Basset Mines
Basset Mines Ltd. was formed in 1896 as a union of South Frances United, Wheal Basset (and North Wheal Basset) and West Wheal Frances Mines. After the merger the ore was hoisted at South Wheal Frances and crushed and dressed at West Basset stamps about 1 mile (1.6 km) away. The boiler house had a row of six Lancashire boilers and provided steam for the whole operation. A Brunton calciner was installed at Wheal Basset stamps in 1897.
Between 1896 and 1899 a major refurbishment of the South Wheal Frances shaft was undertaken, enabling mining down to 6,000 feet (1,800 m).
By 1900 the Basset Mines manager was no longer able to get the skilled labour need to work the buddles and proposed using vanners in their place. They were installed in a building erected over six of the 1892 buddles just below the stamps Frue Vanners were installed at the West Basset stamps in 1906. A Frue Vanner house was installed below the Wheal Basset stamps in 1908. The miners’ dry" at Wheal Francis, a building where miners changed from their working clothes after a shift and hung the clothes to dry on large steam pipes, was completed in 1908.
Basset Mines closed down in December 1918 as a consequence of the tin price slump following the end of the First World War.
World Heritage Status was granted to the mining areas of Cornwall and West Devon in 2006. Part of this is the 7.5 miles (12.1 km) Great Flat Lode Trail which leads around all the major mines in the Camborne-Redruth area, making a circuit of the Carn Brea granite hill, with many information boards explaining the sites.
Most of the shafts were plugged by the Kerrier District Council in the 1990s. Many ruined buildings are still accessible to the public. Surviving buildings include the Marriott's Shaft complex of South Wheal Frances, West Basset Stamps and Wheal Basset Stamps.
The West Basset Stamps, which had a secondary beam engine to pump water for dressing, stands over a fine example of a 19th-century tin dressing floor. The Marriott's Shaft complex includes the pumping engine house, which held the only inverted beam engine in Cornwall, the houses for the winding, compressor and crusher engines, and the miners' dry.
Read MoreBetween 1896 and 1899 a major refurbishment of the South Wheal Frances shaft was undertaken, enabling mining down to 6,000 feet (1,800 m).
By 1900 the Basset Mines manager was no longer able to get the skilled labour need to work the buddles and proposed using vanners in their place. They were installed in a building erected over six of the 1892 buddles just below the stamps Frue Vanners were installed at the West Basset stamps in 1906. A Frue Vanner house was installed below the Wheal Basset stamps in 1908. The miners’ dry" at Wheal Francis, a building where miners changed from their working clothes after a shift and hung the clothes to dry on large steam pipes, was completed in 1908.
Basset Mines closed down in December 1918 as a consequence of the tin price slump following the end of the First World War.
World Heritage Status was granted to the mining areas of Cornwall and West Devon in 2006. Part of this is the 7.5 miles (12.1 km) Great Flat Lode Trail which leads around all the major mines in the Camborne-Redruth area, making a circuit of the Carn Brea granite hill, with many information boards explaining the sites.
Most of the shafts were plugged by the Kerrier District Council in the 1990s. Many ruined buildings are still accessible to the public. Surviving buildings include the Marriott's Shaft complex of South Wheal Frances, West Basset Stamps and Wheal Basset Stamps.
The West Basset Stamps, which had a secondary beam engine to pump water for dressing, stands over a fine example of a 19th-century tin dressing floor. The Marriott's Shaft complex includes the pumping engine house, which held the only inverted beam engine in Cornwall, the houses for the winding, compressor and crusher engines, and the miners' dry.
