Spearne Moor Mine

Overview

A tin and copper mine in St Just in Penwith, seven miles from Penzance, worked on the cost-book system in the 1850s to 1870s and at some time amalgamated with Spearne Consols. In 1855 it paid £1,050 in dividends; by 1873 its engine shaft was 130 fathoms deep, and one of its engines was sold to Holway Consols in Wales.

History

Spearne Moor Mine lay in the parish of St Just in Penwith, within the Duchy of Cornwall and the St Just mining district, seven miles from Penzance, its nearest port and railway station. It worked tin and copper ore, and at some time it was amalgamated with Spearne Consols.

In 1856 it was held on a 14-year lease by a cost-book company of 280 shares, on which the adventurers had laid out £6,547. Including the value of the ore raised, £31,962 had been spent by the end of September 1855, and that year's dividends came to £1,050, or £3 15s a share. The purser was Samuel Higgs of Penzance and the captain Nicholas Hocking of St Just.

By 1873 the mine was held on a 21-year lease. Its engine shaft was 130 fathoms deep and its flat-rod shaft 160 fathoms, and it was worked and drained by two steam engines; Samuel Higgs and Sons were pursers, James Bennetts manager and Charles Ellis captain. A 20-inch rotary engine bought from the mine in the 1860s was pumping and winding at Holway Consols in Wales in 1877.

Geology

Tin and copper ores.

Workings

An engine shaft of 130 fathoms and a flat-rod shaft of 160 fathoms in 1873, worked and drained by two steam engines.

Closure

Unknown.

What remains

Unknown.

Redevelopment

Unknown.

Related mines

• Higher Levant Mine — Spearne Moor was at some time amalgamated with Spearne Consols, part of which later became Higher Levant.

Recorded claims

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

• Spearne Moor Mine is in St Just in Penwith, seven miles from Penzance. ^1,2
• In 1855 its dividends were £1,050, or £3 15s per share. ¹
• In 1873 its engine shaft was 130 fathoms and its flat-rod shaft 160 fathoms deep. ¹
• At some time it was amalgamated with Spearne Consols. ¹
• A 20-inch rotary engine bought from Spearne Moor in the 1860s was working at Holway Consols in Wales in 1877. ¹

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (secondary) Cornwall Calling: Spearne Moor Mine — Cornwall Calling
2. (secondary) Grace's Guide: Spearne Moor Mine — Grace's Guide to British Industrial History
3. (primary) BGS / Mining Remediation Authority mine plan: Spearne Moor (tin and copper ores) — British Geological Survey

Record created: 11 October 2026 · Last researched: 11 October 2026