Tavy and Tamar Valleys (Devon side) - Lodes 21-27

Lode 21 - Wheal Georgina Lode?

An open adit beside the Duke of Bedford's carriage drive at the foot of Hatch Wood is mentioned by Barclay (1923, reprinted in Stewart 2004).

This appears to be aligned with Georgina Lode in the Tavistock Canal Tunnel further to the east, at .

Lodes 23-26 - Wheal Luscombe 1808-1815, Etc...

Also: Wheal Crebor 1803-1902, West Wheal Crebor 1882-84, Wheal Crowndale 1799-1830, East Wheal Crebor 1811-1880s, Gunnislake Old Mine, C16-late C19

This lode, running largely uninterrupted from Gunnislake in the west to just east of the Tavy was one of Morwell Down's richest lodes. Its western end at Wheal Luscombe was fought over between the Tavistock Canal Company and the Cornish mining entrepreneurs Fox & Williams in the early years of the 19th century.

Despite this, the archaeological evidence for 19th century activity on the Devon bank of the river is remarkably slight. Four close-set lines of earlier outcrop workings climb Hatch Wood and pass into Luscombedown Plantation. These are often large and complex, with occasional internal shafts, packed with stone rubble against the openwork fills, and may be of 16th to 18th century date. Most of the 19th century shafts are located slightly north of the lodes, which dip steeply to the north. These are enclosed by circular hedgebanks, showing that they were formerly on open downland. They were clearly intended to cut the lode at depth, below the earlier lodeback workings.

The first 150m on the line of the lode just east of the Tamar is occupied by the mid-19th century waste dumps and buildings of South Bedford Mine. Parts of these have been destroyed or obscured by forestry operations; the large flat-topped main dump probably having been used for stacking timber, although it is now largely covered with young fir trees. A leat embankment and adjoining flatrod trench associated with the 45ft diameter pumping wheel (pit infilled and lost) are visible just east of the forest gate, south of the main road, while a short stone chimney stack stands a short distance to the south-east. Its flue passed southwards to a probable burning house (now lost) and can be picked out in places.

On the valley slope below the dump to the west and south-west are better-preserved remains, including the pit for a 24ft diameter water wheel and its flanking roller crusher and winding houses. In common with other examples at Impham and George & Charlotte Mines, the winding-man's cabin was heated with a small grate. The engine and haulage shaft is sited a short distance to the west, but a balance bob pit shown on this extract from the 1867 Bedford Estate Map was probably destroyed when the shaft neck collapsed. A second shaft with an adjoining angle bob slot lies a short distance to the south and may have pumped the adjoining Luscombe South Lode (Lode 23). The captain's house and mine offices appear to have stood a short distance to the south - these are represented by low walls now, but the 1867 Estate Map shows a complex building of several rooms.

The dumps surrounding these shafts are retained from the river bank by a high stone wall pierced by decorative arches. A lean-to shed here may have contained ore bins: the Frementor Railway passed immediately alongside, although barges on the Tamar Manure Navigation may have taken the ore direct from the river bank.

The workings recommence on the opposite side of the river as Gunnislake Old Mine, which was pumped by flatrods across a trestle bridge from the Devon bank of the river. The eastern abutment of this bridge is visible as a projection from the retaining wall just south of the possible ore bins.

Lode 24 - Wheal Crowndale

As many as seventeen shafts were recorded at Wheal Crowndale in the 19th century, which like William & Mary Mine (Lode 9) denotes an early working with large stopes near to surface. At least one shaft is known to lie in the bottom of the partially filled openwork between the canal and the Tavistock to Shillamill road, while several appear to have been sited just north of its line, presumably to cut the lode at depth. All of these are marked on this 1803 survey plan of the projected course of the Tavistock Canal.

The mine was worked under John Taylor from 1798 to about 1830, and was pumped by a 40ft diameter waterwheel, initially taking its water from the Tavy via a leat, completed in 1802.

The Crowndale Leat only had two years of life before being superseded by the Tavistock Canal, which followed its course.

The waterwheel, which was probably also used for winding, made international mining history in 1808 when the first ever roller crusher was installed and developed there. The site of this historic wheel lies on the south flank of the long dump beside the old openwork. A linear depression has a possible stone lined balance bob pit on its east and traces of a crusher house on its west. Its masonry may have been robbed to build the roadside wall immediately to the south.

