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Summary

Crelake Mine was started in 1857. It was worked for copper 1859-74, lead and silver 1860-66 and arsenic 1869-74. It closed in 1874. Mine shafts and structures at Crelake mine were recorded as part of the NMP survey of the Tamar Valley.

Location

Protected Status: none recorded

Other References/Statuses

• Old DCC SMR Ref: SX47SE/38

Monument Type(s) and Dates

• MINE (XIX - 1801 AD to 1900 AD)

Full description

Unknown, Plan of Crelake Mine (Plan - measured). SDV216786.

Plan of mine in parish file.

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

'Crelake Mine (Copper, disused)' shown to the west of the railway line, 'Old Shaft' and 'Chimney' to the east.

Ordnance Survey, 1905/1938, 105SE (Cartographic). SDV215664.

Ramsden, J. V., 1952, Notes on the Mines of Devonshire, 92 (Article in Serial). SDV60737.

C26: Crelake. Plan R 134 A Mining Record Office and Bedford Estate Office, Tavistock. Copper, lead, silver and arsenic. Abandoned 1874.

Cornwall Archaeological Unit, 2001-2002, Tamar Valley National Mapping Programme Transcriptions and Database Records, RAF/CPE/UK/2149/F20/3148-9 (Interpretation). SDV346287.

The transcription of five small circular pits between 3 and 5 metres in diameter and a reverse L-shaped structure up to 8 metres across corresponds to a database record of shafts and a structure associated with Crelake mine. Map object based on this source.

Hyder Consulting (UK) Ltd, 2010, Drake Gardens Lead Mine Stabilisation Project: Advance Works Proposed Site Investigation (Plan - measured). SDV351514.

Plan shows an area of adits to the south of Bedford shaft, covering Drake Gardens and Crelake Close. There are two shafts and one possible shaft shown in Drake Gardens. Map object based on this source.

Gould, R., 2010, Extension on South Side of Workshop, Foundation Excavations, 1-2; figure 2 (Report - non-specific). SDV351511.

Site visited on 5th October 2010 to inspect a buried wall encountered in a foundation trench for an extension on the south side of a workshop built on an old railway embankment. Early Ordnance Survey maps show an under-bridge passed beneath the embankment to the south of the workshop, which was used to convey an inclined railway track beneath the main railway between Bedford Shaft (east of the railway embankment) and Daveys Shaft (west of the railway).

Smyly, H., 2010, Proposed Building Extension, Robey Trust, Tavistock, Devon: Phase 1 & 2 Soil Contamination Assessment and Mining Desk Study Report, 4-5; figure 3 (Report - Assessment). SDV351512.

The site is located within land formerly ascribed to Crelake Mine. Mining commenced in 1857 following the discovery of an east-west trending copper lode in the River Tavy near West Bridge. Several other lodes, including the north-west - south-east trending Lead Lode were also mined. Principally copper and lead ores were mined although some arsenic, pyrites and silver were produced. Crelake Mine closed in 1874. See report for full details.

Hegarty, C., Knight, S. and Sims, R., 2016, Backlog Recording of the Tamar Valley National Mapping Programme Survey (Personal Comment). SDV359374.

The aerial photograph reference given in the Tamar Valley NMP transcription attributes is incomplete; the date of the photograph is not included. The location of the recorded features has been developed as Westbridge Industrial Estate.

Gould, R., 2018, Tavistock Primary School. A Review of Recorded Mining Activity., 1-6; Figs 1-2; Photos; Tables; Appendix 1-5 (Report - non-specific). SDV366051.

Early reports in the Mining Journal indicate that Crelake Mine was started in 1857 following discovery of a lode in the bed of the River Tavy near West Bridge. Contemporary reports describe the lode (‘Main Lode’) as being six feet wide (1.82m) and composed of rich ore, gossan and mundic, at a depth of 14 feet (3.6m). The mine closed in 1874.
The abandonment plan shows that mining was carried out on Main Lode beneath the southern part of the Tavistock Primary School site. Main Lode is recorded trending roughly east-west, with its interpretative outcrop zone passing beneath the central part of the playing field and the south part of the school buildings. These workings included tunnels driven along the lode at the 15 to 86 fathom levels (27-157m). No mine workings are recorded above 15 fathoms to the east of the river, but the abandonment plans may not be complete, and the possibility of shallow unrecorded mine workings cannot be ruled out.

Frederick Sherrell Limited, Apr 2012, Proposed Olympic Swimming Pool at Kelly College, Tavistock, Devon, 4 (Report - Assessment). SDV359540.

Crelake Mine was started in 1857 following the discovery of an east-west trending copper lode in the bed of the River Tavy. The mine closed in 1874.

Devon County Council, Unknown, Mining Database, MX4750 (Machine readable data file). SDV220083.

Crelake Mine, SX478738. Worked for copper 1859-74, lead and silver 1860-66 and arsenic 1869-74. The main copper load trends southwards, intersected by several cross-courses. Daveys Shaft at West Bridge, Bedford Shaft now under Crelake Barracks parade ground. Numerous other shafts. Original lease was for land to the east of the Tavy but came to extend west of the river. There have been several subsidences and an unsafe air shaft in Tavistock College grounds had to be made safe in the early-mid 1990s.

Sources / Further Reading

Associated Monuments

Associated Finds: none recorded

Associated Events

• EDV6911 - Tamar Valley National Mapping Programme

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