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Summary

Wheal Smith in Collins Wood was worked at surface for tin in earlier centuries, but was trialled for copper by the Tavistock Canal Company between 1816-21, with no significant returns. Worked by the Devon Great Consols company from the 1840s, known as Wheal Thomas then Watson's Mine. Part of Devon Great Consols mines.

Location

Protected Status: none recorded

Other References/Statuses

• Old DCC SMR Ref: SX47SW/504/15

Monument Type(s) and Dates

• MINE (XVIII to XXI - 1751 AD to 2009 AD (Between))

Full description

Ordnance Survey, 1884, 105SW (Cartographic). SDV218129.

'Watson's Mine (Copper)' marked on OS 6" (1884).

Ordnance Survey, 1907, 105 SW (Cartographic). SDV276342.

Marked as disused on OS 6" (1907) map.

Goodridge, J. C., 1964, Devon Great Consols, a Study of Victorian Mining Enterprise, 253-254 (Article in Serial). SDV240773.

Devon Great Consols. Watsons Mine was in the southern part of the sett. It had yielded arsenical mundic when it had been worked in 1855 and 1856, at which time the emphasis had been on copper production. Renewed interest in it in 1879 due to collapse of copper market. Rock drills and an air compressor bought to speed work in the mine. A shaft 76 fathoms deep was sunk to search for tin. Not enough tin found to make it profitable.

Pye, A. R. + Dixon, T.
Pye, A. R. + Dixon, t., 1989, An Archaeological Survey of the Arsenic Works and an Inventory of the Other Historic Workings at Devon Great Consols Mine, Tavistock Hamlets (Report - Survey). SDV226597.

Watsons was a new mine, for copper, worked from the 1870s.

Pye, A. R. + Dixon, T., 1989, The Arsenic Works at Devon Great Consols Mine, Tavistock, 81 (Article in Serial). SDV219136.

Other details: Fig 2.

Richardson, P. H. G., 1992, The Mines of Dartmoor and the Tamar Valley after 1913, 94-108 (Article in Serial). SDV323598.

Not referred to by Richardson as one of the original 1840s mines. Included Watsons, Whim, Bawden's and Eastern Shafts. Other details: Fig 17.

Buck, C., 2002, Devon Great Consols: Archaeological Assessment, 6,229,231-5, Figs 7,35,38 (Report - Assessment). SDV241758.

Wheal Thomas/Watson mine worked an east-west lode at Devon Great Consols from the late 1840s & is shown on the 19C maps. The mine was named Wheal Jack Thomas up to the 1870s & then Wheal Watson. By the early 1880s Wheal Watson & Wheal Emma were the only copper producing parts of the Devon Great Consols. Three small mine buildings set within one of two yards are shown on the 1867 map at SX43657304. The buildings may have been primary dressing floors. The survey in 2002 found the site of these buildings & yards shown as two excavations forming level platforms with upslope revetments c10m long x up to 2.6m high with rubble masking possible features. Other details: Site 373.

Waterhouse, R., 2017, The Tavistock Canal. Its History and Archaeology, 195, 197, Fig 6.53 (Monograph). SDV361789.

Wheal Smith in Collins Wood was worked at surface for tin in earlier centuries, but was trialled for copper by the Tavistock Canal Company in the main period of mine working by the Company (1816-21), but had no significant returns.
Development was made below adit from the 1840s by the Devon Great Consols company, using water power from the 1724 Marquis Leat, and produced reasonable returns.
Known between 1845 and around 1870 as Wheal Jack Thomas, but was generally referred to as 'Watson's Mine' in the later 19th century, after it's managing director. Abandoned at the end of the 19th century.

Sources / Further Reading

SDV218129	Cartographic: Ordnance Survey. 1884. 105SW. 6".
SDV219136	Article in Serial: Pye, A. R. + Dixon, T.. 1989. The Arsenic Works at Devon Great Consols Mine, Tavistock. Proceedings of the Devon Archaeological Society. 47. Paperback Volume. 81.
SDV226597	Report - Survey: Pye, A. R. + Dixon, T. Pye, A. R. + Dixon, t.. 1989. An Archaeological Survey of the Arsenic Works and an Inventory of the Other Historic Workings at Devon Great Consols Mine, Tavistock Hamlets. Exeter Museums Archaeological Field Unit Report. 89.08. A4 Stapled + Digital.
SDV240773	Article in Serial: Goodridge, J. C.. 1964. Devon Great Consols, a Study of Victorian Mining Enterprise. Transactions of the Devonshire Association. 96. 253-254.
SDV241758	Report - Assessment: Buck, C.. 2002. Devon Great Consols: Archaeological Assessment. Cornwall Archaeological Unit Report. 2002R069. Digital + A4. 6,229,231-5, Figs 7,35,38.
	Linked documents:1
SDV276342	Cartographic: Ordnance Survey. 1907. 105 SW. Second Edition Ordnance Survey 6 inch Map. Map (Paper).
SDV323598	Article in Serial: Richardson, P. H. G.. 1992. The Mines of Dartmoor and the Tamar Valley after 1913. British Mining. 44. A5 Paperback. 94-108.
SDV361789	Monograph: Waterhouse, R.. 2017. The Tavistock Canal. Its History and Archaeology. The Tavistock Canal. Its History and Archaeology. Paperback Volume. 195, 197, Fig 6.53.

Associated Monuments

Associated Finds: none recorded

Associated Events

• EDV2112 - An Archaeological Survey of the Arsenic Works at Devon Great Consols Mine
• EDV2113 - Devon Great Consols: Archaeological Assessment

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