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The following is referenced DINES, HG - The Metalliferous Mining Region of South-West England
Pentireglaze.-Situated in and north-east of the village of that name, 4 miles N.N.E of Padstow (6” Corn. 18 N.E.), this mine worked two lead lodes, one coursing north south and the other E. 30” N. The former has two shafts about 100 yds. apart on the south slopes of the valley that meets the coast at Pentireglaze Haven. The northern shaft is 200 yds. E. of the sea wall at the inner end of the haven; the ground is $now largely built over. The dumps on the other lode, 700 yds. N.E. of the Haven, consist of purple and green slates with much quartz veinstone in large blocks containing included fragments of killas; galena occurs near the vein walls and there is much iron and manganese staining, suggesting decomposition of siderite. The mill sand dumps are on the north side -of the valley about midway between the workings on the two lodes Between 1850 and 1875, the production was 955 tons of 67 per cent lead ore and 19,065 oz. of silver.
Pentire.-Cropping out in the cliffs of purple and green slate, 500 yds. N.E. of Pentireglaze farm (6” Corn. 19 N.W.) there is an antimony lode trending N. 23” E.
Inland it enters greenstone and appears, in surface exposures, to split into a number of quartz strips following joints. A plan (A.M. R 43 A) shows an Adit Level driven from the cliff base for 80 fms. S. and Whim Shaft, sunk to meet it 33 fms. below surface, at 66 fms. from the entrance. There are three other shafts, one 24 yds. N. of Whim Shaft that does not reach adit, Old Footway Shaft, 10 yds. S. of Whim Shaft, that connects with stopes and Old South Shaft, a further 60 yds. S. which is 10 fms. deep. Levels are driven for 10 fms. N. and 20 fms. S. of Whim Shaft at 16 fms. and 26 fms. below surface. Except for a small underhand stope at the bottom of Whim Shaft the plan shows no work below Adit Level here, but stoping of an early period extends between Whim and Old South shafts, from surface down to the 16-fm. Level, and later work, between this and the 26-fm. Level, extends about 20 fms. S. of Whim Shaft. There are no records of output.
Polzeath.-A north-south lead lode, half a mile S. of that of Pentireglaze Mine, of which it is probably an extension, is situated on the west bank of Shilla Brook (6” Corn.18 N.E.). There are two dumps, probably at shafts, at 300 yds. and 420 yds. S. respectively of the ford across the brook estuary. In 1855, 6 tons of 67 per cent lead ore were produced.
It's a mystery how the mining went on under Tinners Hill, New Polzeath but there is still some evidence that it certainly did.
There is no documentation, or actually anything much to tell us now what happened, but we can piece little bits together from the line of the lodes seen on an old map from Newhall Manor, which used to own Pentireglaze.
Also we can work out where the lodes ran under Tinners Hill from the places we know shafts were sunk and where an adit came out onto Polzeath beach to drain a part of the mine. Incidentally quite a way from either of the two shafts we know about (see the map I have drawn before lining-up the shafts from Pengirt all the way to the golf course at St Enodoc).
Many thanks to Shane Webster for helping to answer some questions about the Old Lead Mine Pentireglaze.
Here he explains what happened to the old 60" engine which was situated in a long ago demolished engine house. You can make out its site close to the present Old Lead Mine NT carpark.
I always find it amazing that from this engine, flat rods once extended across the valley to the New Polzeath shaft.
Stray Park pumping engine house, Dolcoath Mine purchased the Pentireglaze Mine engine in 1857 when effectively the mining in this part of North Cornwall ended.
Stray Park pumping engine house, Dolcoath Mine. Nestled amongst the bungalows of Park Lane, Camborne is the 65" pumping engine house of Stray Park. Originally housing a 60" engine purchased from Pentireglaze Mine, Polzeath in 1857 and was later re-cylindered to 64". In 1900 it was almost entirely rebuilt with a 65" cylinder. Following a series of accidents that caused flooding in 1868-69 the mine was put up for sale as a going concern in 1870. Under Dolcoath ownership the mine was worked until 1921 when it closed with the engine being broken up in 1938. Sadly as with many of the sites i've visited the inside is littered with rubbish.
Many thanks to Gordon Fielder for this information and map
Pentire Mine is up near what we call Compitt and Coppinger's Cave. The notes on this map show that the Pentireglaze Mine produced 955 tons of Lear ore and 19,065 ounces of silver between 1850/75 and that the foundations of the engine house and intensive dump now (1957) largely removed.
Midway between Taylor's Shaft on Tinners Hill and Victoria Shaft on Trebetherick Hill there was a 17 inch engine which pumped water out of both by means of 440 yards of flat rods (that's .25 of a mile or .4 km). The shaft and mine of Polzeath Mine south of Victoria Shaft were, as far as I can make out, Wheal Caroline. Wheal (or rather huel) is said to be derived from the Cornish language, and to signify a work or mine. Perhaps Wheal Phillippa was and Wheal Caroline were more on Tinners Hill than on Trebetherick but I'm not sure
Although taken a long time after all mines had closed, these photos from old postcards at least show how Tinners Hill, New Polzeath looked before housing covered it.
If you have any information or want to make any comments it would be greatly appreciated.
1928 a photo taken from Miniver Hill. On the hillside in the distance Wheal Caroline would have operated from close to where yhou see a path running up the side of Valley Caravan park and not so far from Polzeath Lodge Hotel which was originally built around 1900
Atlantic House Hotel Tennis Courts were built in 1922 and survived until 1938 when they were turned into the car park you see today. This photo was taken in 1925. The mine shaft that is still in New Polzeath and was connected to the engine at Pentireglaze was and is to the left of this photo further down into the Pentireglaze valley.
"Slipper slide, with lode underlaying North Lode 2 feet in a fathom" runs up from Slipper Point. It crossed the lode that ran up from the line of Breakneck Cavern on Pentireglaze Haven to Polzeath under Tinners Hill.
Many of these weak points in the cliffs at New Polzeath have since been filled with very large cemented rocks to prevent further erosion and to close adits. The hill above was marked as a field called Downs Waste in a map of around 1830. This photo was taken in 1924
Treasure House and the sand dunes, now cleared, 1924 postcard. Westray House, one of the original houses in Polzeath, partly shown on the left.
It's a mystery how the mining went on under Tinners Hill, New Polzeath but there is still some evidence that it certainly did.
There is no documentation, or actually anything much to tell us now what happened, but we can piece little bits together from the line of the lodes seen on an old map from Newhall Manor, which used to own Pentireglaze.
Also we can work out where the lodes ran under Tinners Hill from the places we know shafts were sunk and where an adit came out onto Polzeath beach to drain a part of the mine. Incidently quite a way from either of the two shafts we know about (see the map I have drawn before lining-up the shafts from Pengirt all the way to the golf course at St Enodoc).
Although taken a long time after all mines had closed, these photos from old postcards at least show how Tinners Hill, New Polzeath looked before housing covered it.
John Hearle Tremayne (17 March 1780 – 27 August 1851) owned the Pentire Estate at the same time as the Manor of Newhall owned the Pentireglaze Estate next door. Here's the note on the map to show the boundary.
Presumably income from any Adventurers running mines on his part of the estate would have included the mine at Compitt and any around Pentire and The Rumps. Who would have got the income from the lode running from Pengirt across the Newhall estate lands to New Polzeath and which included what we now know as the site of the Old Lead Mine Pentireglaze?
JH Tremayne was a member of a landed Cornish family and owner of the Heligan estate near Mevagissey of Lost Garden fame. He was also an MP, a Justice of the peace, and High Sheriff of Cornwall in 1831.
It wasn't until 1829 that he inherited his landed property in Cornwall and Devon so presumably the map dates after that.
Dramatically he ‘dropped down suddenly and expired at the railway station at Dawlish’ in August 1851, leaving his estates to his eldest son, John Tremayne (1825-1901)
Dating the maps is helped by this extract from the St Enodoc Golf Club history on their website: It is said that golf was first played on a part of the present course by a party of undergraduates in 1888. Their efforts were confined to the area round the church of St Enodoc and Daymer Bay. In 1889 a number of local gentlemen laid out a few holes amongst the massive dunes at Rock, and as their enthusiasm increased they formed in 1890 St. Enodoc Golf Club. From the minutes of the General Meeting, held in the open air in March 1892, there were about 20 members paying an annual subscription of 5/- to pay the rent of £6 p.a. for the land.
From my research the mine shaft here is probably Wheal Philippa. It's now located in someone's garden.
Wheal Caroline), Polzeath, St Minver, Cornwall, England, UKhttps://www.mindat.org › loc-1325
Polzeath Consols (incl. Wheal Phillipa; Wheal Caroline), Polzeath, St Minver, Cornwall, England, UK : This mine worked two copper lodes and a NS-trending
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