scale
tin dressing plant, survey office, workshops, and lecture rooms.
The original Count House (mine offices) and changehouse facilities
were retained. The mine was operated semi-commercially and
produced tin on a regular basis, employing some 10-20 men in
additional to the college teaching staff. Much of the production
work was carried out by students. In 1901, it was re-named King
Edward Mine.
Cornish mines, due conservatism to a lack of cash, were slow to
adopt the mechanised dressing equipment and methods which was
developed at the end of the 19th Century. Most dressing plants of
that period merely allowed the pulp coming from the Cornish stamps
to settle in long launders from where it was dug out for final
treatment in buddles and kieves - a desperately labour intensive
and inefficient process. Dolcoath Mine was probably the most
progressive mine in the county and the first Californian stamps
were erected there around 1892 to be followed by the first vanners
and shaking tables about 1898. The Mill at King Edward Mine was
one of the first Cornish dressing plant to be designed from new to
utilise this new equipment.
The post-war slump in 1921 saw the closure of Wheal Grenville
which resulted in the flooding of King Edward Mine. Mining
operations were transferred, albeit on a far smaller scale, to the
adjacent Great Condurrow Mine, to the north, a small portion of
which was above the natural drainage level. This underground
facility is used by the Camborne School of Mines to this day.
Over the years as mining education became more technical, the
tin dressing machinery was replaced with pilot scale equipment. In
1974 the pilot plant was transferred to the new School of Mines
building at Pool and the 'mill complex' part of the site which
included the mill, stamps, mill engine house, boiler house and the
calciner had been largely stripped of their equipment and were no
longer required for educational purposes.
In 1987 a group was formed with a view to turning the mill
complex into a museum. The objectives of the group can be
summarised as follows:
i) To preserve the buildings and the site, which is of
significant historical importance.
ii) To re-equip the mill to working condition using, where
possible, rescued and preserved equipment which itself is of
historical interest.
iii) To establish a small museum telling the story of KEM, the
local "Flat Lode" mining area, tin dressing etc.
iv) To rescue and to preserve industrial plant and equipment
relevant to Cornish industry.
Supported by the School of Mines a team of volunteers, mainly
drawn from the Carn Brea Mining Society, have spent in excess of
10,000 hours on the project. An enormous amount of material and
equipment has been loaned or donated and the mill has been largely
returned to a working condition much as it would have been in the
early years of the 20th century. King Edward Mine is the oldest
complete mining site left in Cornwall. Whilst designed for
education purposes it demonstrates, on a small scale, all that
would have been found on the best Cornish mine at the turn of the
century. This has been recognised by English Heritage who have
listed the whole site Grade II*.
In mid-2000 the Trevithick Trust leased the
"museum/mill" part of the site from the Camborne School
of Mines. After major building repairs, funded by a European grant
as part of the Mineral Tramways Project, the site was officially
opened to the public on the 28th April 2002. In 2005 the lease
reverted to Kerrier District Council with
The Trevithick Society and
Carn Brea Mining Society setting up a joint company, King
Edward Mine Ltd to carry on running the site as a museum. Today the visitor can
see the newly re-collared Engine shaft and a small museum in what
was the mill engine room which tells the story of the site, mining
techniques and tin dressing, as well as providing an introduction
to the human side of the site. The mine was intensively
photographed by the great Cornish photographer J.C. Burrow
throughout its construction and development period and is
certainly the most photographed mine of its size in Cornwall. Many
of these photographs are used in the museum displays. A guided
tour of the mill is also available. Here can be seen the
magnificent Californian Stamps (erected in 1901) which are the
only full size set in existence in the U.K. and probably in
Europe. They are complete and in original condition. Much of the
machinery in the mill is demonstrated working.
Elsewhere on the site, but not currently open to the public
are:
