Engine houses on the cliffs
Copper mines on the south coast
Ruined engine houses on the cliff tops are a reminder of a Cornish industry with a long history. There were around 600 steam engines pumping water from the mines at the height of the industry in the nineteenth century.
Why the engines?
The metal ore was in vertical lodes so the mine shafts had to be vertical and very deep. The shafts would easily flood so the steam engines drove pumps to remove the water.
The stone buildings on the cliffs have survived because they had to be strongly built. The walls supported the beams of the massive pumps.
Why on the cliff tops?
The nearer to sea level the smaller the height to pump the water before it reached the surface. Also the steam engines needed coal which could be delivered by sea.
The Wheal Trevawas miners extracted ore from lodes that went under the sea so here the shafts and engine houses had to be by the coast.
Submitted by: Andrew Hunt, 07 March 2004
