Par Consols

Overview

J. T. Treffry's copper mine on the high ground north-west of Par harbour, linked to it by a steam-hauled incline from 1841, where the first horizontal whim engine in Cornwall was set to work in 1843.

History

Par Consols was a copper mine of J. T. Treffry on high ground north-west of Par harbour, in the parish of St Blazey, in a district whose mines were said in 1856 to have yielded £5,000,000 of copper ore that century. Treffry linked it to the harbour by an inclined-plane tramway 870 feet long at 1 in 7, opened in 1841; most traffic ran downhill, but coal had to be hauled up and no leat could reach the site, so the incline was worked by a steam engine rather than a waterwheel. Treffry's principal mining agent, Captain Puckey of St Blazey, managed it.

In 1843 Sims and West erected at Par Consols the first horizontal whim engine in Cornwall, forerunner of the steam winding engines of later years, and in 1846 the first steam capstan was installed here. Also in 1843 Captain Puckey presented a gold-laced hat to the timberman Simon Uren, before three hundred men, for his work in Treffry's North Engine Shaft, considered unequalled in the county. By 1856 the plant and machinery had cost £30,000 to £40,000; the cost-book company, first of 123 shares, had 6,400, and paid dividends of £5,120 in 1851, £15,300 in 1852, £4,800 in 1853, £5,280 in 1854 and £3,840 in 1855, with J. Puckey as manager and captain.

Geology

Copper lodes in the St Blazey district.

Workings

Shafts including Treffry's North Engine Shaft, with a horizontal whim engine (1843) and a steam capstan (1846); an inclined plane to Par harbour.

Closure

Unknown.

What remains

Unknown.

Redevelopment

Unknown.

Related mines

• Fowey Consols — Both Treffry mines served by his Par harbour and tramways; his agent Captain Puckey ran both.

People

• Joseph Treffry (1782–1850) · owner, to 1850 — via the operator record

Recorded claims

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

• Treffry connected Par Consols to Par harbour by an inclined-plane tramway 870 feet long at 1 in 7, steam-powered for the uphaul; it started work in 1841. ¹
• The first horizontal whim engine in Cornwall was erected by Sims and West at Par Consols in 1843. ²
• The first steam capstan was installed at Par Consols in 1846. ²
• In 1843 Captain Puckey presented a gold-laced hat to timberman Simon Uren before 300 men for his work in Treffry's North Engine Shaft. ²
• In 1856 the mine was worked for copper by a cost-book company of 6,400 shares (originally 123); dividends 1851-55 totalled over £34,000; J. Puckey was manager. ³

Sources

1. (secondary) Treffry Tramways — Wikipedia
2. (secondary) Par Consols — Cornwall Calling
3. (secondary) 1856 Mines in Devon and Cornwall — Grace's Guide

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