East Wheal Rose
Encyclopedia
East Wheal Rose was a metalliferous mine about a kilometre south east of the village of St Newlyn East
, which is about 5 km inland from Newquay
on the north Cornwall coast, United Kingdom. The country rock
at the mine was killas
and its main produce was lead ore (galena
), but as is usual when mining this mineral, commercial quantities of silver and zinc were also found and sold.
The two main lode
s, called Middleton's Lode and East Lode, trended north-south. The ore they contained was in places very soft and loose and the killas was also not a particularly strong rock, necessitating extensive underground timbering, particularly in the shafts
. Records show that the mine had more than twenty shafts on the two lodes, and the deepest workings were at 150 fathoms (900 ft).
After the disaster, villagers of St. Newlyn East worked together and dug a pit in remembrance of the miners who died. The pit is still there today, and has been used frequently for church meetings and tea gatherings etc. When the pit was actually made, it was also used for Cornish wrestling, and was recently re-dug and made more usable with funding from the National Lottery Fund.
Today, apart from the preserved engine house and chimney stack, there are few remains of the mine visible and the site is a tourist attraction with a boating lake, crazy golf etc. It is at one end of the Lappa Valley Steam Railway
which follows part of the route of one of the Treffry Tramways
that was opened in 1849 for hauling ore from the mine to Newquay.
St Newlyn East
St Newlyn East is a civil parish and village in Cornwall, United Kingdom. The village is situated approximately three miles south of Newquay...
, which is about 5 km inland from Newquay
Newquay
Newquay is a town, civil parish, seaside resort and fishing port in Cornwall, England. It is situated on the North Atlantic coast of Cornwall approximately west of Bodmin and north of Truro....
on the north Cornwall coast, United Kingdom. The country rock
Country rock (geology)
Country rock is a geological term meaning the rock native to an area. It is similar and in many cases interchangeable with the terms basement and wall rocks....
at the mine was killas
Killas
Killas is a Cornish mining term for metamorphic rock strata of sedimentary origin which were altered by heat from the intruded granites in Devon and Cornwall, England. The term is used in both Devon and Cornwall.-Origin of killas:...
and its main produce was lead ore (galena
Galena
Galena is the natural mineral form of lead sulfide. It is the most important lead ore mineral.Galena is one of the most abundant and widely distributed sulfide minerals. It crystallizes in the cubic crystal system often showing octahedral forms...
), but as is usual when mining this mineral, commercial quantities of silver and zinc were also found and sold.
The two main lode
Lode
In geology, a lode is a deposit of metalliferous ore that fills or is embedded in a fissure in a rock formation or a vein of ore that is deposited or embedded between layers of rock....
s, called Middleton's Lode and East Lode, trended north-south. The ore they contained was in places very soft and loose and the killas was also not a particularly strong rock, necessitating extensive underground timbering, particularly in the shafts
Shaft mining
Shaft mining or shaft sinking refers to the method of excavating a vertical or near-vertical tunnel from the top down, where there is initially no access to the bottom....
. Records show that the mine had more than twenty shafts on the two lodes, and the deepest workings were at 150 fathoms (900 ft).
Disaster in 1846
The mine was sited in the valley of a small stream at the point where it opens out into a natural bowl and is virtually surrounded by hills. The outlet from this bowl is through a narrow ravine through which the stream flows into the River Gannel. Just after noon on 9 July 1846 there was an unusually heavy thunderstorm which lasted an hour and a quarter. Captain Middleton, the mine manager, reported that within five minutes of it starting to rain, water was flowing down the hills in torrents. Despite efforts by the men on the surface to dam or divert the water from the shafts the mine was rapidly flooded up to the 50 fathom (300 ft) level, and of the estimated 200 miners who were underground at the time, 39 were drowned.After the disaster, villagers of St. Newlyn East worked together and dug a pit in remembrance of the miners who died. The pit is still there today, and has been used frequently for church meetings and tea gatherings etc. When the pit was actually made, it was also used for Cornish wrestling, and was recently re-dug and made more usable with funding from the National Lottery Fund.
Later history
Despite the setback the mine soon reopened and continued producing ore until it closed in 1886. Between 1845 and 1885 it produced 48,200 tons of 62% lead ore, 212,700 ounces of silver and 280 tons of zinc ore.Today, apart from the preserved engine house and chimney stack, there are few remains of the mine visible and the site is a tourist attraction with a boating lake, crazy golf etc. It is at one end of the Lappa Valley Steam Railway
Lappa Valley Steam Railway
The Lappa Valley Steam Railway is a minimum gauge railway located near Newquay in Cornwall. The railway functions as a tourist attraction, running from Benny Halt to East Wheal Rose , where there is a leisure area.-Treffry's Tramway:...
which follows part of the route of one of the Treffry Tramways
Treffry Tramways
The Treffry Tramways were a disjoint network of horse worked mineral tramways in Cornwall in the United Kingdom. They were named after the man principally responsible for their construction, Joseph Treffry , a local land owner and entrepreneur. At their maximum extent, the Treffry Tramways...
that was opened in 1849 for hauling ore from the mine to Newquay.