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 18th November 2008 Cornish Links
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Photos of Wheal Coates Cornwall
Click on a photo for much a higher quality version. About Wheal CoatesWheal Coates – St. AgnesThe engine house that stands beside Towanroath Shaft is in a spectacular setting as it lies half way down the cliff between St. Agnes and Chapel Porth and makes a wonderful photograph or indeed a painting. At low tide it is possible to access part of the mine through a large cave alog the beach near Chapel Porth. Originally the mine workings went right down to the sea and it is possible to hear the waves crashing against the rocks through a grate covering the shaft. Towanroath vugga (cave) is partly a natural sea cave and also a honeycomb of old excavation and at the back of the sea cave is a mine drainage adit. Chambers English Dictionary defines a vug as “a Cornish miners name for a cavity in a rock” Numerous lodes at Wheal Coates are in the granite intrusions but the Towanroath lode is found in the killas between the granite and the cliffs. The mine was not very prolific in the production of copper or tin and it closed in 1889 although several attempts were made to reopen it. On the top of the cliffs are the houses for winding and stamps engines the Towanroath pumping engine was built 1872 and drained the mine from the adjacent 600feet deep Towanroath shaft. The Whim engine house was built in 1880 and the Stamps and Whim Engine Houses were built between.1882-3. The Calciner built in 1910 -13 is a rare double bayed calciner which roasted tin concentrate to drive off unwanted impurities including arsenic. One of the ruins on the cliff top is a square well preserved engine pond that is situated on the south side of the mine buildings. It is possible to see the exit sluice in the north-west corner and the water to supply the engines and stamps was pumped up from an adit shaft which is no longer visible. Today the National Trust maintains the engine houses and other buildings and there are several useful information boards with useful site plans etc.. Parking is available on the cliff top and at low it is possible to park at Chapel Porth and then walk along the beach |
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