| Summary: | Devon Great Consols. A rich lode of copper found in Blanchdown Wood high above the River Tamar. Wheal Maria, Wheal Fanny, Wheal Anna Maria, Wheal Josiah and Wheal Emma, known collectively as the Great Devon Consols Mines after May 1846 (previously known as North Bedford and Wheal Maria). The mine at first was worked with one small water wheel to pump out the water. Additional pumping power needed when the lower levels were reached. By 1847 steam engines had been erected. In 1849 it was decided to use mainly water power from the Tamar. Water power used for crushing the ore in the stamps. A railway was built to link the mine with the port of Morwellham, 4 1/2 miles down the Tamar. A tall chimney stack dominating the countryside, the shattered remnants of the reduction works and the huge bare mounds of black and red waste from the ovens remain. Shafts can still be located, very overgrown. |
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