Hawkmoor Mine

Overview

A copper and tin mine on the Cornish bank of the Tamar at Gunnislake, adjoining Devon Great Consols and Bedford United on the course of their lodes, opened in 1846 and worked by the Hawkmoor Mining Company from 1848 with four shafts and water power, which sold 3,559 tons of copper ore between 1852 and 1866 and was taken into Clitters United in 1900.

History

Hawkmoor Mine lay in the township and parish of Calstock at Gunnislake, exactly on the county boundary, immediately adjoining Devon Great Consols and Bedford United and west of them on the banks of the Tamar, on the course of the lodes then paying so well in Bedford United. Calstock Quay was a mile off and Tavistock four miles. The ground was clay-slate dipping east, the nearest granite five miles away at Callington. The mine was first opened in 1846 by a company in Cornwall and Devon, and from a deed of 30 June 1848 was worked by the Hawkmoor Mining Company on the cost-book system, in 8,192 shares of £1 2s, under a 21-year lease from the Rev. H. W. Beauford of St Neots at royalties of a fifteenth and a twentieth.

Five lodes were known on the sett: the Jack Thomas lode through part of it northward, the Tavistock lode through its whole length, the Hawkmoor main lode east and west dipping north with copper ore of good quality, the Marquis lode dipping south, and the Delves Kitchin lode, with the Devon Great Consols great crosscourse and smaller crosscourses. By the end of 1855 four shafts had been sunk: the Eastern to 42 fathoms and still sinking, with the 10, 20 and 30-fathom levels driven 190 fathoms east and west; the Miner's to 43 fathoms with 70 fathoms of levels; Graham's to 47 fathoms with 140 fathoms of levels; and the Western to 17 fathoms. Two water-wheels drew water and a third drew stuff and crushed ore. The produce was £665 of copper ore in 1852, £530 and £44 of tin in 1853, £1,428 in 1854 and £2,312 in 1855, against £13,509 spent to October 1855 and calls of 3s 6d to 7s a share each year. The purser was Ponsford Fisher of Plymouth, the captain James Richards of Gunnislake and the secretary Samuel Cardozo in Old Broad Street.

Over its working from 1852 to 1866 the mine sold 3,559 tons of copper ore averaging six per cent, 33 tons of black tin between 1853 and 1866 and 48 tons of pyrite in 1860. The abandonment plan of Hawkmoor and Hawkmoor West is dated 1863 and the database working ends in 1867; a Hawkmoor West tungsten and tin trial was driven in the 1870s and 1880s, and in 1900 Hawkmoor became part of Clitters United.

Geology

Five east-west lodes in clay-slate dipping east on the Cornish bank of the Tamar, the Tavistock, Hawkmoor main, Marquis, Jack Thomas and Delves Kitchin lodes, crossed by the Devon Great Consols great crosscourse; the nearest granite is at Callington.

Geological setting: Veins and Lodes (historical documentary reference)

Workings

Four shafts by 1855, the Eastern (42 fathoms), Miner's (43), Graham's (47) and Western (17), with levels at 10, 20 and 30 fathoms driven some 400 fathoms in all and winzes between them, worked and drained by two water-wheels with a third for drawing and crushing.

Closure

Abandoned about 1863 to 1867 after fourteen years of small returns and yearly calls; the sett was taken into Clitters United in 1900.

What remains

Unknown.

Redevelopment

Unknown.

Related mines

• Bedford United Mine — Hawkmoor adjoined Bedford United on the course of the same lodes, the Tavistock and Marquis lodes running through both setts.
• Gunnislake Clitters Mine — Hawkmoor was taken into Clitters United in 1900, the company that worked Gunnislake Clitters from 1900 to 1908.

What's uncertain

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

• Worked from 1844 to 1867. (disputed) ²

Recorded claims

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

• Hawkmoor Mine is in Calstock parish at Gunnislake, immediately adjoining Devon Great Consols and Bedford United on the course of their lodes, west of them on the banks of the Tamar, exactly on the county division. ¹
• The mine was first opened in 1846 by a company in Cornwall and Devon, and from a deed of 30 June 1848 was worked by the Hawkmoor Mining Company. ¹
• Worked from 1844 to 1867. (disputed) ²
• The mine was held under a 21-year lease from 1848 at royalties of one fifteenth and one twentieth, granted by the Rev. H. W. Beauford of St Neots. ¹
• Five lodes were known on the sett: the Jack Thomas, Tavistock, Hawkmoor main, Marquis and Delves Kitchin lodes, with the Devon Great Consols great crosscourse. ¹
• By late 1855 the Eastern shaft was 42 fathoms deep and sinking, the Miner's 43, Graham's 47 and the Western 17, with levels at 10, 20 and 30 fathoms. ¹
• The mine was worked and drained by water power, two wheels drawing water and a third drawing stuff and crushing ore. ¹
• The produce was £665 of copper ore in 1852, £530 of copper and £44 of tin in 1853, £1,428 in 1854 and £2,312 in 1855. ¹
• The company was on the cost-book system in 8,192 shares of £1 2s, with £13,509 spent to October 1855; the purser was Ponsford Fisher of Plymouth, the captain James Richards of Gunnislake and the secretary Samuel Cardozo. ¹
• Between 1852 and 1866 the mine sold 3,559 tons of copper ore averaging six per cent, with 33 tons of black tin from 1853 to 1866 and 48 tons of pyrite in 1860. ²
• The abandonment plan of Hawkmoor and Hawkmoor West, tin and copper ores, is dated 1863. ³
• In 1900 Hawkmoor became part of Clitters United. ²

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (secondary) 1856 Mines in Devon and Cornwall — Grace's Guide
2. (secondary) Hawkmoor Mine (Buddlepit Mine Database) — Buddlepit
3. (primary) BGS mine plan: Hawkmoor and Hawkmoor West, tin and copper ores, abandoned 1863 — British Geological Survey
4. (secondary) Index of articles on Cornwall published by NMRS — Northern Mine Research Society

Record created: 19 October 2026 · Last researched: 21 October 2026