South Wheal Frances Mine
South Wheal Frances Mine lies in the middle of the Great Flat Lode with its area bounded to the northeast by Wheal Basset and to the southwest by Grenville United sett. There had been workings in this area since the early 1720's, and Lady Frances Bassett, the mineral Lord, offered a new lease on the land in 1834.
The golden period for ore production was the 1850’s but even in the early years of the 20th century several thousand men, women and children worked in the mine.
A pumping engine house with a 75-inch cylinder was built at Marriott's shaft in 1847 and pumped water from Pascoe's shaft as well as Marriott's. In 1857 a 24-inch winder was installed nearby. Between 1856 and 1871 South Wheal Frances experienced three boiler explosions, with one fatality, a not uncommon occurrence for Cornish mines. Large buildings at Marriots shaft housed a compressor and compound engine. Between 1896 and 1899 a major refurbishment of the shaft was undertaken to get down to 6,000 feet. The Boiler House provided steam for the whole site and contained six Lancashire boilers side by side.
‘The Miners’ Dry’ it was not completed until 1908 but it was said to be the finest ‘dry’ in Cornwall. So called as it was where the miners changed at the end of a shift, changing out of their working clothes and drying them on large steam pipes in the building.
The post World War I slump in tin prices forced the closure of the mining company in December 1918.
South Wheal Frances Mine
South Wheal Frances Mine lies in the middle of the Great Flat Lode with its area bounded to the northeast by Wheal Basset and to the southwest by Grenville United sett. There had been workings in this area since the early 1720's, and Lady Frances Bassett, the mineral Lord, offered a new lease on the land in 1834.
The golden period for ore production was the 1850’s but even in the early years of the 20th century several thousand men, women and children worked in the mine.
A pumping engine house with a 75-inch cylinder was built at Marriott's shaft in 1847 and pumped water from Pascoe's shaft as well as Marriott's. In 1857 a 24-inch winder was installed nearby. Between 1856 and 1871 South Wheal Frances experienced three boiler explosions, with one fatality, a not uncommon occurrence for Cornish mines. Large buildings at Marriots shaft housed a compressor and compound engine. Between 1896 and 1899 a major refurbishment of the shaft was undertaken to get down to 6,000 feet. The Boiler House provided steam for the whole site and contained six Lancashire boilers side by side.
‘The Miners’ Dry’ it was not completed until 1908 but it was said to be the finest ‘dry’ in Cornwall. So called as it was where the miners changed at the end of a shift, changing out of their working clothes and drying them on large steam pipes in the building.
The post World War I slump in tin prices forced the closure of the mining company in December 1918.