Great Work Mine was a Cornish mine between Godolphin hill and

Tregonning Hill Tregonning Hill is the westerly of two granite hills overlooking Mount's Bay in west Cornwall, England, United Kingdom, the other being Godolphin Hill. They are approximately west of the town of Helston. The Plymouth chemist William Cookworthy ...

and is in the hamlet of Great Work on Bal Lane. Great Work is notable for its unusual chimney stack with the upper brick-work in two stages. The remaining ruin of the mine sits 400 ft above sea level, and is part of the

Cornwall and West Devon Mining Landscape The Cornwall and West Devon Mining Landscape is a World Heritage Site which includes select mining landscapes in Cornwall and West Devon in the south west of England. The site was added to the World Heritage List during the 30th Session of the ...

. The site is owned by the

National Trust The National Trust () is a heritage and nature conservation charity and membership organisation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. The Trust was founded in 1895 by Octavia Hill, Sir Robert Hunter and Hardwicke Rawnsley to "promote the ...

and forms part of the

Godolphin Estate The Godolphin Estate is a National Trust property situated in Godolphin Cross, north-west of Helston in Cornwall, England. The house is a Grade I listed building. History The estate was the seat of the Dukes of Leeds and the Earls of Godolp ...

along with

Godolphin House The Godolphin Estate is a National Trust property situated in Godolphin Cross, north-west of Helston in Cornwall, England. The house is a Grade I listed building. History The estate was the seat of the Dukes of Leeds and the Earls of Godolphi ...

History

It had opened by 1538. John Leland visited the mine and was quoted as saying "There are no greater Tynne workes yn al Cornwal than be on Sir Wylliam Godolcan's Ground". By 1584 at least 300 employed were there, and the annual profit was £1000. Until 1816 the mine exploited the surface and shallow pits. Deep mining started then and continued until 1873. The mine worked five

lode In geology, a lode is a deposit of metalliferous ore that fills or is embedded in a fracture (or crack) in a rock formation or a vein of ore that is deposited or embedded between layers of rock. The current meaning (ore vein) dates from th ...

s, ran five engines and employed 500 people. The mine was put up for sale as a going concern, by William Teague of Treliske, in January 1885. While the mine was not exhausted, new machinery and investment was needed and if the mine was not sold, it would close. Machinery, included three engines, plant and materials were put up for auction on 30 November 1885. C M Thomas purchased the mine in 1888 and formed a

limited liability company A limited liability company (LLC) is the United States-specific form of a private limited company. It is a business structure that can combine the pass-through taxation of a partnership or sole proprietorship with the limited liability of ...

with capital of £100,000. The pumping and stamping engines restarted on 10 October 1888.

1930 onwards

Great Work Mine From Tregonning Hill late 19th Century

In 1930 the mine closed. Some miners continued working above

adit An adit (from Latin ''aditus'', entrance) or stulm is a horizontal or nearly horizontal passage to an underground mine. Miners can use adits for access, drainage, ventilation, and extracting minerals at the lowest convenient level. Adits are a ...

level. The mine was de-watered in the mid-1930s in an attempt to reopen it. The effort was abandoned and the mine closed permanently in 1939. During this time, on Bal Lane a terrace of twenty-six houses were built for miners. The ruins at Great Work reveal a fraction of the mine's extent. In the photo the engine house on the far left is the Leeds shaft and is all that remains. In 2005 the Leeds shaft engine house was restored. This shaft and Burnt Whim were capped with a metal grate, for safety and to promote nesting bats within the shaft.

References

{{Reflist

History

1930 onwards

See also

References

Further reading