St. Agnes Mining District
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[location map]
[historic landscapes]
[WHS GIS mapping] |
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Centred on the small town of
St Agnes, this elongated and
predominantly coastal mining district has been formed by the
contact between the granite underlying St. Agnes Beacon - an
outlier of the Carn Brea boss - and the complex metamorphosed
country rock which surrounds and overlies it. To the west and
close to the granite contact, it includes a group of ancient tin
mines which stretch from the dramatic openwork of Wheal Luna
overlooking Trevaunance Cove through Seal Hole and Polberro
towards St. Agnes Head. To the south-west lies Wheal Coates, one
of the best known Cornish mine sites, and the important copper
mines of Wheal Charlotte and the Porthtowan mines - most notably
Tywarnhayle/United Hills and the Towan group. Wheal Kitty and
Penhalls dominate the west of Trevaunance Cove, whilst Blue Hills
occupies the seaward end of the nearby Trevellas Coombe, where tin
stamps and small-scale dressing floors have now been restored to
working order.
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The cliffs westward to Perranporth were extensively worked by
small, and in many cases ancient mines such as Wheal Ocean and
Wheal Prudence, the best known of these being in the geologically
complex area of Cligga Head. Copper mines again dominate the
clifftops eastwards from here through Perran St. George to Droskyn
Point, overlooking Perran Sands. A number of mines including Wheal
Leisure worked the area now occupied by Perranporth, though there
is almost nothing to see of them today. Dune movement has obscured
much of the evidence for Wheal Ramoth and Wheal Vlow to the north,
whilst other developments have left little of the once-important
workings on the Perran Iron Lode and the Penhale mines. Inland,
other once-important groups of mines operated around Goonhavern,
Chiverton and Wheal Rose.
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Although the majority of mining activity was confined to the
coast, the area inland has changed dramatically during the last
two centuries, the huge areas of downland which formerly stretched
almost all the way to
Truro and
Redruth having been taken under
the plough to feed a rapidly-expanding and increasingly urban
population. To the south of St. Agnes around Goonbell and Mount
Hawke, both originally miners' settlements, the patchwork of small
fields surrounding them testify to their origins as miners'
smallholdings.
St. Agnes is the principal settlement of this district
(Perranporth and Porthtowan were developed during the last century
as holiday destinations, whilst Mount Hawke has grown considerably
during recent decades). The town grew up with the mining district
and has two separate foci - the first, centred on its church,
stretches inland towards the Beacon and Goonbell; the second, at
the seaward end of Trevaunance Coombe, developed around the series
of small harbours which were constructed against the cliffs to the
west of the beach to serve the mines of the district. The
surrounding area is characterised by scatters of former miners'
cottages within an essentially rural landscape. Blackwater and
Goonhavern, former mining hamlets which have been enlarged in
recent years, fringe the district to the south and east.
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Places
to Visit
Blue Hills Tin Streams - Blue Hills tin streaming works is
nestled at the seaward end of the Trevellas Valley near St Agnes
on the north coast of Cornwall. |
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