Great Crinnis Mine

Overview

A coastal copper mine at Carlyon Bay, east of St Austell, that went from abandoned workings reportedly 'not worth a pipe of tobacco' to one of Cornwall's richest copper mines after Joshua Rowe struck rich ore in 1811, and was later worked again for copper, lead and silver.

History

Great Crinnis, on the coast about two miles south-east of St Austell, had earlier been known as Wheal Fanny and later Old Crinnis, and was producing copper ore by 1809. That year Joshua Rowe of Torpoint, a rope, paint and varnish manufacturer, took up the abandoned workings, which the experienced Captain James Michael had reportedly dismissed as 'not worth a pipe of tobacco'. Early results were poor and his fellow adventurers stopped paying their share, but in 1811, after he had spent several hundred pounds opening new ground, Rowe struck an exceptionally rich body of copper ore only about ten fathoms deep. The former adventurers tried to claim their share; Rowe fought them in the courts, reportedly spending about £20,000, and won. Between 1811 and May 1816 the mine raised about 39,246 tons of copper ore, sold for about £298,516, and within four or five years it made a clear profit of about £168,000; Alderman Matthew Wood, later Lord Mayor of London, held 24 of its 64 shares and received £24,098 between May 1813 and December 1814. As many as 700 people worked there at its busiest. The miners followed the ore down quickly, from under 14 fathoms in 1811 to about 50 fathoms by 1815–16, pumping first with a water engine, from 1814 with a 24-inch fire engine and from May 1816 with a Woolf engine of about 54 inches. Its success drew rivals: Wheal Regent opened in the Crinnis Woods within months, and in 1817 the Crinnis Great Lode was cut at neighbouring Cuddra. Crinnis recorded 38,330 tons of copper ore in 1815–33. The mine was revived under a company formed in 1852 and, as Great Crinnis, returned 3,758 tons of copper ore in 1854–69 and 1877, with lead ore, silver and pyrite; as Great Crinnis and Carlyon it raised 408 tons of copper ore and 29.5 tons of silver ore in 1878–81, one of the most important of the Cornish mines worked chiefly for silver in those years.

Geology

The copper came from the Crinnis Great Lode, reported as 17 to 24 feet wide in its richest part. The ore was argentiferous enough for the mine to work chiefly for silver in 1878–81, and it also yielded galena and pyrite, with small amounts of sphalerite taken from the cliff workings in the early 20th century. Minerals recorded from the mine include chalcopyrite, bornite, chalcocite, native copper, native silver, silver-bearing galena, sphalerite and tetrahedrite-group minerals, and it is a recorded locality for the rare phosphate childrenite.

Geological setting: Veins and Lodes (well documented example)

Workings

Two lodes were worked, cropping out in the cliffs near Fanny's Beach, the first beach west of Crinnis Beach, with shafts inland of Gull Island, among them Fanny's Shaft, and adits in the cliffs; the workings extended out under the sea, by one account for about two miles beneath it and three miles inland. The richest ore came from a small part of the central lode at shallow depth, and by 1815–16 the miners were working at about 50 fathoms, pumped successively by a water engine, a 24-inch fire engine and a 54-inch Woolf engine.

Closure

Recorded output ends with Great Crinnis and Carlyon's copper and silver ore of 1878–81; by 1887 all lead and silver mining in Cornwall had ceased. Small amounts of zinc blende were taken from the cliff workings early in the 20th century.

What remains

Part of the mine lies under the grounds of the Carlyon Bay Hotel. Fanny's Shaft survives, cordoned off with wire netting, and adits of the mine can be seen in the cliffs. Old dumps on the golf course mark the lodes.

Fanny's Shaft, fenced with wire netting, and adits in the cliffs near Fanny's Beach.

Redevelopment

Part of the site is covered by the grounds of the Carlyon Bay Hotel.

Nearby mines

• Carclaze Pit — 3.7 km NW
• Fowey Consols — 4.9 km NE
• Wheal Martyn China Clay Works — 5.3 km N
• South Polgooth Mine — 6.8 km W
• Ventonwyn Mine — 9.2 km W

Straight-line distance, within 15 km. Show on the map.

People

• Joshua Rowe · proprietor, from 1809 — Torpoint manufacturer who reopened the abandoned mine in 1809 and struck rich copper in 1811.
• Matthew Wood · shareholder, 1813–1814 — Held 24 of the 64 shares and received £24,098 in May 1813–December 1814; later Lord Mayor of London.

What's uncertain

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

• A later account put the copper ore raised in 1803–28 at about £1,400,000, with profits of about £400,000, from a small part of a central lode 17 to 24 feet wide; the figures were reported as estimates. (uncertain) ¹
• Mindat records two lodes cropping out in the cliffs, marked by old dumps on the golf course; the mine was reputed to have raised over 70,000 tons of copper ore before 1830 from shallow depth, with only small amounts later, and closed in 1881. (uncertain) ⁴

Recorded claims

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

• Joshua Rowe of Torpoint became involved in the abandoned mine in 1809; Captain James Michael reportedly dismissed the workings as 'not worth a pipe of tobacco'. ¹
• In 1811 Rowe struck an exceptionally rich body of copper ore about ten fathoms deep, then fought former adventurers in the courts at a reported cost of about £20,000, and won. ¹
• Between 1811 and May 1816 the mine raised about 39,246 tons of copper ore, sold for about £298,516, and as many as 700 people worked there at its busiest. ¹
• Alderman Matthew Wood, later Lord Mayor of London, held 24 of the mine's 64 shares and received £24,098 between May 1813 and December 1814. ¹
• The mine relied on a water engine until midsummer 1814, then a 24-inch fire engine, and from May 1816 a Woolf engine of about 54 inches. ¹
• Crinnis returned 38,330 tons of 5.25% copper ore in 1815–33; Great Crinnis 3,758 tons of 6% copper ore in 1854–69 and 1877, with 182 tons of lead ore, 950 oz of silver and 572 tons of pyrite in 1854–60. ²
• As Great Crinnis and Carlyon the mine raised 408 tons of 9% copper ore and 29.5 tons of silver ore in 1878–81, and was one of the most important Cornish mines worked chiefly for silver in those years. ²
• A later account put the copper ore raised in 1803–28 at about £1,400,000, with profits of about £400,000, from a small part of a central lode 17 to 24 feet wide; the figures were reported as estimates. (uncertain) ¹
• In April 1817 the Crinnis Great Lode was reported cut at neighbouring Cuddra Mine. ¹
• Part of the mine is covered by the grounds of the Carlyon Bay Hotel, and plans show shafts inland of Gull Island. ²
• The Mining Remediation Authority holds an abandonment plan of Crinnis and Carlyon Consolidated (OM1325) in copper ore. ³
• Mindat records two lodes cropping out in the cliffs, marked by old dumps on the golf course; the mine was reputed to have raised over 70,000 tons of copper ore before 1830 from shallow depth, with only small amounts later, and closed in 1881. (uncertain) ⁴

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (secondary) Joshua Rowe and the Great Crinnis Copper Mine 1809 (Lyndon Allen, 2026) — Charlestown Tours
2. (secondary) Great Crinnis Mine, St Austell Cornwall — Cornwall Calling
3. (primary) Crinnis and Carylon Consolidated Great (abandonment plan OM1325) — British Geological Survey / Mining Remediation Authority
4. (secondary) Crinnis Mine (Great Crinnis Mine; Carlyon Consolidated Mine), Carlyon Bay — Mindat

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