Cornwall and West Devon Mining Landscape

• Official name: Cornwall and West Devon Mining Landscape
• Location: England
• Type: Cultural
• Year of inscription: 2006

The Cornwall and West Devon Mining Landscape is a United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) World Heritage Site in western England. The site is comprised of ten areas that together span nearly 49,421 acres (20,000 hectares). These historical areas are related to the mining industry that helped propel the Industrial Revolution and changed technology throughout the world. The Cornwall and West Devon Mining Landscape encompasses numerous historical sites, including mines, homes, transportation networks, and industrial infrastructure.

The ten areas that make up the Cornwall and West Devon Mining Landscape are spread out across southwestern England and known for mining tin, copper, arsenic, and other materials. They are the St Just Mining District; the Port of Hayle, the Tregonning and Gwinear Mining Districts, the Wendron Mining District, Camborne and Redruth with Wheal Peevor and Portreath, the Gwennap Mining District, the St Agnes Mining District, Luxulyan Valley with Charlestown, the Caradon Mining District, and Tamar Valley Mining District with Tavistock.

The St Just Mining District is the westernmost area of the site and is located on the Atlantic Coast. St Just’s geology and mineral stores also made a popular place for undersea mining in the 1700s and 1800s. One of its main attractions is Geevor, a retired mine that is now open to the public.

The rivers and quays in Port of Hayle helped transport metals for trade. It is located near St. Ives Bay. The Tregonning and Gwinear Mining District is the largest of the ten areas. Its most important mines were Wheal Trewavas (a copper mine) and Wheal Prosper (a tin mine).

The Wendron Mining District is one of the smallest of the ten areas. It has numerous smallholdings, which are small agricultural plots. It also has preserved cottages and walls constructed from local granite. Known as the capital of Cornish mining, Camborne and Redruth with Wheal Peevor and Portreath contains numerous important mines, including Wheal Peevor, which sits atop the Great Flat Lode, a well-known metal-rich vein of rock.

The Gwennap Mining District was once called the “richest square mile in the Old World” because of its significant mineral deposits. The area includes mining villages and agricultural land. The St Agnes Mining District, which is on the coast, has numerous mines, including Wheal Coates. In the twenty-first century, it is known for having some of the best-preserved engine houses in the Cornwall and West Devon Mining Landscape. The Luxulyan Valley with Charlestown is another area in the landscape. Charlestown, which was built in the late 1700s, includes a harbor. It was an important port that shipped China clay and copper ore. Running through the Luxulyan Valley is a system of aqueducts called leats.

The Caradon Mining District saw a rapid boom and bust cycle during the 1800s. It still contains remnants of engine houses and mounds of waste rock from mines and quarries. The Tamar Valley Mining District with Tavistock lies close to the Tamar River. It is one of the northernmost areas in the landscape. Its mines once produced tin, copper, silver-lead, and arsenic. It contains many well-preserved engine houses, mule paths, and railways.

History

Mining became an important industry in southwestern England because of geologic processes that occurred millions of years ago. Huge mineral lodes formed along rock fissures. Historians believe that humans first began mining metals from these lodes roughly four thousand years ago, during the Bronze Age. At that time, people had few useful tools and little useful technology for extracting resources; nevertheless, the inhabitants of the area successfully extracted tin and other materials. Archeological evidence suggests that people living in the area traded tin with the Romans.

Tin mining became even more important and influential during the medieval period. Settlements grew around Cornwall and Devon so that tin could be mined, processed, and traded. Mining was valued highly even during the Middle Ages, and miners received privileges because of their work. A Charter of Liberties to the Tinners of Devon and Cornwall was first written in 1201. The charter gave tin miners special rights and privileges, such as being exempt from taxes and military service.

The most impactful time in the area’s history was between 1700 and 1914, when the most mining took place. The metals mined in the region during this time helped supply the raw materials needed to produce the machines, engines, and infrastructure of the Industrial Revolution. Without these raw materials, it is unlikely that the Industrial Revolution would have occurred in the same way. Mining in the area further shaped the Industrial Revolution because it helped spur technological advances. Mining during the Industrial Revolution also generated large amounts of wealth, and mine operators were willing to pay large sums of money for new technology that allowed them to access more minerals and make mining more efficient. One of the most important inventions of the Industrial Revolution was the steam engine, which was first used to pump water out of mines.

The mining industry also became more efficient because of these advances. The pumps powered by steam engines allowed miners to dig deeper. The production of gunpowder allowed miners to blast hard rock and expose new mineral deposits. The development of shaft mining also allowed miners to extract resources from deeper areas. Advances in transportation technology, such as steam-powered railroads, also helped increase mining production, as operators could more easily transport the resources from the mines.

Technological advances that affected mining and transportation spread throughout the world. The Industrial Revolution made it possible for mineral and metal mining to take place in additional places. These advances created more mining operations to compete with the mining that was taking place in southwestern England. Starting in the mid-1800s, mining in the region began to slow, and some mines shut down.

Slowly, people began to migrate away from the region to find jobs elsewhere. A period called the Great Migration occurred in Cornwall between 1815 and 1915. During that time, between 250,000 to 500,000 people migrated from the region to other parts of the world. Some spread their knowledge of mining. This is another way that the mining in Cornwall and Devon influenced technology and industry around the world. Mining operations in South Africa, Australia, North America, and South America were all influenced by migrating Cornish miners. Although mining dramatically declined in Cornwall and Devon in the early 1900s, some mines remained open for most of the twentieth century. The last mines were shuttered in Cornwall in the 1990s.

Significance

Cornwall and West Devon Mining Landscape was chosen as a World Heritage Site because its mining and industrial history helped influence technology throughout the world and this history has been preserved in the region.

UNESCO World Heritage Sites are chosen for their cultural, historic, and scientific importance. A site must meet at least one of the ten criteria UNESCO uses to judge its significance. UNESCO chose Cornwall and West Devon Mining Landscape as a site because it met criteria ii, iii, and iv. It met criterion ii because it showed “an important interchange of human values over a span of time or within a cultural area of the world, on developments in architecture or technology.” The areas of Cornwall and Devon achieve this because the region’s industry and mining advanced technology and industry throughout the world. The mining that took place between the 1700s and the 1900s helped advance the Industrial Revolution. Technology that developed in the area, such as the high-pressure steam beam engine, spurred industrialization throughout the United Kingdom and the world.

Criterion iii states that a site must bear “a unique or at least exceptional testimony to a cultural tradition or to a civilization which is living or which has disappeared.” The Cornwall and West Devon Mining Landscape achieves this because it has preserved villages, homes, and other structures from various times. These structures help visitors understand what life was like at the time and industry’s effect on people’s lives.

Criterion iv states that a chosen site must include “an outstanding example of a type of building, architectural or technological ensemble or landscape.” Cornwall and West Devon meet this criterion because of the preserved engine buildings spread throughout the site. These engine buildings were once important to the region.

The Cornwall and West Devon Mining Landscape also maintains UNESCO’s standards of integrity and authenticity. The region has settlements, villages, and buildings from various times in history, which shows how mining and industry influenced the area over time. However, UNESCO also points out that the Cornwall and West Devon Mining Landscape may be vulnerable to development that could negatively impact the preservation of the area’s industrial history. This is because people continue to live and work in parts of the World Heritage Site. Although the local government closely regulates development, it is possible that the site could be altered by development in the future.

Bibliography

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“World Heritage Site.” Visit West Devon, www.visitwestdevon.co.uk/history-and-culture/world-heritage-site. Accessed 4 Dec. 2024.