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South Caradon Mine 

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South Caradon Mine timeline 

 
Home page  History   People  1843 1851  1863 1885 Views  Maps Information sources 
1833 to 1890  
Six decades of industry 		 217,820 tonnes of ore produced
Early working 
    1662  
    First record of mineral workings in the area at the Gonamena open works.  

    Early 19th century 
    A miner called Ennor working for a group of Plymouth and Devonport adventurers dug an adit in from the Seaton Valley. This was probably at the location of what became main adit. Some indications of minerals may have been found, but the trial is abandoned on advice of experts. The lease then changes hands several times, often for very small amounts. 
     

     

 A promise of wealth 
Experience in the west of the Cornwall suggested that copper deposits probably existed under Caradon Hill. 
Large deposits of fine gozzen near the surface suggested that workable mineral lodes would exist deeper down. These gozzans may have been worked for tin. ref Collins Attempts at finding copper had been made by small groups of miners driving adits into the hillside, but with no success prior to the South Caradon find. 

Missed chances  
On each lease transfer the opportunity of huge wealth was missed by the leaseholder, at one point the sett sold for less than a guinea.
The start   
 
    1833  
    The miner James Clymo and members of the Kittow family started looking for Copper in the area. An adit running eastwards from the Seaton Valley was the starting point of their enterprise.  

    1834-1835 
    Despite shortage or resources the miners continue to persevere in extending the adit, following promising signs of mineralization deeper into the hill. 

    1836  
    The adventurers perseverance and determination is rewarded when the main ore body is discovered, but no investors in London could be found to finance the venture. The original miners therefore financed the mine themselves. 
    1837  
     First returns are made for the mine after just over £327 had been paid out. 130 tons of ore (of 10%metal) is produced. Shambrock 
    (Allan gives this production as starting in 1838)

    The first engine was installed at sump shaft. 
    Within a few years South Caradon became one of the biggest copper mines in the world.

 The story goes...
That James Clymo offered the shares to a mine adventurer on the coach back from London. The adventurer refused the shares at £5 each. A few months later the shares fetched £2000 each! 

Another story is of two maidens who sold some rough land to a lawyer and immediately learnt about the discovery of copper beneath its surface. By the following day they had repurchased the land claiming that they where sentimentally attached to it.  
The lawyer heard about the copper the following morning.....just that bit too late! 
 
The rise 
What is in a name? 
The success of the mine sparked a rush of mines being named with the magic word "Caradon" in their title, in the hope of attracting investors. A practice that became far too common after 1850, and earned the term "market mining". 
  • Caradon Consols
  • Caradon Vale
  • East Caradon
  • Great Caradon
  • New West Caradon
  • Glasgow Caradon Consols
  • New South Caradon
  • The Caradon Mine
  • West Caradon Mine
  • Wheal Caradon Mine
But none ever did match South Caradon!
 
The Fall 
    Mid 1860's  
    The price of copper drops, despite large amounts of ore being produced profits start to fall. 
    Nearly 6,000 tons of ore a year was being produced by South Caradon.  1873  
    The mine became the biggest copper producer in Cornwall. But profits still fell. 

    1880 
    Work Stopped at the mine.

    1883  
    A limited company was formed to raise more capital, and attempts are made to keep the mine more profitable by extending the eastern part of the workings.

 West to east 
The mine started in the Seaton Valley but its production moved eastwards in the later part of the history. The richest part of the mine lay in these easterly lodes.
 
 

The site of one of the last man engines installed in Cornwall 
Fitted in 1872 at Jope's Shaft and moved in 1884 to Kittow's shaft.  

£16,125 
This was the sum paid by the new Ltd. company to the old company for the machinery in place on the mine. 
A sum that gave them 15 steam engines. 


 
The Death 
    1885  
    Work Ceases, despite having copper reserves the mine was too expensive to run with the low price of copper.  1889 
    Attempts made to re-work the mine, but with no success. 
    The venture planned to run East Caradon, Glasgow Caradon and South Caradon as one mine. 

    1890 
    Final closure. 
    The site becomes mine history.

 The end of an Industry 
When the South Caradon Mine pumps stopped the water rose to flood the workings of adjacent mines forcing them to close. 
Even Railways suffered. 1885 saw the Liskeard and Caradon Railway going into receivership. A railway whose existence was dependent on the wealth produced by the South Caradon Mine. 
Click here for an account of the mine in 1885

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