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Summary

Higher Levant or Spearn Moor Mine worked from 1830 to 1878

Protected Status

• Scheduled Monument: Higher Levant Mine

Other References/Statuses

• Cornwall PROJECT ID: IN
• National Mapping Programme (Morph No.): 323.51.1
• Primary Record No. (1985-2009): 42728
• SMR No. (OS Quarter-sheet and SMR No.): SW33SE 37

Monument Type(s):

• MINE (19th Century - 1830 AD to 1878 AD)

Full description

Higher Levant or Spearn Moor Mine worked from 1830 to 1878 (b6). It is recorded on the Tithe Map as Lower Wheal Spearn (b1), and Symons shows an engine house at SW 3675 3392 (b2). Noall locates another engine house at SW 3704 3405 (b10). The mine was later worked by Levant as Higher Levant (b11). Photos are shown by Ordish (b9) and the mine is marked on the OS maps of 1908 (b5) and 1963 (b8).
Site surveyed by Sharpe in 1992 (b13). A late development of the Levant site, this area of the sett was purchased from Spearn Moor mine, and Guide Shaft (SW 3707 3405) next to the road became developed for both hauling and pumping from the eastern part of the sett - the pumps being worked by flat rods. The engine house here is a prominent landmark, as are the walls which bound the site from the adjoining road, which incorporate ore chutes used for transferring material to vehicles transporting it to the dressing floors. The dumps around the shaft have been much dug into, but this site retains most of its integrity. The shaft itself has been capped over in concrete, and the arched entry to it from the road blocked in. From the north-east, however, only two thick planks prevent access. The remains of the mine are visible on aerial photographs (p1-2) and were plotted as part of the NMP.

<1> Tithe Award, 1840s, St Just in Penwith (Bibliographic reference). SCO4891.

CCC, 1992, F34/115 (Photographic Record). SCO18199.

CCC, ?, F53/74 (Photographic Record). SCO9276.

<2> Symons, R, 1857, Map of the St Just Mining District (Bibliographic reference). SCO4522.

<3> Spargo, T, 1865, The Mines of Cornwall, PT 15, (Bibliographic reference). SCO4470.

<4> Reid, C & Flett, JS, 1907, The Geology of the Land's End District, 117 (Bibliographic reference). SCO4244.

<5> Ordnance Survey, 1900s, 2nd Edition 1:2500 Map (Cartographic materials). SCO4050.

<6> Collins, JH, 1912, Observations on the West of England Mining Region, 582 (Bibliographic reference). SCO3168.

<7> Dines, HG, 1956, The Metalliferous Mining Region of South-West England, 78-79 (Bibliographic reference). SCO3217.

<8> Ordnance Survey, 1970s, 1:10,000 OS Map (Cartographic materials). SCO4045.

<9> Ordish, HG, 1967, Cornish Engine Houses, VOL 2, 13 (Bibliographic reference). SCO4044.

<10> Noall, C, 1970, Levant: the Mine Beneath the Sea, 43 (Bibliographic reference). SCO3992.

<11> Noall, C, 1973, The St Just Mining District, Monograph on Mining History No 5, 159 (Bibliographic reference). SCO3998.

<12> Bird, RH, 1974, Britain's Old Metal Mines - Pictorial Survey, 9 (Bibliographic reference). SCO2855.

<13> Sharpe, A, 1992, St Just, an Archaeological Survey of the Mining District Vol 2, 170 (Bibliographic reference). SCO4373.

Sources / Further Reading

Associated Finds: none recorded

Associated Events

• ECO3893 - Levant Mine Complex (Ref: B3705)

Related records: none recorded

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