Herm Silver Mine

Location	Rosaire and Valley Panto, Herm, Bailiwick of Guernsey, herm — 49.4670, -2.4500 (approximate)
Commodities	Silver, Copper, Lead
Type	Metal
Worked	1837–1838
Maximum depth	Unknown.
Operators	Herm Mining Company (1837–1838), John Hunt (1837–1838)

Overview

A short-lived silver, lead and copper venture on the island of Herm, off Guernsey: the Cornish mining engineer John Hunt formed the Herm Mining Company in 1837 to work ground at Rosaire and Valley Panto, but finance never came and the workings stopped the next year.

History

John Hunt, a Cornish mining engineer, is said to have found silver ore on both Sark and Herm around 1833, and in 1834 he took a licence to search for silver on Sark, where the Port Gorey mine was later worked. In 1837 he formed the Herm Mining Company to mine silver, lead and copper in the Rosaire and Valley Panto areas of Herm. Metallic ores said to come from the Herm mine were exhibited at his offices in Guernsey, but the finance he sought was not forthcoming, and the workings ceased the following year. Of the 19th-century attempts to mine silver commercially in the Bailiwick, only the Sark mine ever produced ore. In the same years most of Herm's inhabitants were quarrymen working its new granite quarries.

Geology

Unknown.

Workings

Unknown.

Closure

The workings ceased in 1838, the year after the company's formation, for want of finance.

What remains

Unknown.

Redevelopment

Unknown.

Nearby mines

Sark's Hope Silver Mine — 5.2 miles (8.3 km) SE, Sark

Straight-line distance, within 9 miles (15 km). Show on the map.

Recorded claims

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

John Hunt, a Cornish mining engineer, discovered the presence of silver ore on Sark and Herm around 1833. ¹
In 1837 John Hunt formed the Herm Mining Company to mine silver, lead and copper in the Rosaire and Valley Panto areas of Herm. ²
Ores said to come from the Herm mine were exhibited at Hunt's Guernsey offices, but finance was not forthcoming and the workings ceased the following year. ²

Photographs & further reading

Silver Mining in the Channel Islands, Sark and Herm (reference)

A short account of John Hunt's discovery of silver ore on Sark and Herm around 1833.

View source

Sources

(secondary) Silver Mining in the Channel Islands, Sark and Herm — Metal Detecting UK
(secondary) Silver mining in Sark (from Silver in the Channel Islands, Cohen and du Quesne Bird) — Jerripedia / theislandwiki
(secondary) Wikipedia: Herm — Wikipedia

Record created: 16 October 2026 · Last researched: 16 October 2026