Lode 24 - East Wheal Crebor/East Crowndale

Worked in the 1840s-1880s, an attempt to bring a leat from West Bridge in Tavistock failed due to opposition from the landowner, and a beam pumping and winding engine was used instead. The mine was never a great success and was wound up shortly after a fatal accident in 1878 when three miners were drowned by floodwater from the Tavy which entered via the deep adit.

Lode 24 - West Wheal Crebor

No surface indications of 19th century shafts or adits are known east of Luscombedown Plantation until the very crest of Morwell Down, where the small prospect of West Wheal Crebor was developed in the early 1880s. This is understood to have been abandoned when old infilled workings were encountered at about 80ft below surface (Barclay 1923 in Stewart 2004).

Lodes 24 & 25 - Wheal Crebor

The earliest underground workings at Wheal Crebor are around the north portal of the Tavistock Canal Tunnel. Due to the topography, very little of the extant workings lie above deep adit level, so the majority of the levels and shafts are now flooded. Lodes 24 and 25 were worked, although only Lode 25 produced appreciable amounts of copper ore.

This was the most productive mine in the district in the period immediately preceding the discovery of Devon Great Consols in 1844, and the mine was worked on several lengthy occasions between 1803 and 1902. The mine's dressing floors were on an artificially levelled area 100m east of the canal tunnel portal, and are well documented through a sequence of historic maps and plans. This is fortunate, as very little now survives on the ground; the dumps having been extensively reworked in the early 20th century, while more recent agricultural disturbances mean that what remains is obscured. Low walls however survive of the joint Canal Company and Mine works yard, with two recycled lengths of rising main formerly supporting the open frontage of the covered sawpit. An adjoining building which may have been a dry, survives as a garage.

A large linear dump occupies the south side of the site - this may partly have taken development waste from the mine, but was primarily used to dump waste rock from the canal tunnel between 1803 and 1817.

A sequence of shafts, roughly on the line of the deep adit occur at regular intervals in a westerly direction from the River Lumburn, although almost all are now capped. Fortunately, the shallow adit, which opens off the Tavistock Canal Tunnel, remains open, and has been surveyed by the author. This follows the strike of Lode 24, with two cross-cuts to Lode 25. These have been stoped for short distances above adit, one with a winze down to the Inclined Shaft; the other intersecting with Smith's Shaft which is open below ground. In addition to pumping, Cock's Shaft was used for winding ore to surface before the Inclined Shaft was opened in 1812. An unusual horizontal connecting level to the canal tunnel approach cutting enabled barges to be loaded with ore, which was presumably then taken back to Crebor Wharf for sorting on the adjoining dressing floors. A large flat-bottomed depression to the east was the capstan pit for lowering pumping equipment into the shaft.

Adjoining the canal tunnel portal is the Inclined Shaft, sunk on the line of Lode 25 at an angle of about 38 degrees between 1808 and 1812. This was the world's second inclined railway shaft, driven by a water wheel in a rock-cut chamber alongside, and was the principal means of bringing ore to the surface until the 1820s. It contained a plateway of about 2ft 6in gauge, which probably ran down to the dressing floors and roller crusher, removing the need for double handling the ore by carrying it in railway wagons from the stopes to the dressing floor.

A depression in the garden of Wheal Crebor House (private) is the site of the mine's 40ft by 5ft water wheel, moved here c.1821 from its original site at Taylor's Shaft 180m to the east. This wheel ran 1,270m of flatrods to pump most of the shafts on the mine, and was also used to pump the Canal Tunnel development shafts between 1808 and 1816, with over 2km of rods: a record length at the time.

Near the Rock to Tavistock road, Gill's and Rundle's Shafts date from the 1820s development work at the western end of the sett. They had very extensive dumps, now somewhat flattened and depleted. These were also pumped by flatrods from the water wheel.

Just east of the River Lumburn is the dump of New Shaft (capped) which developed the eastern ground from 1821. This was eventually sunk to 200fms below adit and was pumped by a large diameter water wheel, taking its water from the Tavistock Canal a short distance to the north.