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Summary

Virtuous Lady Mine is said to have been named in honour of Elizabeth I and worked from 1588, although existing documentation only confirms an early 18th century date. Worked until 1807, it reopened in the 1830s before finally closing in 1879. The remains of the mine are dispersed over a moderately large area on the south side of the River Tavy. Much of the earlier evidence appears to be at the western end of the site, at the foot of a craggy outcrop by Tavy Cottage.

Location

Protected Status

• SHINE: Earthwork and structural remains of the Virtuous Lady Mine, Lady Bertha Mine and Walkham United Mine, Roborough Down, including the mine leat

Other References/Statuses

• National Monuments Record: SX46NE35
• National Record of the Historic Environment: 902373
• Old DCC SMR Ref: SX46NE/502

Monument Type(s) and Dates

• BUDDLE (XVI to XIX - 1588 AD to 1879 AD (Between))
• CAPSTAN HOUSE (XVI to XIX - 1588 AD to 1879 AD (Between))
• COPPER MINE (XVI to XIX - 1588 AD to 1879 AD (Between))

Full description

Lysons, D. + Lysons, S., 1822, Magna Britannica (Monograph). SDV323771.

History and Antiquities 6: Devonshire.

Williams, J., 1861, Cornwall and Devon Mining Industry (Unknown). SDV227928.

Williams, J., 1862, Cornwall and Devon Mining Directory (Monograph). SDV242424.

Spargo, T., 1864, Mines of Cornwall and Devon (Monograph). SDV242422.

Spargo, T., 1866, Mines of Cornwall and Devon (Monograph). SDV228100.

Hunt, R., 1870-1872, Mineral Statistics (Unknown). SDV241727.

Ordnance Survey, 1880-1899, First Edition Ordnance 25 inch map (Cartographic). SDV336179.

'Virtuous Lady Mine (Copper disused)' is marked.

Collins, J. H., 1895, Mineralogy of Cornwall and Devon (Monograph). SDV242421.

Ordnance Survey, 1904 - 1906, Second Edition Ordnance Survey 25 inch Map (Cartographic). SDV325644.

'Virtuous Lady Mine (Copper disused)' is marked.

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

Crossing, W., 1912 (1965), Crossing's Guide to Dartmoor (Monograph). SDV320981.

H. M. Stationary Office, 1929, Abandoned Mines (Monograph). SDV215700.

Ramsden, J. V., 1952, Notes on the Mines of Devonshire, 100 fig.1 (Article in Serial). SDV60737.

V2 Virtuous. Plan r 80 b. M. R. O. Copper. "Virtuous Lady Mine (disused)" shown on 1982 Ordnance survey 10,000 map.

Hamilton Jenkin, Dr. A. K., 1974, Mines of Devon. Volume 1: The Southern Area (Monograph). SDV336694.

Hamilton Jenkin also claims (like Harris) that Virtuous Lady Mine has origins in the Elizabethan period.

Harris, H., 1986, Industrial Archaeology of Dartmoor (Revised Edition), 60 (Monograph). SDV295019.

Virtuous Lady Mine apparently named in honour of Queen Elizabeth I. Worked from 1588 to 1807; reopened in 1830s before finally closing in 1870s. Copper extraction was certainly greater in the later period - 4000 tons produced annually in the mid-19th century and in 1870, working was reported to have been to a depth of 120 feet with 43 people employed, a quarter of the number who worked here in earlier days. Considerable above-ground remains are still extant.

Greeves, T. A. P., 1991, An Assessment of Copper Mining in Devon (Copper, Brass, Tin), 13+1/in Tavistock hamlets parish files. (Report - Assessment). SDV60709.

Richardson, P. H. G., 1992, The Mines of Dartmoor and the Tamar Valley after 1913, 139 (Article in Serial). SDV323598.

Hedley, L. and Cranstone, D., 1995, Monuments Protection Programme, Zink, Copper, Minor Metals, Step Three: The Copper Industry, Introduction to Step 3 Assessments, 2, 3, 5, 6, 18 (Report - non-specific). SDV357718.

3. Virtuous Lady Mine SX 474 698.
Definite national importance.
Mine; capstan setting- A circular platform, for manually-operated capstan to wind equipment up and down a shaft, well-preserved examples retain a rope trench from the centre to the shaft, where this is not visible, the feature is hard to distinguish from a whim circle, 18th-early 20th century, moderately rare, well preserved examples are of high importance, entry- no modification. Ore works; buddle, flat- no modification, spalling floor-medieval-late 19th century (most late examples confined to the smaller mines), copper or processing is appreciably under-studied and given the relative rarity of spalling floors nationally all well-preserved examples should be considered of moderate importance.

Rendell, P., 1996, Exploring the Lower Walkham Valley (Monograph). SDV361766.

Andrew Brown, 1998, Monuments Protection Programme The Non-Ferrous Metals (Tin, Copper, Arsenic and Minor Metals) Industries: Appendix III, Step 4 Report (Report - non-specific). SDV357940.

16th-18th century mine and ore works illustrating an unusual uncentralised and unmechanised layout fully representative of its period but poorly understood at present.
Largely earthwork site and vulnerable chiefly to root disturbance. Buildings unsuited to adaptation, and inaccessibility weighs against potential for public enjoyment and education. Currently known interest is adequately safeguarded under existing regime.

Kalmeter, H., 2001, The Kalmeter Journal The Journal of a Visit to Cornwall, Devon and Somerset in 1724-25 of Henric Kalmeter (1693-1750) (Monograph). SDV241875.

The first explicit documentation of this mine is from Kalmeter's Journal in 1724 who states only that the mine was established by that date.

Newman, P., 2007, Unknown survey/report title (Report - Survey). SDV241888.

(28/09/2007) The remains of the mine are dispersed over a moderately large area (centred SX 4730 6980) on the south side of the River Tavy where it makes an acute turn to the west of Double Waters, forming a peninsula. The mine was for a period in the 19th century worked in conjunction with Wheal Bedford on the north side of the river. Much of the earlier evidence appears to be at the western end of the site, at the foot of a craggy outcrop by Tavy Cottage. See SX 46 NE 48-52 for individual reports.

Ordnance Survey, 2015, MasterMap (Cartographic). SDV357601.

'Virtuous Lady Mine (disused)' is marked.

Historic England, 2021-2022, NRHE to HER website, Accessed 22/03/2021 (Website). SDV364039.

Although both Harris (1968) and Hamilton Jenkin (1974) claim that Virtuous Lady Mine has origins in the Elizabethan period, there is no categorical evidence for this. The first explicit documentation is from Kalmeter in 1724 (2001) who states only that the mine was established by that date. Details of the mine's 18th century fortunes are not known but by 1807 Lysons (1822) claims it had ceased to work. Brook claims the mine was again in work by 1825 and a succession of companies worked it between then and 1879, when it was finally closed (citing Justin Brook Index, Westcountry Studies Library).

Sources / Further Reading

Associated Monuments

Associated Finds: none recorded

Associated Events

• EDV8574 - Hidden Dartmoor: Peripheral Mines (Phase 1 Pilot)

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