Wheal Betsy

Overview

Wheal Betsy, beside the A386 at Mary Tavy on the western edge of Dartmoor, was a lead, silver and zinc mine whose engine house — saved from Army demolition in 1954 and now cared for by the National Trust — is the last one still standing on the moor.

History

The mine opened around 1740, or possibly earlier, and worked until the late 18th century before reopening in 1806 under manager John Taylor, working alongside the neighbouring Wheal Friendship. Its most prosperous decade came in the 1820s: between 1821 and 1830 Wheal Betsy yielded 52,302 ounces of silver and around 4,000 tons of pig lead, generating net income of £102,661; the silver, present in significant enough quantities to need on-site cupellation refining, was fashioned by the London silversmiths Rebecca Emes and Edward Barnard into commemorative snuff boxes around 1820. Lead prices crashed in 1828–29, and although the mine saw brief revivals under later operators — including as Prince Arthur Consols from 1863 — it finally closed in 1877 after 137 years of intermittent working. A Cornish beam pumping engine operated at Job's Shaft from 1868 until closure in 1877. In 1954 the Army, which used the surrounding moor for training, sought permission to demolish the derelict engine house; campaigners including the Cornish historian A.K. Hamilton Jenkin intervened, and the building was saved. It passed to the National Trust in 1967, which secured its distinctively leaning chimney stack against collapse.

Workings

A Cornish beam pumping engine operated at Job's Shaft from 1868 to 1877; the silver recovered from the ore was significant enough to require on-site cupellation refining.

What remains

The engine house at Job's Shaft — the only one still standing on Dartmoor — remains a National Trust property beside the A386, its chimney still visibly leaning after decades of moorland storms.

Abandoned workings can be dangerous — unstable ground, uncapped shafts, flooding and bad air are common even where a site looks safe from the surface. This entry describes history and general location only; it is not an access guide.

Recorded claims

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

• Between 1821 and 1830, Wheal Betsy's most prosperous decade, the mine yielded 52,302 ounces of silver and around 4,000 tons of pig lead, generating net income of £102,661. ¹
• Silver from Wheal Betsy was fashioned by the London silversmiths Rebecca Emes and Edward Barnard into commemorative snuff boxes around 1820. ¹
• A Cornish beam pumping engine operated at Job's Shaft from 1868 until the mine's closure in 1877. ²
• In 1954 the Army sought permission to demolish the derelict engine house; campaigners including the Cornish historian A.K. Hamilton Jenkin intervened to save it, and it passed to the National Trust in 1967. ¹

Images

Sources

1. (secondary) Wheal Betsy — a place of history and legend — Legendary Dartmoor
2. (secondary) Wheal Betsy (North Wheal Friendship; Prince Arthur Consols), Mary Tavy, West Devon — Mindat

Record created: 19 August 2026 · Last researched: 20 August 2026