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, distinct from the wider amalgamated concern it became part of. Within the Polberro sett, which ran north from Wheal Friendly to the cliffs west of Trevaunance Cove, Wheal Pell and Wheal Pye lay at the centre, with North Seal Hole to the west, Wheal Kine and Trevaunance to the north and Polberro and Turnavore to the east. Collins's 1912 survey of the region records the mine, and the Buddlepit database places it about 140 metres from Polberro's own workings.

Geology

Tin of the St Agnes district, on the hillside above the village, in ground said to produce the finest tin ore in Cornwall.

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, and no closure date is recorded for this sett on its own; the amalgamated concern outlasted it, Royal Polberro Consols closing in 1941 as the last mine of any kind at St Agnes.

What remains

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

Related mines

• Polberro Mine — Absorbed into Polberro: Wheal Pell was one of the smaller setts — with Wheal Kine, Turnavore, Prosper, Park and Squidler — amalgamated into the mine that became Royal Polberro Consols.
• Turnavore Mine — Fellow component of the Polberro Mines group.
• Wheal Kine — Individually named workings consolidated together into the Polberro Mines (St Agnes Consols).
• Wheal Pye — Neighbouring setts at the centre of the Polberro ground, 200 metres apart.

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
• The Buddlepit database places Wheal Pell at St Agnes at 50.319938, -5.211271 (SW 7150 5160, an estimated grid reference), about 140 metres from Polberro and 200 metres from Wheal Pye, citing Collins's Observations on the West of England Mining Region (1912), p. 553. ³
• Polberro Mine incorporated Wheal Kine, Wheal Pell, Turnavore, Prosper, Park, Squidler and several smaller mines of which all trace has been lost; within the sett, which runs north from Wheal Friendly to the cliffs west of Trevaunance Cove, North Seal Hole lay in the west, Wheal Kine and Trevaunance in the north, Wheal Pell and Wheal Pye at the centre, and Polberro and Turnavore in the east. The mine entered its main period in 1837, continuing to 1895, with 450 employed in 1838 and an average of 30 tons of tin sold a month. ⁴

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (secondary) Polberro Mine — iWalk Cornwall
2. (secondary) Polberro Mines, St Agnes Consols (Polberro Consols) — Mindat
3. (secondary) Wheal Pell (Buddlepit Mine Database) — Buddlepit / Mining History Trust
4. (secondary) Polberro Mine, St Agnes — Cornwall Calling

Record created: 31 August 2026 · Last researched: 24 September 2026