Wheal Leisure

Overview

Perranporth's richest copper mine, worked over 700 feet deep beneath the town, which flooded when its rival Perran St George, having lost a lawsuit over encroachment, stopped pumping; the name lives on in Poldark.

History

Wheal Leisure, later Great Wheal Leisure, was a copper mine beneath what is now Perranporth. With Perran St George it dominated the district in the first half of the nineteenth century, and it was the richest copper mine there, worked to more than 700 feet. The workings of the two mines were intertwined under the town, and Perran St George encroached on Wheal Leisure's ground. Wheal Leisure sued and won; the St George adventurers then stopped pumping, and Wheal Leisure flooded. Over 2,000 miners and other workers lost their jobs.

Plans in 1857 to amalgamate the main copper mines, among them Great Wheal Leisure and Great St George, came to nothing, and in 1865 Thomas Spargo reported that Wheal Leisure had been idle for twenty years and ought to be reworked. Around 1900 only the derelict engine house and the waste tips remained, and the count house stood until the early 1960s. Nothing survives at the surface now; the flooded levels lie beneath Perranporth's main street, and a small road carries the name. Winston Graham, who wrote the Poldark novels at Perranporth, gave the name to Ross Poldark's mine.

Geology

Copper lodes beneath Perranporth, their workings intertwined with those of Perran St George.

Workings

Levels to more than 700 feet, now flooded beneath the town's main street.

Closure

Flooded after Perran St George stopped pumping; idle for twenty years by 1865.

What remains

No surface remains; the flooded levels lie beneath Perranporth's main street.

None.

Redevelopment

Perranporth town centre.

Related mines

• Perran St George — Rival copper mines whose workings were intertwined under Perranporth; the lawsuit between them ended in Wheal Leisure's flooding.

What's uncertain

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

• Wheal Leisure is the copper mine referred to in Winston Graham's Poldark novels, written at Perranporth. (uncertain) ³

Recorded claims

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

• Great Wheal Leisure was the richest copper mine in the district and reached a working depth of over 700 feet. ¹
• Wheal Leisure and Perran St George dominated Perranporth in the first half of the nineteenth century. ^1,2
• Perran St George encroached on Wheal Leisure, lost the court case and stopped pumping, flooding Wheal Leisure; over 2,000 lost their jobs. ^1,2
• In 1865 Thomas Spargo reported that Wheal Leisure had been idle for 20 years and ought to be reworked. ¹
• The mine has no surface remains; its flooded levels lie beneath Perranporth's main street and a small road bears its name. ³
• Wheal Leisure is the copper mine referred to in Winston Graham's Poldark novels, written at Perranporth. (uncertain) ³

Sources

1. (secondary) Ertach Kernow: Miners toiled in the wake of St Piran (Mining in Perranporth) — Cornwall Heritage Trust
2. (secondary) Two Mighty Mines — Stamp and Go (Nigel Hallworth)
3. (observational) Site of the 'real' Wheal Leisure (Geograph 4398480) — Geograph

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