Mining

Mining was first recorded in our Parish in the Sixteenth Century, it was however well established by then with crude pumping engines permitting workings to extend below sea level.

The earliest mining in the County was streaming where alluvial deposits were worked for tin. In the Nineteenth and early Twentieth Centuries local beach sands were exploited in this way.

The exposed mineral veins in the cliffs around Perranporth attracted adventurers from an early period, burrowing into the cliffs or digging into the heads of the lodes where they broke the surface. These workings all exploited natural drainage via an adit, i.e. a drainage tunnel from the lowest point of the mine, typically at beach level. Several mining tunnels can still be seen in the cliffs today.
Tin was the most sought after mineral but lead, with its accompanying silver content, was also exploited.

A copper boom in the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries had a profound effect on Perranporth and the area immediately south of the village. The massive West Chyverton lead mine employed around 1000 men, boys, women and girls in the latter half of the Nineteenth Century.

During the Second World War tin, tungsten (wolfram) and iron were exploited for strategic reasons. This was the last serious mining in the parish.

The museum has a number of artifacts associated with the industry and a model of a miner dressed in typical clothing. There is also a case displaying mineral samples.