The Crown Engine Houses cling to the cliffs of Cornwall.
The underground tin mines at Botallack, head perilously out under the sea by 400 metres!
The 2 engine houses are known as ‘The Crowns’.
The lower engine house, housed the pumping engine and the upper housed the whim engine.
Space was so limited that, rather unusually, the lower pumping engine house stack was built into the walls of the engine house itself! Space was even more of a premium for the upper (whim) engine house – the stack was actually built on the top of the nearby cliff (still locally known as Carn Whim). The stack and the whim engine house had to be connected with a long stone flue.
The deepest shaft is 250 fathoms, which is about 500m, below sea level!
The Crown mines are, as is often the case, one of many mines that later became known collectively as the Botallack Mines. Others include, Wheal Cock, Wheal Chase, Zawn a Bal, Wheal Hazard and Wheal Hen.
The plaque that is located on the upper of the two engine houses at Crowns Mines states;
The mines here worked before 1721 and closed in 1914.
The lower pumping engine house was built in 1830s and the upper winding engine house (Pearce’s) in 1858.
Preserved 1984 by the Carn Brea Mining Society.
At the site there are the remains of buddles that show that the tin was refined onsite.
There are 2 arsenic works opposite the Botallack Mine count house, easy to distinguish with their labyrinth of flues. In this respect the mine adapted its activities along with the economic climate of the times just like Wheal Anna Maria at the Devon Great Consols.
Nowadays, the site is cared for by the National Trust and they have details of the coastal walk that takes them in HERE!
About the Botallack Walk they say;
“This walk goes through outstanding historical and industrial sites set in coastal heathland, with rare wild flowers. Here, passing choughs with their ‘cheoow’ can be heard. The whole walk lies in the Cornish Mining World Heritage Site.”
Enjoy your visit by parking at the Count House and using the visitor centre there to learn about the awesome submarine mines and Cornish hard rock mining.
Botallack, St Just, Cornwall, TR19 7QQ
For more Cornish treats, visit the Cornish Engine Houses Collections HERE!
The Crown Engine Houses cling to the cliffs of Cornwall.
The underground tin mines at Botallack, head perilously out under the sea by 400 metres!
The 2 engine houses are known as ‘The Crowns’.
The lower engine house, housed the pumping engine and the upper housed the whim engine.
Space was so limited that, rather unusually, the lower pumping engine house stack was built into the walls of the engine house itself! Space was even more of a premium for the upper (whim) engine house – the stack was actually built on the top of the nearby cliff (still locally known as Carn Whim). The stack and the whim engine house had to be connected with a long stone flue.
The deepest shaft is 250 fathoms, which is about 500m, below sea level!
The Crown mines are, as is often the case, one of many mines that later became known collectively as the Botallack Mines. Others include, Wheal Cock, Wheal Chase, Zawn a Bal, Wheal Hazard and Wheal Hen.
The plaque that is located on the upper of the two engine houses at Crowns Mines states;
The mines here worked before 1721 and closed in 1914.
The lower pumping engine house was built in 1830s and the upper winding engine house (Pearce’s) in 1858.
Preserved 1984 by the Carn Brea Mining Society.
At the site there are the remains of buddles that show that the tin was refined onsite.
There are 2 arsenic works opposite the Botallack Mine count house, easy to distinguish with their labyrinth of flues. In this respect the mine adapted its activities along with the economic climate of the times just like Wheal Anna Maria at the Devon Great Consols.
Nowadays, the site is cared for by the National Trust and they have details of the coastal walk that takes them in HERE!
About the Botallack Walk they say;
“This walk goes through outstanding historical and industrial sites set in coastal heathland, with rare wild flowers. Here, passing choughs with their ‘cheoow’ can be heard. The whole walk lies in the Cornish Mining World Heritage Site.”
Enjoy your visit by parking at the Count House and using the visitor centre there to learn about the awesome submarine mines and Cornish hard rock mining.
Botallack, St Just, Cornwall, TR19 7QQ
For more Cornish treats, visit the Cornish Engine Houses Collections HERE!
