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THE TREVITHICK SOCIETY
FOR THE PRESERVATION AND STUDY OF CORNWALL'S INDUSTRIAL HERITAGE
Established 1935 |
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Industrial gazetteer: mines |
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Bosorne Mine, Bosorne and Bollowall United, East St Just United St Just Amalgamated and St Just United
This section is obviously a great contraction of the mining history of this area: I may include separate histories at some future time.
Bosorne Mine is situated about the hamlet of Bosorne, about 1 km south of St Just. The first reference appears to be in 1815 when a 1-10th share was advertised in the West Briton. The map of the St Just district in the 1822 paper by Joseph Carne shows a mine called Wheal Vulcan at Bosorne; there are no records of any operations under this name. At some point a mine called Wheal Venton operated in the western Cot Valley, and this was eventually absorbed into the sett.
A letter dating from September 1824 stated that "Bosorn Engine is gon to work" and may refer to a reworking of the sett, which was put up for sale the following year. When advertised for sale in 1828 the mine had a 36-foot diameter water wheel, the loadings of which can still be seen. The mine worked again in the late 1830s but there are no records for the 1840s. Another reopening took place in 1850 and the following year the mine acquired a 15-inch pumping engine although it is not known where it was sited. There are reports for the mine in the Mining Journal until 1854 although the mine did not close until 1857. Recorded production from 1824 to 1855 amounted to about 47 tons of tin concentrate.
In 1858 the sett was worked as Bosorne and Bollowall United, of which there are very few records. In 1865 the sett was taken up by the East St Just United Tin Mining Company, which was probably floated on the strength of St Just United, to the north-west. The managing director was Henry L. Phillips, who held the same position at Cape Cornwall Mine and St Just Consols; the managing agent at all three mines was John Carthew. In August 1865 a 40-inch pumping engine was set to work in a house at the western side of the hamlet of Bosorne.
Work during the middle 1860s was mostly confined to above adit, although this was about 50 fathoms below the collar of the engine shaft, called Phillips' after the managing director. On Wheal Venton Lode a 10-fathom level was worked. Little production appears to have taken place and most work was presumably exploratory.
Following the closure of St Just United Mine in August 1866 it was bought at auction by Henry Phillips and John Ward and offered to the shareholders of East St Just United at cost-price. Both mines worked under that name until 1867, when it was changed at a special meeting to the St Just Amalgamated Mining Company (Ltd.). Work appears to have concentrated on the north-western part of the sett, near Priest Cove, where the engine shaft was 110 fathoms deep below adit by 1870 and sinking below the 120 in 1875, when the mine closed. The mid-1870s was a period of depressed tin prices caused by the appearance of cheap foreign tin on the market, and many other Cornish mines were stopped, including the mine's immediate neighbour Cape Cornwall.
Towards the end of the 1870s the price of tin picked up again and in 1879 the sett was taken up by Richard ('Banker') Boyns. There is insufficient space to describe Boyns here, an entrepreneur who spent (eventually) all of his money on the St Just mines. Among many others he was purser of North Levant Mine, the fore-runner of Geevor.
During this period of operations work was again
concentrated around Priest Cove, but aided by the addition of Cape
Cornwall Mine to the sett. The latter was owned by Richard
('Purser') Boyns, manager of Boswedden and brother-in-law of his namesake.
During the 1870s the top of an ore shoot had been uncovered, and the life
of St Just United eventually depended on this structure, known as the
'Cream Pot', ultimately worked to a depth of 165 fathoms below adit.
Equipment on the mine was increased and a 30-inch stamping engine was
erected just south of the pumping engine at Priest Cove. The engine
shaft was also renamed, in favour of the Reverend Sir E. Bayley.
Various accounts name this shaft 'Bailey's' - 'Bayley's' is the correct
spelling.
Unfortunately, the Cream Pot was
worked out by early 1886 and in July that year the Cape Cornwall section
was abandoned and Bayley's Engine Shaft was stripped to the 62 fathom
level. Following this operations moved to the south and concentrated
on the Bellan, Red Dipper and Minnis Glaze lodes. Despite the fact
that tin prices improved it was not matched by an increase of tin
production and a decision to sell the mine was taken in June 1888.
The 36-inch pumping engine was advertised for sale in November but stayed
un site until 1890 when it was sold to Trethosa China Clay Works.
This engine, originally erected at Penhale Wheal Vor in 1865, remained at
Trethosa until 1934 when it was scrapped.
From about 1890 some exploration work was carried out by various parties
on Bollowall Common, ultimately ending in the formation of a new mine with
an old name: Wheal Bellan. This was situated in the western end of
the Cot Valley and was intended to work the
lodes of St Just United and Wheal Hermon at depth and out to sea.
Unfortunately very little mining took place here and the site was
abandoned after World War II.
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