Giew Mine

Overview

A tin mine on the western flank of Trink Hill in Towednack parish, between St Ives and Penzance, worked from the eighteenth century under several names. Its 1870s engine house over Frank's shaft survives; taken into St Ives Consolidated Mines in 1908, the Giew section worked on after the company failed and for a time was the only working mine in Cornwall, closing in 1923.

History

Giew Mine lies on the western flank of Trink Hill near Cripplesease, in Towednack parish, beside the road from St Ives to Penzance. In the 1700s it was known as Gehue Bounds, and it has been worked since the mid-eighteenth century under several names, among them Gew, Trink and Reeth Consols; it was once one of the Wheal Reath Consols group.

From about 1870 it was reworked as South Providence. A 50-inch pumping engine was put up over Frank's shaft, whose sinking had begun in the early 1860s; the shaft was narrow, crooked and costly to keep. The engine house carries the initials SP and a date, read as 1871 by one account and 1874 by the listing.

In 1907-08 St Ives Consolidated Mines Ltd took Giew into a group with St Ives Consols, Wheal Trenwith, Georgia and Rosewall Hill. New plant was installed, with Californian stamps and a Brunton calciner, and the engine house was turned into an ore bin. In January 1913 a miner, John Williams, was killed when weak ground beside a stope gave way under old workings. The war took much of the workforce and the company was liquidated in 1915, but the Giew section kept working, under the Thermo Electric Corporation after the war, and for a short time was the only working mine in Cornwall. It closed in 1923.

A reopening was considered in 1927, and Baltrick Tin diamond-drilled the ground in 1965-67, but the results were poor.

Geology

Unknown.

Workings

Frank's shaft, pumped by a 50-inch engine from the 1870s and later used for winding; Californian stamps and a Brunton calciner in the last working, with a square calciner chimney.

Closure

The parent company, St Ives Consolidated Mines, was liquidated in 1915 after the war took its workforce; the Giew section worked on until 1923. Reopening was considered in 1927 and the ground was drilled in 1965-67, without result.

What remains

The engine house and the walls of its boiler house stand beside the road, listed Grade II in 1988 and conserved and repointed in the mid-1990s; Frank's shaft has been concreted over.

The three-storey granite engine house with its SP datestone and some original iron windows, the boiler house walls, foundations of the Californian stamps and processing plant, and the square calciner chimney.

Redevelopment

Unknown.

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 engine house was erected in 1871. (disputed) ²
• The engine house bears a datestone of 1874 with the initials SP. (disputed) ³
• Frank's shaft is 1,464 feet deep. (disputed) ²
• Frank's shaft is 225 metres deep. (disputed) ⁶

Recorded claims

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

• The mine was known as Gehue Bounds in the 1700s and later as South Providence. ^1,2
• The engine house was erected in 1871. (disputed) ²
• The engine house bears a datestone of 1874 with the initials SP. (disputed) ³
• St Ives Consolidated Mines Ltd took over the mine in 1907-08. ^1,2,4
• The Giew section worked until 1923 and for a short time was the only working mine in Cornwall. ^1,2,5
• Frank's shaft is 1,464 feet deep. (disputed) ²
• Frank's shaft is 225 metres deep. (disputed) ⁶
• Baltrick Tin Ltd diamond-drilled the mine in 1965-67 with poor results. ¹
• The engine house is listed Grade II. ³

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (secondary) NMRS: Giew Mine — Northern Mine Research Society
2. (secondary) Cornish Mine Images: Giew Mine — Cornish Mine Images
3. (primary) Historic England list entry 1144361: Engine house and associated buildings at SW 500372, Towednack — British Listed Buildings (Historic England list entry)
4. (primary) NMRS Coal Mining Accidents and Deaths: John Williams, Giew, 7 January 1913 — Northern Mine Research Society
5. (primary) BGS / Mining Remediation Authority mine plan: Giew (tin ore), abandoned 1 February 1923 — British Geological Survey
6. (observational) Derelict Places: Giew Mine, St Ives, Cornwall, various dates from 1966 to 1994 — Derelict Places

Record created: 11 October 2026 · Last researched: 11 October 2026