| "Sale of South Caradon Mine (Limited), Liskeard, Cornwall
Mr May is instructed by
the directors of the South Caradon Mine (Limited) to offer for sale by auction
in one lot, at the auction mart, Tokenhouse yard, in the city of London, on
Wednesday, 9th September, 1885, at two in the afternoon precisely, the
whole of the valuable mining plant, machinery and stores of the South Caradon
Mine (Limited), all in good working order and including....."
The following has been extracted
from the remaining text of the sale notice and reproduced in a more readable
form.
Pumping Engines
-
70" with 3 boilers
-
60" with 3 boilers
-
2X 50" with 5 boilers
-
40" with 2 boilers
-
35" with 1 boiler
Winding Engines
-
24" with 1 boiler
-
2X 22" with two boilers
Stamp engine
-
30" with one boiler
-
24 head of stamps and crusher
-
20 foot water wheel with stone
breaker
Man Engine
-
23" with one boiler
-
14" Horizontal with air compressor
Miscellaneous engines
-
12" engine with air compressor
-
12" with saw bench
-
7" with steam hammer
Fittings
-
1000 fathoms pumps
-
600 fathoms main rods
-
500 fathoms air tubes
-
800 fathoms wire rope
-
Over 3000 fathoms tram rails
-
500 fathoms ladders
|
The
mine had attempted to survive as a limited company but rising costs had
made it unprofitable to continue. The vast network of underground workings
required constant pumping to remain accessible and the falling cost of
copper could not support the expense. The auction appears not to have success
and in 1889 a rise in copper prices a further caused a last unsuccessful
attempt to re-open the mine.
The machinery listed has been
obtained from the sale notice. If you have read the sale notice and disagree
with my interpretation please drop me an email.
The list provides a snapshot
of the infrastructure of South Caradon. Twelve pumping, winding, stamping
and man engines are listed. The tramway lines total about 6km, some of
which was underground.
The figures for 1885 show
3,436 tons of ore raised for an income of £11,174 and the
mine was employing 289 staff.
The sorry figures for 1886
are a meagre 83 tonnes produced by two surface workers. The great mine had
died.
|
