Treamble Mine

Overview

An iron mine on the Perran Iron Lode two miles north-east of Perranporth, worked from open pits until 1892 and again from 1937 to 1943, at the end of the Treamble branch railway; it also produced fuller's earth.

History

Treamble Mine worked the Perran Iron Lode about 30 yards south of Treamble farm, two miles north-east of Perranporth. It started in the middle of the nineteenth century from two open cuts, south-west and south-east of the farm; the eastern pit, Garden quarry, was 60 feet deep and up to 120 feet wide, and the lode was opened along 235 yards. A lead lode cut in the western pit, believed to be the southern end of the Trebellan lode, carried native silver close to the iron. A sixty-inch pumping engine stood on Parkin's shaft, 20 fathoms deep. Between 1859 and 1892 the mine raised 15,300 tons of brown iron ore, 958 tons of mixed brown and spathic ore, 32 tons of lead ore, 7 tons of zinc ore and 130 ounces of silver. The Cornwall Minerals Railway's Treamble branch from Shepherds, opened in 1873, ended at the mine.

Work stopped around 1892 and the mine lay idle until 1937, when Lloyd's Perran Iron Company cut a new pit 250 yards long, 150 yards wide and about 20 feet deep. No continuous ore body was found, and the lode proved 14 feet wide rather than the 40 expected; after about 4,000 tons the company gave up in 1940, and the Home Ores Department worked on until 1943, when another 15,000 tons are recorded. Up to 500 tons a year of fuller's earth, used to refine vegetable oils and as a filler for paint and rubber, was made from the decomposed killas beside the lode. The branch closed in 1917, reopened in 1926 and carried its last revenue traffic in 1949. The pits have been filled and the site is a caravan park.

Geology

The Perran Iron Lode of brown haematite and spathic ore, crossed by a silver-bearing lead lode; decomposed killas beside it gave fuller's earth.

Workings

Two open pits on the lode, the eastern (Garden quarry) 60 ft deep, shallow shafts along the strike, and a 1937 pit 250 yards long.

Closure

Abandoned by Lloyd's Perran Iron Company in 1940; the Home Ores Department worked it until 1943.

What remains

The pits are backfilled and no trace of the workings remains.

None.

Redevelopment

Caravan park.

Related mines

• Gravel Hill Mine — Both worked the Perran Iron Lode; the Gravel Hill tramway joined the Treamble branch at its terminus.
• Trebisken and Trebellan Mines — The lead lode cut at Treamble is believed to be the southern extension of the Trebellan lode.

What's uncertain

Points where sources disagree or the record could not be settled; both accounts are kept. All open questions in the archive.

• It was reworked between 1936 and 1943 and raised about 15,000 tons of ore. (disputed) ²

Recorded claims

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

• Treamble worked the Perran Iron Lode opencast and by shallow shafts, at various times up to 1892. ^1,2
• From 1859 to 1892 the mine produced 15,300 tons of brown iron ore, 958 tons of mixed ore, 32 tons of lead ore, 7 tons of zinc ore and 130 oz of silver. ¹
• Lloyd's Perran Iron Company took it over in 1937 and abandoned it in 1940 after about 4,000 tons; the Home Ores Department worked it until 1943. ¹
• It was reworked between 1936 and 1943 and raised about 15,000 tons of ore. (disputed) ²
• Decomposed killas at Treamble was refined into fuller's earth, about 500 tons a year. ^1,2
• The Treamble branch from Shepherds opened in 1873, closed in 1917, reopened in 1926 and carried its last revenue traffic on 8 August 1949. ³
• The pits are backfilled and the area is a caravan park. ¹

Sources

1. (secondary) Mining in our Area — Goonhavern & District History
2. (secondary) Treamble Mine, Perranporth — Cornwall Calling
3. (secondary) Treamble branch — Cornwall Railway Society

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