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 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, 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

No reliable current-condition detail specific to Wheal Pye 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.

• 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

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

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