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Summary

Worked intermittently from 1797 to 1950, mining and processing micaceous haematite. As well as open workings and the dressing floors, the remains of a water turbine, a set of stamps and a water wheel can be seen, restored by the Kelly Mine Preservation Society.

Location

Protected Status

• SHINE: Remains of the late 18th century Kelly Mine, including open workings, dressing floors as well as remains of a water turbine and associated features

Other References/Statuses

• National Monuments Record: SX78SE44
• National Record of the Historic Environment: 1463501
• Old DCC SMR Ref: SX78SE/8
• SHINE Candidate (Yes)

Monument Type(s) and Dates

• ADIT (XVIII - 1797 AD (Between) to 1797 AD (Between))
• DRIFT MINE (XVIII - 1797 AD (Between) to 1797 AD (Between))
• IRONSTONE MINE (XVIII to Mid 20th Century - 1797 AD (Between) to 1951 AD (Between))
• LEAT (XVIII - 1797 AD (Between) to 1797 AD (Between))
• STOREHOUSE (XVIII - 1797 AD (Between) to 1797 AD (Between))
• WHEEL PIT (XVIII - 1797 AD (Between) to 1797 AD (Between))
• MUSEUM (Built, Late 20th Century - 1984 AD (Between) to 1984 AD (Between))

Full description

Instone, E., Monuments Protection Programme: The Iron Industry- Draft Step 3 Draft Shortlist of Sites (Report - non-specific). SDV357953.

Kelly Mine, 1790s (Fe production 1879-91, 1900-46) stamps, pelton wheel, buildings and dressing floor being restored.

Ordnance Survey, 1880s, Ordnance Survey (Cartographic). SDV848.

'Kelly Mine (iron)' shown on OS 25" (1880s) map as a group of six detached buildings in an irregular shaped field on the north side of the road.

Ordnance Survey, 1906, 101NW (Cartographic). SDV300030.

Marked on OS 6" (1906) map. "Tin Copse" and "Tinhill Copse" to NE, "Warmpit Copse" to E.

Collins, J. H., 1912, Observations on the West of England Mining Region, 514 (Monograph). SDV323594.

Ramsden, J. V., 1952, Notes on the Mines of Devonshire, 97 (Article in Serial). SDV60737.

Kelly Mine (K1). Micaceous iron. Other details: Figure 1.

Minchinton, W. E., 1976, Industrial Archaeology in Devon, 25 (Monograph). SDV7016.

The Kelly Mine. Worked intermittently from 1797 to 1950: as well as open workings and the dressing floors, the remains of a water turbine and a set of stamps can be seen. Micaceous haematite was mined here.

1986, Untitled Source (Article in Serial). SDV280592.

Article of 1986 describes activities of local group exploring the mine.

Richardson, P. H. G., 1992, The Mines of Dartmoor and the Tamar Valley after 1913, 74-79 (Article in Serial). SDV323598.

Kelly Mine may not have been as important as Great Rock but was worked for an equally long time – 55 years between 1879 and 1944 (with an 8 year break between 1892-1900). From 1920 onwards the mine was run by the Ferrubron Compnay and managed by E. M. Slatter (who also looked after Great Rock). Description of the buildings given.
Visited first in 1952, seven years after its closure, and the equipment was reasonably intact at this time. Further visits noted gradual deterioration until the Preservation Society took over care of the site in the 1980s. Other details: Figures 12-13, plates 35-6.

Instone, E., 1995, Monuments Protection Programme: The Iron Mining Industry- Introduction to Step 3 Site Assessments, Volume 2 (Report - non-specific). SDV357954.

Kelly Mine. Definite national importance; these sites undoubtedly merit statutory protection, which will normally be the first-option recommendation.
Kelly Mine Preservation Society are the owners of this ruined ironstone mine and have plans to restore the mine. The site was worked by adits and shafts from the 1790s but micaceous haematite was produced between 1879 to 1891 and again from 1900 to 1946. The mine has many surviving features such as shafts, adits, drifts, wheel pits, stores and buildings and is located in Tinhill Copse.

Roberts, P., 1996, Kelly Mine: The First Ten Years, 163-167 (Article in Serial). SDV280594.

The micaceous hematite became known as 'Devon Sand' used to dry ink before blotting paper and after 1879 was used as a rust inhibitor in paint. Power for the turbine came from a reservoir in the woods above the mine which had been supplemented by water piped from an adjacent valley. In 1984 the mine was leased to enthusiasts for renovation which has included the drying shed, waterwheel, leat, dressing shed + tramway incline. Other details: Mining History: Bulletin Peak District Mines Historical Society, No 2.

Lancaster University Archaeological Unit, 1998, Iron and Steel Industries, Monument Protection Programme (MPP), Introduction to Site Assessments (Report - Assessment). SDV362922.

Worked from the 1790s producing iron ore between 1879-91 and 1900-46, the site is being restored by a preservation society. All buildings show signs of reconstruction.
Close inpesction not possible. The site is undoubtedly of national importance, but in view of its on-going sympathetic management, may be best protected through a combination of listing and non-statutory protection,

Bodman, M., 1998, Water-Powered Sites in Devon, 40 (Report - non-specific). SDV305931.

Other details: 76.

Walter, N., 2000, Kelly Mine Open Day, 2 (Migrated Record). SDV280595.

Recent restoration work has included a complete set of ore washing strips + the renewal of the water supply enabling the unique Californian stamps to wet stamp ore. The ore drying furnace has been repaired and a replacement ore elevator has been constructed. Recent excavations found the remains of early wooden settling pits + fragments of a waterwheel manufactured by Dickers of Chagford.

