Polgooth Mine

Overview

The tin mines around Polgooth near St Austell, celebrated in the 18th century as 'the greatest tin mine in the world', with Newcomen and Boulton and Watt engines and Watt, Boulton and Wedgwood among the adventurers.

History

The mines of Polgooth, south-west of St Austell, first appear in a list of 1593 that names several well-established workings there, then owned by the Edgcumbe family; the claim that they supplied Phoenician traders is an antiquarian story. By the 18th century Polgooth was celebrated as 'the greatest tin mine in the world' and the richest mine in the United Kingdom. Joseph Hornblower erected a 50-inch Newcomen engine to pump it in 1727; a 58-inch Boulton and Watt engine replaced it in 1784, and in 1823, under the management of John Taylor, an 80-inch William Sims engine. Its late-18th-century adventurers included James Watt and Matthew Boulton, John Wilkinson, Charles Rashleigh, who built Charlestown harbour through which much of the tin was shipped, Lord Henry Arundell and Josiah and John Wedgwood. By 1800 it employed more than a thousand people, and visitors described a gloomy landscape of shafts and spoil heaps among the miners' cottages from which the village grew.

In the 19th century disputes and slumps in the tin price brought repeated closures and reopenings. For four years before a new company was formed in January 1851, four gentlemen who held the mine declared £13,000 in dividends; in 1856 Great Polgooth was being worked for tin by a cost-book company of 13,750 shares, its works very extensive and its machinery valuable. The plans of Great Polgooth are dated 1857 and those of Polgooth 1893, and by 1894 mining at Polgooth had ended. The old count house, one engine house and a stamping mill survive, converted to houses.

Geology

Tin lodes.

Workings

Numerous shafts pumped by a 50-inch Newcomen engine (1727), a 58-inch Boulton and Watt engine (1784) and an 80-inch Sims engine (1823).

Closure

Mining at Polgooth ended by 1894 after repeated closures in the 19th century.

What remains

The count house, an engine house and a stamping mill survive as private houses.

Count house, engine house and stamping mill, all converted to dwellings, and mining cottages.

Redevelopment

The village of Polgooth grew up among the workings; the surviving mine buildings are homes.

Related mines

• South Polgooth Mine — South Polgooth opened in 1836 to the west of the village, beside the old Polgooth mines.

Recorded claims

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

• The earliest historical record of the Polgooth mines is a list of 1593 naming several well-established workings, then owned by the Edgcumbe family. ¹
• By the 18th century Polgooth was celebrated as 'the greatest tin mine in the world' and the richest mine in the United Kingdom. ¹
• A 50-inch Newcomen engine was erected in 1727 by Joseph Hornblower, superseded in 1784 by a 58-inch Boulton and Watt engine and in 1823 by an 80-inch Sims engine. ¹
• Late-18th-century adventurers included James Watt, Matthew Boulton, John Wilkinson, Charles Rashleigh, Lord Henry Arundell and Josiah and John Wedgwood. ¹
• By 1800 over 1,000 people were employed at Polgooth. ¹
• For four years before a new company was formed in January 1851 the mine's four owners declared £13,000 in dividends; in 1856 Great Polgooth was worked for tin with 13,750 shares. ²
• Plans of Great Polgooth in tin ore are dated 1857 and plans of Polgooth 1893. ^3,4
• By 1894 mining at Polgooth came to an end. ¹

Sources

1. (secondary) Polgooth — Wikipedia
2. (secondary) 1856 Mines in Devon and Cornwall — Grace's Guide
3. (primary) BGS mine plan: Polgooth, tin ore, 1893 — British Geological Survey / Mining Remediation Authority
4. (primary) BGS mine plan: Polgooth Great, tin ore, 1857 — British Geological Survey / Mining Remediation Authority

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