Mining Gallery

Dolcoath Mine, Camborne, Cornwall. 1893

The Man Engine at 234 fathoms level below adit, in 1893. The man engine went down to the 314 fathom level. Miners can be seen standing on the steps of the engine rod while others stand on solars or platforms fixed in the shaft at intervals of 12 feet. The man engine made 5 strokes a minute, thus enabling men to ride up or down 60 feet a minute. Ordinary ladders were fixed alongside the man engine or against the footwall of the lode. Photographer: John Charles Burrow

© From the collection of the RIC

Levant Mine, St Just in Penwith, Cornwall. 11th (?) July, 1894

Group of 29 miners posed underground at the 278 fathom level. The majority of the miners are wearing felt hats, either with the brim intact or with the brim removed. while others have tallow candles affixed to their hats with lumps of clay. Six of the group are smoking pipes. One miner holds a large saw. The group shows a whole range of ages. The youngest members of the group seem to be at the front, particularly the very young looking boy standing with drills tied with rope and slung around his shoulders, standing in the second row second from the left. Note the condition of the young miners boots, third from the left front row sitting. Photographer: John Charles Burrow

© From the collection of the RIC

New Cooks Kitchen, Illogan, Cornwall. Early 1900s

Chappel's (engine) shaft at the 406 level. This shows a typical Cornish kibble, with curved sides to prevent snagging, which has been hoisted from below by an air winch and its contents dumped into a tram. The pipe running from top left to centre bottom follows the dip or underlie of the lode and took compressed air to the rock drill working at a deeper level shown in the photograph at the bottom of Engine Shaft. Photographer: John Charles Burrow (1852-1914)

© From the collection of the RIC