Carnebone

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Coordinates: 50°08′5″N 5°13′9″W / 50.13472°N 5.21917°W / 50.13472; -5.21917
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The renovated engine house of East Wheal Lovell.
Track leading to Carneborne

Carnebone (Cornish: Karn Ebwynn, meaning Ebwyn's rock-pile) is a small hamlet and farm in the parish of Wendron (where the 2011 census population is included) in Cornwall, England.[1] It lies to the east of Wendron, to the northeast of Trevenen, just to the west of Seworgan, along the A394 road, 3.8 miles (6.1 km) northeast of Helston.[2]

Carnebone Moor is in the vicinity,[3] and the hamlet contains the Carnebone Cottage.[4]

History[edit]

Carnebone was documented in 1298 as Carnebwen.[5] It has also been spelled "Carnbane" in some sources.[6] Patrick Hanks and Flavia Hodges believe that the name of a prominent Cornish family named "Kneebone" derived from Carnebone and that the name was altered "by folk etymology".[7]

Mining[edit]

The area has long been associated with tin mining.[8][9] In the 1600s nearby Seworgan was known to contain a blowing-house as early as 1649.[8] Carnebyn tin bounds are recorded in 1676 (the earliest reference to mining on the site). It was first worked by aid of a steam pumping engine in the 1790s as Tregonebris Mine, with a separate detached portion known as Fatwork Mine to the east, which was still drained with a waterwheel operating rag and chain pumps.[10] Later the mine was worked under the title Tregonebris & Carnebone Fatwork, producing tin from 1853 to 1859 before its subsequent.[9] The mines were documented selling tin in 1856 for £76.[11]

East Wheal Lovell[edit]

Tin mining continued and East Wheal Lovell produced some 2,405 tons between 1859 and 1891.[12] A rich tin deposit was struck at 60fms depth and between 1863 and 1874 the mine paid dividends, making it one of the richest in the Wendron mining district.[13] Between October 1869 and May 1871 alone £27,000 were paid in dividends.[14] During this period, East Wheal Lovell's prosperity lead to less prosperous imitation mines such as Great East Wheal Lovell (1864-7) and New East Wheal Lovell (1868-70).[15]

Clement Le Neve Foster visited the mine for his geological studies and published his findings, as well as diagrams of the mine in 1876. He described the ore body between the 40 and 110fm level as:

"one continuous pipe; and as one climbs up and down the shaft, which is merely the space left by the removal of the tinny mass one feels how thoroughly the words pipe or chimney describe deposits of this kind. On looking at the section it will be seen that the shoot is sometimes almost vertical sometimes inclining a good deal in a south south westerly direction. To sum up, it may be said that this shoot is in the shape of a long irregular cylindroid or cylinder with an elliptical base, generally about 12 to 15 feet long by seven feet wide. From the 40 fathoms level to the 50 this one shoot produced about two tons of clean tin ore per fathom of ground sunk; from the 50 to the 90 fathoms level about one ton per fathom; from the 90 to the 100 four or five tons of tin ore per fathom sunk, taking the whole length excavated varying from six to eighteen feet"[14]

And compared it to the carbonas of St Ives Consols Mine.

The last dividend was paid in 1874, the last of any Wendron mine, and the mine entered its terminal decline. Discoveries made in the Tasmanian Tin Mines during the 1870s had reduced the trading commodity value of tin on international markets.[10] The engine house may have been colloquially known as "Roger's" after Henry Rogers, the pursor of the mine.[16][14]

The engine house of East Wheal Lovell mine is grade II listed (dated 17 June 1988).[17] In 2017 it was announced that the site was up for sale with planning permission at the asking price of £125,000.[18] Between 2019 and 2021 it underwent conversion into a residentual dwelling.[13]

