Great Sheba Consols

Overview

A copper mine at Old Mill in Stoke Climsland parish, opened in 1838 as Great Wheal Martha Consols, restarted in 1851 as Great Sheba Consols under a Duchy of Cornwall lease, and worked under several names until 1867. Its listed chimney still stands.

History

The mine was first opened in 1838 by George Alfred Muskets and worked as Great Wheal Martha Consols. It was set to work again in 1851 as Great Sheba Consols, held from the Duke of Cornwall on a 21-year lease at a royalty of one fifteenth, and in 1856 was worked by Henry Vetcher of Exeter and others, with Nicholas Yelland as agent on the mine and Thomas Richards of Liskeard as managing agent. By then it had three shafts, the deepest 50 fathoms, with levels every ten fathoms from 20 to 50 driven east and west and tribute pitches set in each. About 41 tons of copper ore were broken from every fathom of lode, and the mine was drained by a water-wheel 40 feet across. The 1,024 shares had been paid up to £21 15s each and no dividend had been declared. Ore went to Calstock quay, five miles away.

Under a variety of names and owners, among them Wheal Sheba, Trehill Mine and West Wheal Martha, the mine worked copper from 1843 to 1867. A plan of the workings, filed as Sheba Consols Great or Wheal Martha West, carries an abandonment date of 1855.

Geology

A lode dipping north, made up of spar, mundic, caple and copper ore.

Workings

Three shafts by 1856: Vetcher's shaft 18 fathoms deep, the engine shaft 40 fathoms and the north shaft 50 fathoms, with levels at 20, 30, 40 and 50 fathoms. A water-wheel 40 feet in diameter drained the mine.

Closure

Copper working ended in 1867.

What remains

A mid-19th-century chimney stands, listed at Grade II; the adjoining engine house survives only as fragments.

A circular chimney of roughly coursed slate stone, tapering to a red brick top with a moulded capping.

Redevelopment

Unknown.

Related mines

• New Consols Mine — Wheal Sheba was also known as West Wheal Martha; Wheal Martha was the early name of New Consols, in the same parish.

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 was first opened in 1838 by George Alfred Muskets as Great Wheal Martha Consols and set to work again in 1851 as Great Sheba Consols. (disputed) ¹
• Wheal Sheba worked copper from 1843 to 1867 under a variety of names and ownerships. (disputed) ²

Recorded claims

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

• The mine was first opened in 1838 by George Alfred Muskets as Great Wheal Martha Consols and set to work again in 1851 as Great Sheba Consols. (disputed) ¹
• Wheal Sheba worked copper from 1843 to 1867 under a variety of names and ownerships. (disputed) ²
• In 1856 it was held from the Duke of Cornwall on a 21-year lease from 1851 at a royalty of 1/15th. ¹
• In 1856 the north shaft was 50 fathoms deep and the mine was drained by a 40-foot water-wheel. ¹
• A deposited plan of Sheba Consols Great or Wheal Martha West records copper ore and an abandonment date of 1855. ³
• A mid-19th-century chimney at Wheal Sheba was listed at Grade II on 11 May 1989. ²

Sources

1. (secondary) 1856 Mines in Devon and Cornwall — Grace's Guide
2. (secondary) Chimney at Wheal Sheba (NGR SX 3714 7365), Stokeclimsland (Historic England list entry 1220593) — British Listed Buildings
3. (primary) BGS mine plan: Sheba Consols Great or Wheal Martha West Kelly Hole (copper ore, abandoned 1855) — British Geological Survey / Mining Remediation Authority

Record created: 19 October 2026 · Last researched: 19 October 2026