CORNWALL. 



237 



Cornwall, antimony ; since that time, some mines of manganese 

 *■ — v"""' have been opened. The copper and tin, either singly 

 tfmes. or com \ji n ed, forms at least four fifths of the mines of 



Cornwall, and are met with near the junction of the 

 granite and gramvacke. Tin, when not combined with 

 copper, generally forms a part of the granite ; and of- 

 ten, in this case, wolfram is found in the matrix of the 

 vein. Tin is found combined with sulphuret of lead 

 in the mine of Heavas, in the parish of St Mewan, 

 which is a rare and anomalous occurrence. It is ac- 

 companied with arsenical pyrites, copper pyrites, and 

 blende, in the mine of Trerascus and other places. 

 Sulphuret of antimony was formerly worked in differ- 

 ent parts of Cornwall, but these workings are now 

 given up. There are two mines of manganese, one on 

 the road from Bodmin to Truro, and the other a mile 

 to the south of Launceston. They are very produc- 

 tive ; the one is shipped for Lancashire, where it is 

 used in bleaching cotton. The lead mines are confined 

 to the low parts of the county : galena, in large cubes, 

 is found at Tresearen, united with copper pyrites ; at 

 Poldice, mixed with the same and arsenical pyrites ; 

 and at Penrose, a rich vein of it opens to the surface. 

 So various are the mineral productions of Cornwall, 

 that, with the exception of platina, mercury, molybdena, 

 tellurium, tantalium, columbium, and cerium, it af- 

 fords indications of all the other known metals. 

 rin and But the principal mineral products of Cornwall, are 



copper. tin and copper. These metals are generally found in 

 veins and fissures, which are here called lodes ; one side 

 of the fissure is sometimes a dense stone, and the other 

 a soft clay. The direction of the fissures is commonly 

 east and west ; sometimes they are perpendicular, but 

 more frequently dip to the right or left as they descend. 

 Their course is seldom in a straight line, and it is re- 

 marked that their bendings form larger angles in cross- 

 ing a valley. Tin is found either collected and fixed, 

 or loose and spread about ; in the former state, it is ei- 

 ther in a lode or in a horizontal layer ; or interspersed 

 in panes and small masses. It sometimes happens that 

 a lode which runs perpendicular for several fathoms, 

 suddenly changes into a horizontal layer. Tin, in its dis- 

 persed form, is met with either in a pulverised state in 

 separate stones, which are called shocks, or in a conti- 

 nued course of such stones ; this course is called a 

 stream. The Toth stream works were formerly the 

 most considerable and valuable in Cornwall, but they 

 were all washed away by the sea in the year 1801. The 

 Carnon stream works are now the most extensive; they 

 occupy a portion of ground nearly one mile in length, 

 and 300 yards broad ; the whole of winch space appears 

 to have been gained from the sea. From the nature of 

 the stream works here, and in other parts of Cornwall, 

 there can be little doubt that the accumulations of ore 

 found in them, have been originally true veins, worn 

 down and removed by some cause or other from the 

 place where they were found, and covered by alluvial 

 soil. 



As soon as the ore is raised from the mines, it is di- 

 vided into as many shares as there are lords and adven- 

 turers, and these are measured out by barrows, an ac- 

 count of which is kept by a person who notches a 

 stick. Ivery mine has the right of having her ore 

 distributed on the adjacent fields. Stamping mills are 

 generally erected on the spot where it is pounded ; to 

 assist this operation, a rill of water keeps it constantly 

 wet, and it is carried by a small gutter into the fore pit, 

 where the heavier particles settle, the lighter ories being 

 carried forward to the middle pit, and from that into a 



third. It is afterwards Washed in a large vat, and Cornwall 

 made sufficiently clean for the smelting house. If the ^7^^**' 

 mine is of great extent and importance, the people em- * ine ' 

 ployed are divided into certain classes : The foreman, 

 or captain as he is called, allots each workman his 

 task, pays them their wages, and keeps the accounts : 

 the underground captains inspect the works in tin- 

 mine, take care that the ladders, ropes, &c. are in good 

 repair, and overlook all the different objects connected 

 with the working of the mine. 



Both the stream and lode works lie either in severall 

 or in wastrell, that is, in enclosed pounds, or in com- 

 mons ; in the former, no person can search for tin. 

 without the permission of the lord of the manor ; but, 

 in the latter, it is lawful for any man to make trial of 

 his fortune that way, provided he make an acknow- 

 ledgment of the right of the lord of the manor, by 

 giving him a certain part of the produce, which is call- 

 ed the toll. The wastrcll works are reckoned among 

 chattels ; and when a mine is found in this situation, 

 the discoverer endeavours to ascertain how far it is 

 likely to extend ; at the supposed limits, he digs up 

 three turfs; (which is termed boundary,) and within 

 these every other person is restrained from searching. 



All the tin ores are wrought into metal in the coun- 

 ty, and afterwards cast into blocks, from two hundred 

 and three-quarters to three hundred and three-quarters 

 each. Before these can be exposed to sale, they must 

 be assayed by the officers appointed by the duke, and 

 stamped by a hammer with the duchy seal : this is de- 

 nominated coining the tin. The original stannary towns 

 to which the tin was carried to be coined, were Laun- 

 ceston, Lostwythiel, Truro, and Helston ; but, in the 

 reign of Charles II. Penzance was added, for the con- 

 venience of the miners in the western part of the coun- 

 ty. The coinages are held regularly four times each 

 year, at Lady Day, Mid-summer, Michaelmas, and 

 Christmas. The annual produce of the tin mines va- 

 ries from 25,000 to 30,000 blocks ; the value of each 

 block is, on an average, generally about L. 1 0. 



It is generally supposed, that the tin mines of Corn- 

 wall were wrought, or visited by the Phoenicians and 

 Greeks : the Romans also probably did not neglect 

 them, while they were in possession of this island. Du- 

 ring the dominion of the Saxons, they were neglected ; 

 and even in the reign of King John, the tin farm 

 amounted only to 100 merns. At this period, the Jews 

 had the sole management of them. In the 18th of Ed- 

 ward I. the mines were again neglected, in consequence 

 of that monarch banishiagjlie Jews. Soon afterwards, 

 a charter was granted to the' gentlemen of Blackmoor, 

 by Edmund Earl of Cornwall, granting them several 

 privileges in the working and management of the tin 

 mines ; and, in consideration of these privileges, they 

 bound themselves to pay to him and his successors, 

 Earls of Cornwall, the sum of 4s. for every hundred 

 weight of white tin ; and on this occasion the stannary 

 towns were first fixed. This charter was confirmed in 

 the 33d of Edward I. The tinners of Cornwall were 

 made a distinct body from those of Devonshire, and 

 the privilege of having a coinage both at Mid- summer 

 and Michaelmas was granted them. Several acts were 

 afterwards passed, confirming and enlarging these pri- 

 . vileges : by them the society of tinners was divided in- 

 to four parts, under the superintendence of one war- 

 den, with an aj psal from his decision to the Duke of 

 Cornwall. The lord warden is empowered and in- 

 structed to appoint a vice- warden, to determine all 

 stannary disputes every month Stannary courts are 



