East Pool mine Facts for Kids

Quick facts for kids
East Pool mine
Location
The engine house and stack at Taylor's Shaft
East Pool mine Location in Cornwall
Location	Redruth
Unitary	Cornwall
Country	UK
Coordinates	50°13′52″N 5°15′44″W / 50.2312°N 5.2622°W / 50.2312; -5.2622
Production
Products	Copper, tin, arsenic and wolframite
History
Opened	early 18th century
Closed	1945
Owner
Company	National Trust
Website	East Pool Mine

East Pool mine (also known as East Pool and Agar mine) was a very important mine in Cornwall, England. It was located near the villages of Camborne and Redruth. People worked at this mine from the early 1700s until 1945.

At first, they dug for copper, and later for tin. The mine made a lot of money for many years. Today, you can visit the site and see two old beam engines. East Pool mine is now part of the Cornwall and West Devon Mining Landscape, which is a World Heritage Site. The National Trust looks after it.

What is the Geology of East Pool Mine?
How Did East Pool Mine Start?
East Pool Mine in the 1800s
East Pool Mine After 1900
East Pool Mine Today
Gallery
See also

What is the Geology of East Pool Mine?

The ground at East Pool mine is made of killas and greenstone rock. These rocks sit on top of the Carn Brea granite. Many mineral veins, called lodes, cross through the mine area. Several elvan dykes also cut across these lodes.

The main things mined here were copper and later tin. Miners also found arsenic and wolframite. They even found small amounts of bismuth, cobalt, and uranium ores.

How Did East Pool Mine Start?

East Pool mine began in the early 1700s. Back then, it was a copper mine called "Pool Old Bal." The land it mined on was rented from the Basset family. The money from the mine helped this family build their large house at Tehidy.

The mine had a special tunnel, called an adit, about 58 meters (190 feet) underground. Miners dug even deeper below this tunnel. Water was pumped out using a system powered by a water wheel. This early mining stopped in 1784.

East Pool Mine in the 1800s

The mine reopened as East Pool mine in 1834. It was quite small, surrounded by other mines like South Crofty and Tincroft mine. To the north was Wheal Agar, which it later joined.

East Pool mine was very successful for a long time. It produced about 91,000 long tons of copper ore. Later, it produced 46,000 long tons of tin ore. In its early days, the copper ore was very rich. In 1835, it sold for more than double the usual price. This profitable time lasted ten years. Owners earned £32,256 from shares that cost only £5 each.

By 1843, about 300 people worked at the mine. Its deepest parts were 165 meters (540 feet) down. But in the late 1840s, mining slowed down. The mine almost closed, and its tunnels partly filled with water. This also put the nearby South Crofty mine at risk. Lady Basset, who owned the land, threatened to take back the mining rights.

The mine kept going, partly by charging other mines for drainage. It made money again in 1854.

In 1860, miners found a lot of wolframite ore. This ore is similar to tin ore, making them hard to separate. So, they installed a special machine called a Wetherill's Magnetic Separator. This machine could process 10 tons of ore daily.

East Pool was one of the few mines that survived a tough time for the Cornish mining industry in the late 1800s. Other survivors included South Crofty and Dolcoath. All these mines were close together. Pumping water out was very important. If one mine's pumps stopped, it affected the others.

By 1897, East Pool even used its winding engines to pull water out. Water from Wheal Agar was a big problem. Wheal Agar was losing money and threatened to turn off its pumps. This happened in late 1895, and East Pool's lower levels flooded. After long talks, East Pool bought Wheal Agar for £4,000 in 1897.

East Pool Mine After 1900

A train hauled by a Camborne & Redruth tram locomotive

Even with its challenges, East Pool mine employed over 500 people almost every year from 1884 to 1913. About half worked above ground, and half underground. In 1913, the mine became a limited company called East Pool and Agar Ltd.

Since the 1860s, the mine had a large plant to process ore. It was about a mile away in the Red River valley. From 1903 to 1934, a special tramway carried ore to this plant. It used part of the Camborne and Redruth Tramways track. After 1934, an aerial ropeway carried the ore directly across the countryside. This system worked well until the mine closed in 1945.

In 1921, a big rockfall underground destroyed both of the mine's main shafts. This caused flooding. So, in 1922, they started a new shaft called Taylor's Shaft. In 1924, a huge 2.2-meter (90-inch) pumping engine was installed there. This engine, called Harvey's Engine, came from Carn Brea mine. It was built in 1892 and pumped water using seven sets of pumps.

The tall 33.5-meter (110-foot) chimney for this engine was built before the engine house. A special feature of this chimney is the white bricks spelling "EPAL" near the top. This stood for "East Pool and Agar Limited." "EPAL" was also the brand name for the arsenic sold by the company.

The mine was taken over by its neighbor, South Crofty, and closed in 1945. But Harvey's Engine kept pumping water for South Crofty until 1954. An American, Mr. Greville Bathe, bought the engine to save it from being scrapped. He gave it to a preservation group, who then gave it to the National Trust in 1967.

East Pool Mine Today

Today, East Pool mine is part of the Cornwall and West Devon Mining Landscape World Heritage Site. Two large beam engines are preserved here.

Michell's Shaft Engine House contains the last beam winding engine ever installed in Cornwall. It has a 76-centimeter (30-inch) cylinder. It was built in 1887 and cost £675. This engine could wind things up at 5 meters per second (1,000 feet per minute). It was saved from being scrapped in 1941. The National Trust has cared for it since 1967, and it still runs sometimes today.

At Taylor's Shaft, the National Trust has an Industrial Discovery Centre. This center includes several buildings from the 1920s. One building is the engine house that still holds the huge 2.2-meter (90-inch) Harvey's Engine. This engine was saved thanks to the donation from the American supporter.