Wheal Pell

Overview

One of the individual setts -- alongside Wheal Kine, Turnavore, Prosper, Park and Squidler -- amalgamated into the rich Polberro Mines (St Agnes Consols) at St Agnes, which by 1750 was already one of the largest tin producers in Cornwall.

History

Wheal Pell was one of several individually named workings -- Wheal Kine, Turnavore, Prosper, Park, Squidler and Seal Hole 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, worked on the hillside above St Agnes, was said to produce the finest tin ore in Cornwall; by 1750 it was already one of the largest mines in the county, producing so much ore that the district did not have enough packhorses to carry it all away. By the early 1800s the combined workings employed around 450 people and produced some 30 tonnes of tin ore a month. As with the other individual Polberro setts, Wheal Pell's own working life is not separately documented in the sources found for this record, distinct from the wider amalgamated concern it became part of.

Workings

Worked as part of the wider Polberro Mines (St Agnes Consols) group, which by the early 1800s employed around 450 people and produced some 30 tonnes of tin ore a month.

Closure

Wheal Pell's own working life falls within Polberro's wider documented history; no specific closure date for this individual sett has been located, distinct from the amalgamated concern's own eventual closure (Royal Polberro Consols closed in 1941, the last mine of any kind at St Agnes).

What remains

No reliable current-condition detail specific to Wheal Pell itself has yet been located, distinct from the wider Polberro/St Agnes Consols site.

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.

• By 1750 Polberro, into which Wheal Pell was consolidated, was already one of the largest tin mines in Cornwall, producing more ore than local packhorses could carry away; by the early 1800s the combined workings employed around 450 people and produced about 30 tonnes of tin ore a month. ¹
• Wheal Pell was one of several individual setts -- alongside Wheal Kine, Turnavore, Prosper, Park, Squidler and Seal Hole -- consolidated into the Polberro Mines (St Agnes Consols). ²

Photographs & further reading

This page doesn't try to reproduce everything — these are the best original sources found for this mine.

Sources

1. (secondary) Polberro Mine — iWalk Cornwall
2. (secondary) Polberro Mines, St Agnes Consols (Polberro Consols) — Mindat

Record created: 31 August 2026 · Last researched: 1 September 2026