Wheal Kine

Overview

One of the individual setts -- alongside Wheal Pell, Turnavore, Prosper, Park and Squidler -- amalgamated into the rich Polberro Mines (St Agnes Consols) at St Agnes, worked through the 19th century for exceptionally pure 'diamond tin'.

History

Wheal Kine, also recorded as Wheal Kind, lay on the north-western side of the Trevaunance sett, west of Seal Hole, and was one of several individually named workings -- Wheal Pell, Turnavore, Prosper, Park and Squidler among them -- consolidated into the Polberro Mines, also known as St Agnes Consols or (after Queen Victoria's 1846 visit) Royal Polberro Consols. The combined concern was one of the richest and deepest in the St Agnes district, and became known for producing 'diamond tin' -- ore so pure it needed little or no processing before smelting. Its main productive period ran from 1837 to 1895, during which the wider sett produced 4,310 tons of tin and 1,598 tons of copper; by 1843 the combined workings covered upwards of 200 acres with 24 shafts, nine of them in full work. Individual setts such as Wheal Kine had generally been absorbed into this single working concern well before its own final closure -- as Royal Polberro Consols -- in 1941, the last mine of any kind working at St Agnes.

Geology

Tin and copper of the St Agnes district, within the Polberro ground, which was known for 'diamond tin' — ore pure enough to go straight to the smelter undressed.

Workings

Worked as part of the wider Polberro Mines (St Agnes Consols) group, which by 1843 comprised 24 shafts over some 200 acres, nine of them in full work at once.

Closure

Wheal Kine's own working life falls within Polberro's main productive period, 1837-1895; the wider consolidated concern (by then Royal Polberro Consols) continued in a reduced form until the last St Agnes mine of any kind closed in 1941.

What remains

Nothing is recorded of Wheal Kine's own present condition, as distinct from the wider Polberro/St Agnes Consols site.

Related mines

• Polberro Mine — Absorbed into Polberro: Wheal Kine was one of the smaller setts — with Wheal Pell, Turnavore, Prosper, Park and Squidler — amalgamated into the mine that became Royal Polberro Consols.
• Turnavore Mine — Individually named workings consolidated together into the Polberro Mines (St Agnes Consols).
• Wheal Pell — Individually named workings consolidated together into the Polberro Mines (St Agnes Consols).
• Wheal Pye — Individually named workings consolidated together into the Polberro Mines (St Agnes Consols).

Recorded claims

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

• The wider Polberro Mines (St Agnes Consols) group, into which Wheal Kine was consolidated, produced 4,310 tons of tin and 1,598 tons of copper during its main working period of 1837-1895. ¹
• By 1843 the combined Polberro workings covered upwards of 200 acres with 24 shafts, nine of them in full work at once. ¹
• Wheal Kine lay on the north-western side of the Trevaunance sett, west of Seal Hole, per the 1870 Symons map of the St Agnes mining district. ²

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (secondary) Polberro Mine, St Agnes — Cornwall Calling
2. (secondary) Wheal Kine (Wheal Kind), St Agnes Consols (Polberro Consols) — Mindat

Record created: 31 August 2026 · Last researched: 31 August 2026