Drakewalls Mine

Overview

A tin mine at the top of Gunnislake Hill in the Tamar Valley, first worked as a long open cutting, or 'gunnis', along a lode that came up to the surface. It saw every stage of Cornish tin working from medieval streaming to 19th-century underground mining, and in the 1860s it was one of the richest tin mines in the county. Men were refused work for joining a union in 1866, and in 1889 two miners buried by running sand were dug out alive after a rescue lasting several days. It closed for the last time in about 1910.

History

Drakewalls, or Drake's Wall, worked a tin lode that came up to the surface, so it was one of the earliest mines at work in East Cornwall, and during the 18th century it was worked in a long open cutting to a considerable depth. An advertisement of 1793 described it as worked for upwards of a century and never known to fail. It also yielded copper, wolfram, arsenic, molybdenum, lead and silver, and in 1844 it saw the first use of Robert Oxland's method for separating wolfram from tin.

The mine employed 398 people in 1859. In the 1860s and early 1870s, as D.B. Barton put it, it sold £218,000 worth of black tin in seventeen years without sinking the mine so much as a fathom. In 1866 the management refused work to members of a newly formed union, and the men struck; they rode a man who was willing to go below on a rail through Gunnislake, and the dispute ended only with troops and miners brought from other districts. From 1872 the East Cornwall Mineral Railway passed the mine on its way to the quays at Calstock.

Employment fell to 130 in 1884 and about 100 in the 1890s under Moses Bawden. In February 1889 two miners were buried by sand while filling a worked-out stope and were rescued alive (see Disasters, below). The company went into liquidation in 1897-98. John Taylor and Sons reopened the mine in 1901, spending nearly two years pumping it dry, but it closed again in 1905, worked briefly in 1909-10, and was down to a handful of men by 1918.

Geology

A tin lode in the Gunnislake granite district that came up to the surface; it also carried copper, wolfram, arsenic, molybdenum, lead and silver.

Geological setting: Veins and Lodes (well documented example)

Workings

A long open cutting, the 'gunnis', later extended underground; a pumping engine house over the shaft now labelled Matthew's; sidings on the East Cornwall Mineral Railway from 1872.

Closure

Main working ended in 1905 after the 1901 reopening; worked again in 1909-10, and a few men were still returned in 1908 and 1918.

What remains

The stabilised ruins of the engine house and other buildings stand beside the Tamar Valley Centre, managed by Cornwall Council and open to the public.

Engine house, chimney and ruined surface buildings; the gunnis itself was filled in in the 1950s.

Redevelopment

None known; the ruins are managed by Cornwall Council and open to the public, next to the Tamar Valley Centre.

Disasters & major incidents

• Drakewalls Mine Entombment and Rescue, 1889
  5 February 1889 · Other · 0 fatalities
  Two miners filling a worked-out area at Drakewalls Mine were buried when the sand they were releasing ran too fast. After two nights of failed attempts, a second rescue led by the pitman Thomas Chapman blasted a channel down to them with small charges of dynamite, and both were pulled out alive at midnight after food and water had been lowered 18 fathoms to them.

What's uncertain

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

• It was worked from the 11th century to 1905 (also 1909-10), originally from a long gunnis or open cutting. (uncertain) ^2,3

Recorded claims

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

• Drakewalls saw all stages of tin production: streaming from medieval times, openworks of the 16th century, and true mining in the later 18th and 19th centuries. ¹
• It was worked from the 11th century to 1905 (also 1909-10), originally from a long gunnis or open cutting. (uncertain) ^2,3
• In the 1860s and early 1870s Drakewalls sold £218,000 worth of black tin in seventeen years without sinking the mine a fathom (Barton). ³
• The mine employed 398 people in 1859, 350 in 1861, 130 in 1884 and 112 in 1895. ²
• In 1866 men connected with a newly formed union were refused work; the men struck, and the dispute ended with troops and miners from other areas. ^2,4
• In 1844 Dr Robert Oxland's method for separating wolfram from tin was first used here. ²
• Reopened by John Taylor & Sons in 1901 after nearly two years' pumping, it closed for the last time in 1910. ^2,4
• An abandonment plan of Drakewalls Mine survives. ⁵

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (secondary) Mining in Calstock Parish — Calstock Parish Archive
2. (secondary) Drakewalls Mine, Cornwall — Cornwall Calling
3. (secondary) The East Cornwall Mineral Railway - Part 2 — Roger Farnworth (citing D.B. Barton)
4. (observational) Random Mine of the Day: Drakewalls Mine Engine House — bunn (LiveJournal)
5. (primary) BGS / Mining Remediation Authority mine plans: DRAKEWALLS MINE — British Geological Survey / Mining Remediation Authority

Record created: 18 September 2026 · Last researched: 18 September 2026