Walkham United

Overview

Tin, copper and lead workings in the lower Walkham valley, Buckland Monachorum, worked as Devon Poldice from 1860 and Walkham and Poldice from 1862, and united in 1881 with Gem Mine before being wound up in 1882.

History

Walkham United was the last name of a group of tin, copper and lead workings on the west bank of the River Walkham in Buckland Monachorum parish, between Grenofen Bridge and the Gem viaduct. Two setts made it up. Devon Poldice, beside the Gem viaduct, was probably the East Poldice that Lysons recorded in 1822 as abandoned after 1815. It was reopened in 1860 to explore the old workings for tin, and in 1861 it was 20 fathoms deep with twenty people employed. A combined sett was mapped in 1859 as Wheal Walkham.

Walkham and Poldice, south of Grenofen Bridge, was launched on 31 May 1862 under Captain John Lean, who reported three tin lodes, four copper lodes and a lead lode eight feet wide. Its Engine Shaft, also called Lamb's Shaft after one of the largest shareholders, served levels down to 50 fathoms, and a waterwheel drove six heads of stamps. Its best years, 1865 and 1866, returned 4.9 tons of lead, about 26 tons of copper ore and a ton of black tin. The company went into voluntary liquidation in October 1867, its lease and plant were auctioned that November, and it was wound up on 9 March 1869.

Devon Poldice was recorded as abandoned about 1866 but was selling tin again in 1875. In 1881 the setts at Grenofen and the Gem viaduct were renamed Walkham United, which also took in the neighbouring Gem Mine across the river. It sold a ton and a half of tin that year and was wound up on 4 August 1882.

Geology

Tin and copper lodes with a lead lode, followed by the Walkham and Poldice adit for 110 fathoms; at Devon Poldice three lodes, earlier worked in late medieval openworks west of the river.

Workings

At Walkham and Poldice the Engine (Lamb's) Shaft with levels to 50 fathoms, an adit, a whim or capstan and a waterwheel driving six heads of stamps; at Devon Poldice a shaft and gunnis on the main lode, round buddles and a burning house on a dressing floor by the river.

Closure

Walkham and Poldice went into voluntary liquidation in October 1867 and was wound up on 9 March 1869; Walkham United was wound up on 4 August 1882.

What remains

Ruined workings on the steep, wooded western side of the Walkham valley; in 2012 the workings were partly collapsed.

At Walkham and Poldice an engine shaft, capstan platform, adit, flat-rod channel, wheelpit, spoil tip, building foundations and a dressing floor; at Devon Poldice a wheelpit, buddles, the burning house and walling along the dressing floor.

Related mines

• Gem Mine — Gem Mine, across the Walkham from Devon Poldice, was taken into Walkham United in 1881.

Recorded claims

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

• Devon Poldice was reopened for tin in 1860 and in 1861 was 20 fathoms deep with twenty people employed. ¹
• Walkham and Poldice was launched on 31 May 1862 under Captain John Lean. ²
• In 1865 and 1866 Walkham and Poldice returned 4.9 tons of lead, about 26 tons of copper ore and a ton of black tin. ²
• The Walkham and Poldice company went into voluntary liquidation in October 1867 and was wound up on 9 March 1869. ²
• An abandonment plan of Walkham and Poldice, for tin and copper ores, is dated 1868. ³
• In 1881 the setts were renamed Walkham United, which was wound up on 4 August 1882. ¹
• In 2012 its shafts and adits survived along the valley side, with collapse at the far end of an adit. ⁴

Sources

1. (secondary) Devon Poldice (aka Walkham United) — Dartmoor Explorations
2. (secondary) Walkham and Poldice (aka Walkham United) — Dartmoor Explorations
3. (primary) BGS mine plan: WALKHAM AND POLDICE, tin and copper ores, abandoned 1868 — British Geological Survey / Mining Remediation Authority
4. (observational) Report: Walkham & Poldice Mines, Devon, April 2012 — 28DaysLater

Record created: 21 October 2026 · Last researched: 25 October 2026