Crenver & Wheal Abraham

Overview

Crenver & Wheal Abraham, also called Abraham Consols, was a copper and tin sett in Crowan parish, about a mile and a quarter east of Leedstown in west Cornwall. Worked in two main periods, 1815–1832 and 1845–1870, it amalgamated three smaller workings — Wheal Sarah to the west, Great Drym Consols in the centre, and Oatfield Mine (absorbed around 1864) to the south and east — and produced around 112,500 tons of 7% copper ore and 960 tons of black tin from its Main and North Lodes before closing in 1870.

History

The sett takes its name from the amalgamation of Crenver Mine with Wheal Abraham, worked together as "Abraham Consols" from around 1815. Cornish mining historian H.G. Dines records two distinct working periods: 1815–1832, and a second phase from 1845 to 1870, after which the mine did not reopen. Across those periods the combined workings raised roughly 112,500 tons of 7%-grade copper ore and about 960 tons of black tin; smaller, unquantified amounts of silver and lead were also reported. The enterprise later traded as the Crenver and Wheal Abraham United Mining Co. Ltd. (also recorded as Crenver and Wheal Abraham United Mines Co. Ltd.), which appears in the Parliamentary returns of registered joint-stock mining companies for Cornwall and Devon during the 1860s. Oatfield Mine, immediately to the south and east, was merged into the sett around 1864, adding its own shafts to the combined workings. No source gives a specific proximate cause for the 1870 closure, though it falls within the general contraction of Cornish copper mining through the 1860s and 1870s as cheaper Spanish and American ore undercut Cornish producers.

Geology

The sett worked two named lodes, the Main Lode and the North Lode, developed as a copper-and-tin-bearing vein system across the combined Crenver, Wheal Sarah, Great Drym Consols and Oatfield ground. The host rock is not described in detail. The mine lies toward the eastern margin of the Wendron tin-mining district of west Cornwall — the Northern Mine Research Society's own reference list for this mine includes A.K. Hamilton Jenkin's 1978 survey "Wendron Tin", consistent with that district grouping, though no source directly ties this specific sett's mineralisation to a documented geological mechanism.

Workings

The large sett divided into three sections: Wheal Sarah workings to the west, the former Great Drym Consols workings in the centre, and Oatfield Mine to the south and east. Recorded shafts include Pelly's, Gard's, Yate's, William's, Richard's, Blewitt's, Vivian's, Woolf's, St. George's, Oatfield, Hoskin's, Crenver, and Pressure (also called Trenoweth) Shaft, worked on the Main and North Lodes.

Closure

Working ended in 1870 after the second main phase (1845–1870); Dines records no reopening after that date. No source specifies the immediate cause of closure.

What remains

Unknown.

Related mines

• Oatfield Mine — Oatfield worked the eastern extensions of the same lodes and was absorbed into Crenver and Wheal Abraham about 1864; Oatfield Shaft became one of the combined mine's shafts.
• Tregurtha Downs Mine — The 80-inch pumping engine that Tregurtha Downs was built around had already worked at Crenver and Abraham in Crowan before it was brought here and named St Aubyn in 1883.

What's uncertain

Points where sources disagree or the record could not be settled; both accounts are kept. All open questions in the archive.

• The mine traded as the Crenver and Wheal Abraham United Mining Co. Ltd. (also recorded as Crenver and Wheal Abraham United Mines Co. Ltd.), appearing in Parliamentary returns of registered Cornish and Devon joint-stock mining companies during the 1860s. (uncertain) ²

Recorded claims

Individual factual claims, each attached to the source(s) that support it below. Where sources disagree, both are kept.

• The sett lies in Crowan parish, about 1.25 miles east of Leedstown, and comprises three sections: Wheal Sarah to the west, the former Great Drym Consols workings centrally, and Oatfield Mine to the south and east. ¹
• Worked 1815–1832 and again 1845–1870, the mine produced about 112,500 tons of 7%-grade copper ore and 960 tons of black tin; silver and lead were also reported but without precise figures. ¹
• The Main Lode and North Lode were worked from named shafts including Pelly's, Gard's, Yate's, William's, Richard's, Blewitt's, Vivian's, Woolf's, St. George's, Oatfield, Hoskin's, Crenver, and Pressure (or Trenoweth) Shaft. ¹
• Oatfield Mine was merged into Crenver & Wheal Abraham around 1864. ¹
• The mine traded as the Crenver and Wheal Abraham United Mining Co. Ltd. (also recorded as Crenver and Wheal Abraham United Mines Co. Ltd.), appearing in Parliamentary returns of registered Cornish and Devon joint-stock mining companies during the 1860s. (uncertain) ²
• The Mining Remediation Authority (Coal Authority) holds 9 abandonment-plan sheets across 3 catalogue numbers (OM683, OMR67, OMR97A) for "CRENVER AND WHEAL ABRAHAM UNITED", covering tin and copper ore workings; none currently has a publicly visible scan. ³

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (secondary) Crenver Mine — Buddlepit Mine Database — Mining History Trust (citing Dines, H.G. 1956, The Metalliferous Mining Region of South West England Vol.1)
2. (secondary) Crenver and Wheal Abraham — Mine Directory — Northern Mine Research Society
3. (primary) CRENVER AND WHEAL ABRAHAM UNITED — mine plans catalogue (OM683/OMR67/OMR97A) — British Geological Survey / Mining Remediation Authority (OGC API, mine_plans collection)

Record created: 29 August 2026 · Last researched: 29 August 2026