The Cornish Mines, their Engineers and their Workers

by Marj Rowland
The earliest tin and copper workers gathered from places where it had become visible on the earth's surface, either in the ground or along riverbeds. Gradually the quest for tin took the workers deeper into the earth. The basic cycle of hard-rock mining consists of drilling holes in the rock, filling them with explosives, blasting, and then removing the rubble. The majority of Cornish mines were opened for copper. Tin emerged as a major product in the 1860's. Lead, arsenic, bismuth, cobalt, nickel, uranium, and tungstate of soda, were found in small quantities. As the mines grew deeper, they needed to be drained of the water that collected in them. At first drainage channels, known as adits were enough, but it was soon necessary to find other ways to remove the water. By 1750 the mines of Cornwall were reaching the limits of the pumping methods then available, using man or animal power. Steam-power rescued them from this plight. In 1698 Thomas Savery took out a patent for "raising water with the power of fire". He was joined by Thomas Newcomen (1663-1729), and their work was continued by Joseph Hornblower and his sons Jonathon and Josiah. Around this time the Cornish Engine was described as "a filthy jumble of a thing, in which lots of spun yarn, pieces of rope, leather etc. was used, the steam could be seen flying in all directions, and the arch-head chains could be heard at a distance of a mile or more". John Smeaton (1724-1792) improved the engine, and when James Watt (1736-1819) was given a Newcomen engine to repair it led to his 1796 patent for "a new method of lessening the consumption of steam and fuel in fire engines" Engineers working in the West Country began to influence the history of steam - improvements on engines sometimes being a result of ingenious ways of avoiding the payment of dues on Watt's patent! Henry Maudesley, Matthew Murray, Joel Lean, John Budge, Sampson Swaine, Edward Bull, William Murdoch, Samuel Grose, James Sims and William West are some of the better known names of mining engineers. Arthur Woolfe (1760-1837) a Camborne man, made boiler improvements which opened the way for Richard Trevithick (1771-1833) to pioneer the use of high pressure steam, and build his self-propelled road carriage in 1801, and railway locomotive in 1804. Cornwall also contributed to mining history with Humphrey Davy, from Penzance, inventing the miners safety lamp; and William Bickford, from Tuckingmill near Camborne, inventing the safety fuse. (A tucking mill was where they "fulled" cloth, and made the miners felt hats - on which they stuck their working candles) The Mineral Lord, the owner of the mineral rights (not always the land too) stood to make the most money. The Adventurers, investors in the mine, on land leased from the Mineral Lord, took more risks with their money. Vast fortunes were both made and lost when the bi-monthly accounts were read before the "Count House dinners". The Purser was appointed by and from amongst the Adventurers, and controlled the financial affairs. The Mine Captain was often promoted from amongst the miners. He had a practical knowledge of every aspect of the mining operation. Under him were other Mine and Milling Captains. The Pit-Man headed each shift of men and was responsible for the pit workings. Tributers were paid a varying proportion of the value of the ore that they raised, and had a chance to make more money than the other miners. They could also find themselves operating at a loss if the area of the mine that they had bid for did not prove to be very fruitful. Tutworkers were paid for the amount of rock broken. Underground could be found the Sump-Man (shaft sinker), Trammers (who transported ore in wagons), Fillers (who filled the kibbles), and Muckers (who removed the rock after blasting). Once below the surface, before the days of adequate ventilation, protective clothing, modern explosives, electric light etc. working conditions were poor. After an eight - twelve hour shift, working in foul, hot, humid air, by the light of a candle (they had to provide their own candles), miners faced several hundred feet of ladders to climb before walking home. Above ground, the visible difference between copper ore and waste made it easy to sort. Tin ore is harder to separate from waste. The mixed tin ore and waste was reduced, first by men with sledgehammers (Ragging), then by women (Cobbing and Spalling). It was then fed to iron shod wooden "Stamps" to be crushed to sand. The sand was added to water, and run through "Buddles" and "Kieves" to settle out and allow the waste and tin ore to separate. Finally, the "Black Tin" was sold to the "Smelters". Surface workers were exposed to all weathers, and were paid by the day. They included Bal Maidens, and Girls and Boys (who prepared the ore), Landers (who emptied the Kibbles), as well as those engaged in attending water wheels, horses, and steam-engines, for working pumps, stamps, and winding-gear. At the height of the Cornish Mining activity the Camborne-Redruth area was peppered with engine houses, each belching out sulphurous smoke from the cheapest coal available, day and night. Ventilation shafts would discharge billows of hot steamy air. The ground was scarred with waste, which often contained arsenic, so it would kill off all growing things. Near any water sources the ground was gouged out to build buddles and kieves, and the rivers ran red with the tin waste and debris. The visible hustle and bustle above ground would include the echoing thumps of the stamps and the hissing and clanking of the engines and winding-gear. Although boys rarely went underground before the age of eighteen, and women hardly ever were allowed underground, the average life expectancy of a Cornish miner was 36yrs. Today, these "knacked bals", rear romantically against the Cornish skies, a reminder of times past. When the price of tin fell, many miners went overseas to new pastures in America, Australia, New Zealand and South America. Cornish-sounding place names testify to this, and it was said that wherever in the world you came across a deep hole in the ground it would have a Cornishman at the bottom of it! The Camborne School of Mines still attracts students from all over the world, and the legacy of those Cornish engineers such as Richard Trevithick lives on in our ever-developing technology.
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