Tin Mining In Britain on:
[Wikipedia]
[Google]
[Amazon]
Tin mining in Britain took place from prehistoric times, during
The history of the Count House of Ding Dong Mine
one of the oldest tin mines in Cornwall, where Richard Trevithick carried out his first experiments with high pressure steam. {{Europe topic, Tin mining in Tin mining Mining in the United Kingdom
Tin mining in Britain took place from prehistoric times, during Bronze Age Britain
Bronze Age Britain is an era of British history that spanned from until . Lasting for approximately 1,700 years, it was preceded by the era of Neolithic Britain and was in turn followed by the period of Iron Age Britain. Being categorised as t ...
, until the 20th century. Mention of tin mining in Britain was made by many Classical writers. Tin is necessary to smelt bronze
Bronze is an alloy consisting primarily of copper, commonly with about 12–12.5% tin and often with the addition of other metals (including aluminium, manganese, nickel, or zinc) and sometimes non-metals (such as phosphorus) or metalloid ...
, an alloy that played a vital cultural role during the Bronze Age
The Bronze Age () was a historical period characterised principally by the use of bronze tools and the development of complex urban societies, as well as the adoption of writing in some areas. The Bronze Age is the middle principal period of ...
. As South-West Britain was one of the few parts of Anglian stage
The Anglian Stage is the name used in the British Isles for a middle Pleistocene glaciation. It precedes the Hoxnian Stage and follows the Cromerian Stage in the British Isles. It correlates to Marine Isotope Stage 12 (MIS 12), which started ab ...
England to escape glaciation, tin ore was readily available on the surface. Originally it is likely that cassiterite
Cassiterite is a tin oxide mineral, SnO2. It is generally opaque, but it is translucent in thin crystals. Its luster and multiple crystal faces produce a desirable gem. Cassiterite was the chief tin ore throughout ancient history and remains ...
alluvial deposits in the gravels of streams were exploited but later underground working took place. Shallow cuttings were then used to extract ore. In the 19th century advances in mining engineering enabled the exploitation of much deeper mines. In a few cases these mines even extended both to multiple levels and workings below the seabed.
See also
* Tin sources and trade during antiquity * Dartmoor tin mining *Mining in Cornwall and Devon
Mining in Cornwall and Devon, in the southwest of Britain, is thought to have begun in the early-middle Bronze Age with the exploitation of cassiterite. Tin, and later copper, were the most commonly extracted metals. Some tin mining continue ...
References
External links
The history of the Count House of Ding Dong Mine
one of the oldest tin mines in Cornwall, where Richard Trevithick carried out his first experiments with high pressure steam. {{Europe topic, Tin mining in Tin mining Mining in the United Kingdom