South Polgooth Mine

Overview

First worked as a tin mine in 1593 and still under trial as late as 1916, South Polgooth's roofless granite engine house served both a beam engine and, unusually, the mine's own arsenic calciners through a single shared chimney.

History

South Polgooth Mine's principal lode, on the south-western part of Treloweth Common, was already recorded as a tin working in 1593. Before 1826 the ground was worked under the name Wheal Davy; it reopened as South Polgooth Mine between 1835 and 1839, and reopened again in 1880, with trials still being conducted as late as 1916. After 1885 the mine worked three separate lodes, producing tin, arsenic, copper and wolfram, and most of the structures surviving today date from this period of renewed activity after 1880. The mining complex survives as a group of buildings and surface remains including a beam engine house, a Brunton calciner and reverberatory calciner for arsenic with their condenser and flues, a chimney stack, dressing floors and waste, and a stamping building. The beam engine house, built from granite, is a tall rectangular roofless structure standing to almost full height, with brick arches over its windows and doors and a bob wall to the north; attached to it is a circular stone-built chimney with a brick upper section that unusually served both the engine house and the arsenic calciners together. The calciners themselves, largely built of granite and brick and lying to the south, retain several visible arches and a main oven still fitted with its metal door hooks, though the structures have suffered some collapse. To the north of the complex stand the partially-upstanding remains of the building that once held the mine's stamping machinery. Scheduled as a nationally important monument in October 1978, South Polgooth's surviving structures are valued as good evidence for the important social, economic and political history of Cornish non-ferrous mining.

Geology

Tin, arsenic, copper and wolfram-bearing lodes on Treloweth Common; three separate lodes worked after 1885.

Workings

A granite beam engine house with a shared chimney serving both the engine and adjacent arsenic calciners, a Brunton calciner and reverberatory calciner with condenser and flues, dressing floors, waste, and a stamping building.

Closure

Worked intermittently from at least 1593 (as Wheal Davy before 1826); reopened as South Polgooth 1835-1839 and again in 1880, with trials continuing until 1916.

What remains

Scheduled as a nationally important monument since October 1978; the beam engine house is separately listed Grade II.

A roofless granite beam engine house with its bob wall and shared chimney, two arsenic calciners with visible arches and a surviving oven with metal door hooks, and the partial remains of a stamping building survive.

Nearby mines

• Ventonwyn Mine — 2.7 km W
• Great Dowgas Mine — 3.1 km W
• Carclaze Pit — 5.3 km NE
• Tregargus China Stone Quarries — 5.7 km NW
• South Terras Mine — 6.1 km W

Straight-line distance, within 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.

• The principal lode of the South Polgooth Mine was mentioned as a tin work in 1593; prior to 1826 the mine was worked under the name of Wheal Davy, and it re-opened under the name of South Polgooth Mine between 1835 and 1839, re-opening again in 1880 with trials still being conducted in 1916. ¹
• The complex survives as a series of buildings and surface remains including a beam engine house; a Brunton calciner and reverberatory calciner for arsenic with condenser and flues; a chimney stack; dressing floors and waste; and a stamping building, with the chimney unusually serving both the engine house and the arsenic calciners together. ¹
• The engine house was constructed in 1880 to accommodate a combined pumping and stamping engine; the mine worked three main lodes, Hewas Lode, North Lode and Caunter Lode, and after 1885 it was working on three separate lodes which produced minerals including tin, arsenic, copper and wolfram. ²

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (primary) Part of a mining complex at South Polgooth Mine, St. Mewan, Cornwall — AncientMonuments.uk (mirroring the Historic England scheduling record)
2. (primary) Engine House at South Polgooth Tin Mine, St. Mewan, Cornwall — British Listed Buildings (Historic England listed building record)

Record created: 17 September 2026 · Last researched: 17 September 2026