Wheal Pye

Overview

One of the individual setts -- alongside Wheal Kine, Wheal Pell, Turnavore, Seal Hole and North Seal Hole -- amalgamated into the Polberro Mines (St Agnes Consols) at St Agnes, a concern worked from ancient times to 1895 and briefly revived as late as 1941.

History

Wheal Pye was one of several individually named workings -- Seal Hole, Wheal Kine, North Seal Hole, Wheal Pell, Turnavore and others 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 worked from ancient times to 1895, producing a very high grade of tin known as 'diamond tin', pure enough to be sent directly to the smelters with little or no processing. A final, unsuccessful attempt to revive the site was made between 1937 and 1941 under the name Polberro Tin Ltd, which converted the engine house on the neighbouring Trevaunance sett into a miners' dry and installed a new dressing floor, before closing for lack of money in 1941 -- the last mine of any kind working at St Agnes. As with the other individual Polberro setts, Wheal Pye's own working life is not separately documented, distinct from the wider amalgamated concern it became part of. The Buddlepit database has Wheal Pye worked from about 1837, the year Polberro entered its main period; it lay at the centre of the sett with Wheal Pell, some 90 metres from Polberro's own workings and 100 metres from Seal Hole.

Geology

Tin of the St Agnes district, within the wider Polberro ground; the lodes are not named on the record.

Workings

Worked as part of the wider Polberro Mines (St Agnes Consols) group, known for producing exceptionally pure 'diamond tin'.

Closure

Wheal Pye's own working life falls within Polberro's wider documented history; the amalgamated concern itself saw a final, unsuccessful revival attempt as Polberro Tin Ltd between 1937 and 1941, when it finally closed as the last mine of any kind at St Agnes.

What remains

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

Related mines

• Polberro Mine — One of the setts consolidated into Polberro Mine; Wheal Pye lay at the centre of the sett.
• Wheal Kine — Individually named workings consolidated together into the Polberro Mines (St Agnes Consols).
• Wheal Pell — 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.

• Wheal Pye was one of several individual setts -- Seal Hole, Wheal Kine, North Seal Hole, Wheal Pell, Turnavore among them -- consolidated into the Polberro Mines (St Agnes Consols), worked from ancient times to 1895. ¹
• A final revival attempt, Polberro Tin Ltd, ran 1937-1941, converting the Trevaunance engine house into a miners' dry and installing a new dressing floor, before closing for lack of money -- the last mine of any kind at St Agnes. ²
• The Buddlepit database records Wheal Pye at St Agnes as worked from about 1837, at 50.318142, -5.21115 (SW 7150 5140, an estimated grid reference), 86 metres from Polberro, 100 metres from Seal Hole and 200 metres from Wheal Pell. ³
• Within the Polberro sett, which runs north from Wheal Friendly to the cliffs west of Trevaunance Cove, Wheal Pell and Wheal Pye lay at the centre, with North Seal Hole in the west, Wheal Kine and Trevaunance in the north and Polberro and Turnavore in the east; Polberro entered its main period in 1837, continuing until 1895. ⁴

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (secondary) Polberro Mines, St Agnes Consols (Polberro Consols) — Mindat
2. (secondary) Polberro Consols, Royal — Buddlepit Mine Database (NMRS-sourced)
3. (secondary) Wheal Pye (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