Kit Tin Mine

Overview

A tiny tin mine a quarter of a mile east-south-east of Sheepstor, thought to be the Ringmoor and Sheepstor Mine of 1799, retried by the Sheepstor and Lyd River company in 1865 and worked by Kit Tin Mines Limited from 1901 to 1904 with a granite wheelhouse, Cornish stamps and three buddles that still stand, whose large yellow diamond tin crystals and a piskie legend are its fame.

History

Kit Tin Mine lies a quarter of a mile east-south-east of Sheepstor, a few yards from the road to Collyton, on private land. The earliest reference is Luxmoore's duchy list of 1799 naming a Ringmoor and Sheepstor Mine, of which Kit Mine is thought to have been part; Lysons in 1822 listed Ringmoor Down Mine as last worked in 1809, and Wood's map of about 1850 shows a Sheepstor tin mine at about this spot. On 6 November 1865 the Sheepstor and Lyd River United Mining Company took the Holditch sett, reporting that the ground had been worked to six fathoms with an adit driven about 100 of the 160 fathoms needed to cut the lode 30 fathoms down before the principal adventurer died; the company's prospectuses of March 1866 failed to place shares and it ceased on 4 September 1866.

Kit Tin Mines Limited, registered on 5 November 1900 to work Kit Mine at Sheepstor and Wheal Benny near Latchley, put most of its money into the Cornish mine. At Sheepstor it worked from 1901 to 1904, building the dressing floor that survives, deepening the old shaft to about 100 feet, digging trial pits and driving the adit a further 80 fathoms; there were nine men in 1902, fifteen in 1903 and ten in 1904. The adit missed the shaft, the tin was poor, and shafts and dressing floor were so far apart that ore went between them by windlass and wheelbarrow. Offered at £5,000, the mine drew an offer of £3,000 that was refused, and the company wound up voluntarily in 1911. Further work was done in 1915 and 1916 and about 1918 and 1919 by the P.F.T. Corporation of London; no output was ever officially recorded, though an oral account has 30 hundredweight of tin carted to Gunnislake by Richard Legassick. In 1925 Charles Barclay found the old shaft 60 to 100 feet deep, the new shaft 25 feet, and the adit collapsed 15 fathoms in.

The mine's ore was the diamond tin of the moor miners, cassiterite in unusually large pale yellow crystals, with some gold. Richardson, who first saw the mine in 1934 with the stamps and the wheel gearing more or less intact, called it minuscule but worth attention because it had all the parts of a mine in a small compass; the stamps were sold for scrap in 1936, the new shaft was filled by the 1950s, and the field of shafts and trials was grassed over by the mid 1970s.

Geology

A tin lode in the granite east of Sheepstor carrying diamond tin, cassiterite in unusually large pale yellow crystals, with some gold.

Geological setting: Veins and Lodes (historical documentary reference)

Workings

Two shafts, the old one deepened to about 100 feet and the new one 25 feet, an adit driven 80 fathoms further in 1901 to 1904 and now collapsed 15 fathoms in, trial pits, and a dressing floor by the road with a granite wheelhouse for a 20-foot by 2-foot wheel driving eight heads of Cornish stamps, three round buddles of about 5.5 metres, a forge and a powder house, fed by a 12-inch piped water supply.

Closure

The 1901 to 1904 working failed on the cost of the adit, the poor tin and the distance from shafts to dressing floor; the company could not sell the mine and wound up in 1911, and trials of 1915 to 1919 were the last.

What remains

The granite wheelhouse, three buddles with their central bosses and the forge survive on the dressing floor, with trees growing in them and part of the wheel recovered from the stream; the shafts were obliterated by the 1970s and the adit still runs water.

The wheelhouse, three round buddles, the forge, a loading platform and the powder house; the field of shafts has been grassed over.

Redevelopment

None; the forge has served as a cattle shed.

Recorded claims

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

• The earliest reference is Luxmoore's 1799 list naming a Ringmoor and Sheepstor Mine, of which Kit Mine is thought to have been part; Lysons listed Ringmoor Down Mine as last worked in 1809. ^1,2
• The Sheepstor and Lyd River United Mining Company took the Holditch sett on 6 November 1865, reporting earlier working to six fathoms and an adit driven about 100 fathoms, and ceased on 4 September 1866. ¹
• Kit Tin Mines Limited was registered on 5 November 1900 to work Kit Mine and Wheal Benny near Latchley, worked at Sheepstor from 1901 to 1904 and wound up voluntarily in 1911. ¹
• There were nine miners in 1902, fifteen in 1903 and ten in 1904. ¹
• Between 1901 and 1904 the dressing floor was built, the old shaft deepened to about 100 feet and the adit driven a further 80 fathoms. ¹
• Further work was done in 1915 and 1916 and about 1918 and 1919 by the P.F.T. Corporation of London; no output was officially recorded. ¹
• The mine's ore was diamond tin, the moor term for unusually large cassiterite crystals, with some gold. ^1,2
• The site of the shafts was cleared in the 1970s. ^1,2
• The granite wheelhouse, three round buddles and the forge survive on the dressing floor; the stamps were sold for scrap in 1936. ¹

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (secondary) Kit Tin Mine — Dartmoor Explorations
2. (secondary) Kit Tin Mine (Ringmoor Down Mine), Sheepstor, West Devon — Mindat

Record created: 18 October 2026 · Last researched: 21 October 2026