Poldark Mine

Overview

An 18th-century tin mine near Wendron, worked as Wheal Roots from around 1720 to 1780, rediscovered in the 1970s and reopened as one of Cornwall's few underground mines open to the public — later renamed after, and used as a filming location for, the BBC's Poldark.

History

Around 1720, tin streamers working the River Cober found a seam of ore running into the hillside and followed it underground, working what became known as Wheal Roots until around 1780. By 1856 the workings were old enough to be marked as 'old men's workings' on a surface plan of the neighbouring Wendron Consols mine. The site also preserves the Trenear Mortar Stone, a block with at least seventeen hollows worn into its upper face by hand-crushing of ore, thought to date from as early as 2000 BC. The old workings were rediscovered in the early 1970s. The site opened to the public in 1971 as Wendron Forge, and was known for a time as Ha'penny Park, before being renamed Poldark Mine after the BBC television series. The BBC filmed underground sequences at the mine for the original 1977 Poldark series, and it was used again for location filming when the series was remade in 2014-15.

Geology

Tin-bearing lodes worked from surface outcrop into the hillside, in the granite-adjacent mineralisation typical of the Wendron mining district.

Workings

Hand-worked 18th-century tunnels and stopes, followed underground from a surface tin streamers' discovery; horse whims and water wheels powered pumping and haulage, including an early 'rag and chain' pump using wooden pipes and an endless chain.

Closure

Wheal Roots is thought to have stopped working around 1780; by 1856 it was already recorded as old, abandoned workings.

What remains

Reopened as a show mine offering genuine underground tours of the 18th-century workings, requiring continuous pumping (30,000-40,000 gallons a day) to keep them accessible; as of a 2026 check the site is closed to the public.

Abandoned workings can be dangerous — unstable ground, uncapped shafts, flooding and bad air are common even where a site looks safe from the surface. This entry describes history and general location only; it is not an access guide.

Recorded claims

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

• The workings were attributed by mining historian A.K. Hamilton Jenkin to an old tin mine known as Wheal Roots, worked from around 1720 to about 1780. ¹
• The old workings were rediscovered in the 1970s; the site opened in 1971 as Wendron Forge, was later known as Ha'penny Park, and was renamed Poldark Mine after the BBC television series. ¹
• The BBC filmed underground sequences at the mine for the 1977 Poldark series, and the site was used again for filming when the series was remade in 2014-15. ^1,2

Images

Sources

1. (secondary) Poldark Mine — Wikipedia
2. (secondary) About Us — Poldark Mine (official site)

Record created: 27 August 2026 · Last researched: 27 August 2026