Bodman, M., 2003, Watermills and Other Water-Powered Sites in Devon, 284, 314 (Report - Interim). SDV325576.

The lower water wheel is by Willcocks of Buckfastleigh. The Society have recently acquired another water wheel from Wigdon Mill, Beaworthy as a long-term restoration project Other details: Draft Report.

Brooks, T., 2004, Devon's Last Metal Mine: Great Rock 'Shiny' Ore Mine, 156-7 (Monograph). SDV347738.

Summary of the mine's history and remains at the site today.

2004, Kelly Mine (Leaflet). SDV320140.

In 1996 a new engine was installed in the mill situated on the site of the old engine by the Kelly Mine Preservation Society. Other projects undertaken by the society have included the restoration of the lower waterwheel, the rebuilding of the drying shed, the reconstruction of the incline and restoration of the mill pond.

Walter, N., 2005, Kelly Mine (A Small Cog in the Machinery of the Industrial Revolution), 11-14 (Article in Serial). SDV322205.

Kelly Mine is situated on the eastern fringe of Dartmoor, in an area where the granite contains several loads of high quality micaceous haematitie, a rare variety of iron oxide known locally as 'shining ore'. The earliest record of the mine is in 1797, when it was described as 'A mine of rich ore, resembling black lead, which has been worked for several years past'. When the mine closed in 1951, according to local tales, the landowner was owed rent and royalties by the mining company and refused to allow them back on site unless he was paid. The result was that, unlike most mines, the machinery and equipment were never removed for reuse or scrap. Kelly mine thus retained its entire collection even down to miners' tools and clothes.

The buildings are mainly timber framed with corrugated iron cladding, typical of late 19th or early 20th century mine buildings, within which is a fine collection of original mining machinery. Probably the most significant feature of the mine is the survival of virtually all the processing equipment. The restoration means that it is now possible to demonstrate the entire ore processing system from hauling trams up the incline to weighing barrels of iron ore ready for despatch.

Walter, N., 2015, Kelly Mine Preservation Society Newsletter (April) (Article in Serial). SDV358921.

Walter, N., 2015, Kelly Mine Preservation Society Newsletter (August) (Article in Serial). SDV358923.

Walter, N., 2015, Kelly Mine Preservation Society Newsletter (February) (Article in Serial). SDV358920.

Walter, N., 2015, Kelly Mine Preservation Society Newsletter (June) (Article in Serial). SDV358922.

Bodman, M., 2015, Mills on the Teign. A gazetteer of water-powered sites on the Teign and Bovey and their tributaries, 107 (Monograph). SDV360401.

Brooks, T., 2016, Kelly Mine and the 'Shiny Ore' Mines of the Wray Valley, 7-24, 27- (Monograph). SDV359934.

Early history of the mine and development of the micaceous haematite industry from the 1870s-1892 discussed. Around 1877 the Kelly Iron Mines Company commenced mining for micaceous haematite at Kelly Mine (first recorded in official statistics) on a small scale; only two or three men were employed. In 1885, the mine apparently changed its name to Kelley Iron Mines Company when ownership may have changed to William Hoskins who worked the mine until its closure in 1892. It was known variously as 'Kelley', 'Kolley' and 'Kelly' mine. Details of the mine at the time of the First Edition Ordnance Survey map (late 1870s) discussed, including details of the buildings and shafts.
In 1900, The Scottish Silvoid Company reopened Kelly Mine and in 1901 employed 13 workers, 8 of them working underground, although numbers dropped to 8 the following year and then 2 in 1903. The Second Edition Ordnance Survey historic map from 1905 shows the mine at that time and the workings are discussed. In 1910, George Druett, a young miner was killed in a shaft accident and the following inquest was reported in the Western Guardian. Although there are no official statistics on how the First World War affected Kelly Mine, the author assumes there would have been labour shortages. In 1917, Ferrubron Manufacturing took over at Kelly Mine and from then on, it was worked with Great Rock Mine.

Jewell, A., 2016, Kelly Mine, Lustleigh (Website). SDV359943.

Wade, P. + Offer, R., 2018, Kelly Mine. The top adit: an archaeological survey, See report for detail (Report - Excavation). SDV362981.

Historic England, 2021-2022, NRHE to HER website, Accessed 11/05/2021 (Website). SDV364039.

Kelly Mine is an iron mine located on the eastern side of Dartmoor, near Lustleigh. It worked deposits of micaceous haematite (shiny ore), a flaky form of iron oxide, Fe2O3. First reference to mining here dates back to 1797, and the first official record of the mine is in 1877 when it was leased by the Kelly Iron Company. A major underground collapse brought working on the mine to an end in 1951 and the mine closed. However, due to a legal dispute all the mine machinery was left in situ and this has formed the base of the Kelly Mine collection.
This mine is leased by the Kelly Mine Preservation Society from the owner of Kelly Farm. The Society has restored the surface features to a working state and is now starting underground conservation and restoration. (citing oral information: PastScape feedback, 12-OCT-2011)
This mine is today (2011) leased by the Kelly Mine Preservation Society from the owner of Kelly Farm. The society has restored the surface features to a working state and is now starting underground conservation and restoration. Visitors can now follow the complete mining process from ore to the dispatch of the final product from the drying sheds. Some machinery including the ore washing, jigging and stamping equipment has been maintained in working order.
For further details on the mine including visitor information please see the Kelly Preservation website (citing The Kelly Mine Preservation Society. 2011. Kelly Mine, <http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/tonyjewell/kellymine/kmps.html> [Accessed 12-OCT-2011]).

Sources / Further Reading

Associated Monuments

Associated Finds: none recorded

Associated Events

• EDV8097 - Survey of the top adit at Kelly Mine

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