East Wheal Lovell Tin Production[16]
Year(s) Black (Tons) Value (£)
1859 154.80 11,853.20
1860 55.80 4,668.10
1861 39.70 3,033.40
1862 4.10 242.30
1863 45.20 2,873.00
1864 70.10 4,269.40
1865 72.80 4,063.80
1866 97.60 4,790.80
1867 139.70 7,450.00
1868 93.80 5,328.40
1869 189.90 14,230.00
1870 215.10 16,662.70
1871 172.00 13,897.00
1872 32.60 2,766.10
1873 78.80 5,896.50
1874 140.00 8,193.60
1875 71.70 3,616.60
1876 30.40 1,284.40
1877 23.50 893.80
1878 28.50 941.90
1879 4.00 160.00
1880 5.80 276.60
1881 14.10 750.50
1882 21.30 1,111.00
1883 13.60 745.00
1884 7.20 306.00
1885 5.00 222.00
1886 4.50 224.00
1887 4.60 276.00
1888 4.60 284.00
1889 2.00 93.00
1890 1.90 103.00
1891 2.00 73.00
1927-1929 no-details ..
Total 1,846.7 121,579.1
East Wheal Lovell Employment[16]
Year(s) Total Overground Underground
1878 47 16 31
1879 25 11 14
1880 43 9 34
1881 55 10 45
1882 58 13 45
1883 37 7 30
1884 28 10 18
1885-1886 14 3 11
1887 12 2 10
1888 10 1 9
1889 10 3 7
1891 4 4 ..
1927 37 22 15
1928 15 8 7
1929 1 1 ..
Total: 396 120 276

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Area Book and Book of Reference to the Plan of the Parish of ... Ordnance Survey, Eyre and Spottiswoode. 1878. p. 73.
  2. ^ Ordnance Survey: Landranger map sheet 203 Land's End & Isles of Scilly (Map). Ordnance Survey. 2009. ISBN 978-0-319-23289-7.
  3. ^ Hoskins, William George; Stamp, Laurence Dudley (1963). The common lands of England & Wales. Collins. p. 258.
  4. ^ The Folk Directory. English Folk Dance and Song Society. 1979. p. 49.
  5. ^ Deacon, Bernard (June 2004). The Cornish Family: The Roots of Our Future. Cornwall Editions Ltd. p. 68. ISBN 978-1-904880-01-1.
  6. ^ Pounds, Norman John Greville (1982). The Parliamentary Survey of the Duchy of Cornwall: Austell Prior-Saltash. Society. p. 47.
  7. ^ Hey, David (22 June 2006). Family Names and Family History. Continuum. p. 5. ISBN 978-1-85285-550-5.
  8. ^ a b Barton, Denys Bradford (1971). Essays in Cornish mining history. Barton. p. 79.
  9. ^ a b Barton, Denys Bradford (March 1967). A history of tin mining and smelting in Cornwall. Barton. p. 109. ISBN 9780851530369.
  10. ^ a b "East Wheal Lovell | Famous Cornish Engine Houses | Cornwall Underground Adventures". www.cornwallunderground.co.uk. Retrieved 14 September 2023.
  11. ^ Observations on the West of England Mining Region: Being an Account of the Mineral Deposits and Economic Geology of the Region, and Forming Vol. XIV of the Transactions of the Royal Geological Society of Cornwall. Joseph Henry Collins. 1912. p. 592.
  12. ^ Todd, Arthur Cecil; Laws, Peter (13 July 1972). The industrial archaeology of Cornwall. David and Charles. p. 265. ISBN 9780715355909.
  13. ^ a b "East Wheal Lovell | Famous Cornish Engine Houses | Cornwall Underground Adventures". www.cornwallunderground.co.uk. Retrieved 13 September 2023.
  14. ^ a b c Foster, Clement Le Neve (1876). Remarks Upon the Tin Deposits of East Wheal Lovell. Royal Geological Society of Cornwall.
  15. ^ Jenkin, Alfred Kenneth Hamilton (1978). Wendron Tin. Wendron Forge Limited.
  16. ^ a b c Burt, Roger; Burnley, Ray; Gill, Michael; Neill, Alasdair (2014). Mining in Cornwall and Devon: Mines and Men. University of Exeter Press. ISBN 978-0-85989-889-8.
  17. ^ Stuff, Good. "Engine House at SW699314, East Wheal Lovell, Wendron, Cornwall". britishlistedbuildings.co.uk. Retrieved 13 September 2023.
  18. ^ Aston, Daniel (6 December 2017). "Your chance to live in a Poldark mine engine house in Cornwall". CornwallLive. Retrieved 13 September 2023.

External links[edit]

50°08′5″N 5°13′9″W / 50.13472°N 5.21917°W / 50.13472; -5.21917

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