Redgate Smithy B&B
~ Wheal Victoria Copper Mine ~
(at Golitha Falls)

"All hail! Victoria!"

" All hail! Victoria! yet thy star is set - thy existance was but brief, and not even royalty could protect thee from
thy fate. Alas! Victoria is no more! for, notwithstanding the aid of sovereigns, the pit, which was sunk by those who
most lauded thee whilst living, has closed upon thee for ever. No longer shall the pick and gad resound in
cheerfulness - no more the count-house punch be handed round to wish thee brighter days; nor shall
the yule log blazon on the now deserted hearth. Thy glory has fled! the lustre which thou shed around in thy
halcyon days is forever gone, and now, alas! we mourn the loss of the last sovereign, so much endeared to us.
Reader, be not alarmed, it is simply that 'the bal is knacked'. "

...excerpt from the Mining Journal (11th July 1846).

Scources researched: "Mines and Miners of Cornwall" Vol. XII (A.K. Hamilton Jenkin), pub. 1966; plus various
other excerpts from Mining Journals (courtesy of the Cornish Studies Library, Cornwall Centre).

The First Excavations
Wheal Victoria was started in 1844, and at the first meeting of the Mine "Adventurers", or investers, held at Webb's Hotel in Liskeard, it was reported that the mine contained eight lodes, of which five were three feet wide. During the first year, an adit (the "First Adit") was cut that crossed two small branches of copper, and it was claimed that the copper discovered was an extension of the rich lodes recently found at both the South Caradon and West Caradon Mines on Caradon Hill. In 1846, after 2 years and a cost of £4000, the mine was abandoned with the above announcement.

The Second and Final Excavations
In March 1851, a fresh lease was granted, and by the following year, a 30 feet diameter water wheel was operating 150 fathoms of flat-rods, to a shaft sunk to 30 fathoms (180 feet) from the surface. The old First Adit was cleared for 70 fathoms (420 feet), and a new adit (the "Second Adit") was driven to 100 fathoms (600 feet). A further underground cross-cut was extended towards the Lark Holes copper lode. Unfortunately, this renewed optimism was found to be a little too over-optimistic, and the Mine Adventurers' either started to lose their money, or were not convinced and withdrew any further financing. By 1855, the Wheal Victoria copper mine had shut down for the second and final time.

The Second Adit (1851)
Not far into the lower woods of Golitha Falls National Nature Reserve the entrance to what is likely to be this Second Adit, which also seems to be very small. The access cutting may now be blocked by courses of old leats (water channels) and new paths, but the gated adit is now home only to bats.

The Wheel-pits and Leats
The massive walls of the two wheel-pits are really all that now remain of the old Wheal Victoria copper mine, or at least they are the most obvious remains that can still be found at Golitha Falls, aside from the two adits and two shafts that are hidden away in the woods. Following the path along the side of the river and upper falls, you will come to the first of the two wheel-pits, with the second wheel-pit a little further along. A closer inspection will reveal where the wheel axles would have been supported.

The various leats and paths at Golitha Falls and the Wheal Victoria mine have now blended into a small maze of their own. What were originally leats, or water channels for the water wheels and mine drainage, have now become paths, and are confused with the original miner's access paths, that would have been used to service the mine, and even perhaps remove ore.

The Engine Shaft (1851 to 1853)
The main Wheal Victoria mine shaft, referred to in reports as the Engine Shaft, lies up the steep track up the hill, leading from the open area at the entrance to the Golitha Falls. The shaft top is in a gentle hollow by the side of the track and, unusually, it is not capped with concrete, or "choked" (run-in). A grill covers it, and it is possible to peer down into its murky depths. The mine shaft is now a home to the bats that live in the mine, that now forms a part of the National Nature Reserve managed by English Nature.

The Second Shaft (likely 1851 to 1853)
There is also a second shaft that can be found hiding quite well back and further into the woods above Golitha Falls, but its location makes it quite difficult to find - it is easier in the spring when less overgrown!

A Third and Fourth Shaft
Evidence has now been discovered (see the Wheal Victoria page on our PhotoFile Cornwall website for much more extensive information), of a Third Shaft. There is also, or was, a possible fourth shaft that existed in the fields up above Draynes Wood, that is now on local farmland. According to local knowledge, the shaft was a substantial affair that over the past century was used as a general dump, and within living memory was eventually filled in for safety, and thereafter the land over and around the old shaft and any workings, reverted back to pasture. It is possible that this un-confirmed shaft has become confused with either the main Engine Shaft, or even the newly re-discovered Third Shaft.

The First Adit (1844)
There is however, the First Adit that is not easily found, down by the lower falls. It is not in fact very far from the Second Wheel-pit, and can be located right by the waters edge, hidden behind the rocks. Again it is well protected, and home now only to the bats.

The First Adit

It is however possible to see inside the entrance, and into the dark hard-won world of the Wheal Victoria miners of 150 years ago. The access into the adit is man-height, and it is possible to make out where the granite has been drilled and hewn away by hand, and there are old ironwork remains just inside. The amount of work required to open up a simple adit such as this one on the Wheal Victoria mine, where hand chisels, hammers and drill bits were the only tools available, is hard now to appreciate in today's modern age. The remains of old piping and iron work that can still be seen on the floor of the adit, may well have been a part of the equipment used for pumping out the mine workings and mine shaft further in.

Looking into the First Adit and the ghosts of the past
~
For more extensive information and photographs of Wheal Victoria mine, see
the Wheal Victoria page on the Redgate Smithy PhotoFile Cornwall website.

For photos of the falls, see the Golitha Falls page.

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