Levant Mine - Higher Bal

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jhluxton

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In 1820, the Levant Mining Company was formed by 1836, 320 men, 44 women and 186 children were employed on the site. In Levant's first 20 years of business, £170,000 was made from mining copper. New technology was introduced to streamline production, and in 1857 an infamous man engine was installed. This engine, which comprised a moving rod, carried men many fathoms up and down the mine, to and from work each day.

In 1877 Levant acquired Higher Bal - formerly part of Spearne Consols mine

Many of the workings extended out under the Atlantic Ocean giving the mine the nick name “The Mine Under The Sea”.

On October 29,1919 the “Man Engine” by now the last one working in Cornwall, suffered a structural failure caused by metal fatigue when the link between the engine and rod failed – this resulted in the deaths of 31 men.

Levant Mine closed in 1930.

By the 1960s the adjacent Geevor Mine was seeing new reserves and expended into Levant which resulted in some new buildings and headgear being erected around Skip Shaft. Unfortunately the tin price crisis of the the mid to late 1980s resulted in the closure of Geevor and the abandonment of the adjacent Levant which was accessed from Geevor.

Today the buildings and site are in the care of the National Trust and beam winding (whim) engine is steamed on a regular basis and demonstrated to visitors. Much conservation / consolidation work has taken place since 1990. Whilst some is welcome, the tidying up of some parts of the site have destroyed some features in the name of health and safety! I visited the site quite often during the early days of conservation.




AUGUST 08, 1989: General view of Levant Mine from the west. Arsenic stack, left of centre, stamps engine house stack just right of centre, and the compressor house and stack right. Skip shaft head gear and the whim engine house are just right of centre. In the far distance Pendeen Lighthouse can be seen.




AUGUST 08, 1989: Levant Higher Bal - Guide Shaft engine house at Levant Higher Bal. Originally part of Spearne Consols this mine was absorbed into Levant in 1877 becoming Higher Bal. It is located on Levant Road which leads from Trewellard to Levant Mine. The house contained a dual purpose 35 inch Cornish engine which both wound and pumped from the adjacent Guide Shaft.



AUGUST 08, 1989: Levant Higher Bal: Steps leading down to Levant Road at Levant Higher Bal.



AUGUST 08, 1989: Levant Higher Bal: The substantial granite retaining wall at Levant Higher Bal. The nearest archway is the entrance to the steps leading up to the Guide Shaft engine house. The smaller sealed up archway provided a road level access to the shaft. This has now been cleared during consolidation and conservation work.



AUGUST 17, 1987: The as yet unrestored winding drum of the Levant Whim Engine.



AUGUST 17, 1987: Skip Shaft whim engine house before restoration of the engine to working order.



AUGUST 17, 1987: The buildings around Skip / Pumping Engine Shafts. The modern buildings were constructed by Geevor Tin Mines plc in conjunction with that company's working of Levant Mine - principal access to which was via Victory Shaft at Geevor Mine.





AUGUST 08, 1989: Skip Shaft: Skip Shaft whim engine house during the restoration of the rotative beam engine within. The foundations of the demolished boiler house have now been excavated.



APRIL 12, 1988: Processing floors at Levant Mine with the arsenic stack to the left. Settling tanks in the foreground.




APRIL 12, 1988 Levant Mine Compressor and Power House - sillouetted



APRIL 12, 1988: Remains of buddles on the Levant Mine dressing floors



MAY 31, 1988: Man Engine stack and site of the man engine house at Levant Mine before consolidation / conservation.



MAY 31, 1988: The top of the Man Engine shaft, scene of the 1919 disaster, before consolidation and conservation work was undertaken by the National trust.



1996: View across the mineral processing floor of Levant Mine in Trewellard Bottoms looking towards Geevor Mine. The foundations of mineral stamps can be seen - these are the large concrete plinths. The concrete has a fresh look to it despite this area having been abandoned since 1930.



1996: Line up of stacks - Man Engine, Compressor House and Stamp Engine House stacks.



1996: Foundations of the Miners' Dry here miner's would change after work. This was quite advanced for its day with heating pipes to dry wet work clothes and baths for the miners to wash after work. Note the bath basin in the foreground. Arsenic, Stamps and Compressor House Stacks can be seen.


Full gallery of photos including the now restored beam engine please visit : http://www.jhluxton.com/The-35mm-Film-Archive/Mines-of-Cornwall-and-Devon/Levant-Mine-Cornwall/

John
 
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