Tredinney is the most southerly of the pits in the St Just area, situated
2km south of the Balleswidden pit. At first glance there appear to be few
remains other than the pit and waste tips amidst about 58 acres of
heathland, but careful observation reveals several reservoirs, the
remains
of the pumping engine house and various parts of the processing plant.
Slurry from the pit was pumped to settling tanks and a kiln at Lower Leah 1.6km to the south-east. It is not known if this is an original
arrangement or one that developed during the pit's period of working.
Apart from the separate kiln and settling tanks at lower Leah the Tredinney site is not conventionally divided into
extraction and processing sections.
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The most northerly feature is the reservoir, used
to supply water for washing the face of the pit, and a leat can be
traced for about 100m east of the eastern end of the reservoir. The pit is
linear, orientated north-west to south-east, and measures approximately
180m by 40 to 50m. The north-eastern section is protected by a wall which
has soil banked up against it on the pit side.
Little is known of the history of this site, which
appears to have opened
and closed during the first and second large-scale surveys of the area in
1875 and 1906. The site was certainly closed in 1893 when two of the
directors of the China Clay Union Ltd., Thomas Fenwick and Lord Godolphin
Osborne, tried to buy it for £4,500. An attempt to reopen the site in
1970, by Zennorin Investments, was turned down for environmental reasons.
