Troon Homepage


Set off to the northeast of the Grenville United Mine, on Newton Moor, lies the remains of Goold's Engine House
©Gwyn Jones
Dist:0.1km<br/>Grenville United mines (just outside of Troon) are now just two engine houses. Fortescue's engine house is on the left and Fortescue's pumping house is on the right (both part of Fortescue's shaft).
©Joe Pritchard
Dist:0.1km<br/>Tin ore was roasted at a low heat to drive off sulphur and arsenic which would have ruined the smelting process. The fumes went through a long tunnel where arsenic was deposited on the walls and the remaining fumes went out through this chimney. In the mid distance can be seen the King Edward Mine, now a museum, and on the horizon is the Woolf's Engine House [[176746]].
©Tony Atkin
Dist:0.1km<br/>This plaque reads "Frue Vanner House 1901 C.R. Bishop Manager"
©Tony Atkin
Dist:0.2km<br/>Hidden in the undergrowth is a long wall which is all that remains standing of the Vanner House at Grenville United Mine which was built around 1900. The vanner house contained various means of concentrating the ore which had been crushed in the stamps. The plaque on the wall has the Cornish Motto "One and All" and the Cornish coat of arms.
©Tony Atkin
Dist:0.2km<br/>The primary use for the engine which was housed in here was to drive the stamps which crushed the ore in preparation for further processing. The stonework in front of the engine carried the flywheel which converted the up and down motion of the beam engine into a rotary motion. The engine house was built around 1891 and there were 136 stamps operating from it, the combined noise of all that rock pounding must have been rather distinctive to say the least.
©Tony Atkin
Dist:0.4km<br/>
©Tony Atkin
Dist:0.4km<br/>Getting the tin ore to the surface was only the start of the process of producing the "black tin", an ore concentrate good enough to be smelted to produce ingots of "white tin". The problem was that the ore (cassiterite) does not occur in large pure lumps but is mixed in with other minerals in the vein. To remove this waste material involves a complicated processes of crushing and separation with the aid of water by several different types of machinery. This museum preserves the buildings and machinery which used to perform these operations. It offers a fascinating insight into an industry now vanished from Cornwall and into the means of industrial production in an age before electricity. Well worth a visit.
©Tony Atkin
Dist:0.4km<br/>
©Rod Allday
Dist:0.4km<br/>The table slopes to the right and towards the camera position. Rock containing the ore, having been crushed to fine sand in the stamps, is fed onto the table as slurry at the far left-hand corner and water dribbled along the higher side (on the left as viewed). The heavier black tin (Ore) stay above the baffles while the waste material being lighter gets washed into the launder to the right. Source. Tour guide am 16/09/2009
©Fred James
Dist:0.4km<br/>Original Cornish engine house in the background. The rusty metal is in the storage area and comprises a variety of historic items including a large worm capstan from South Crofty Mine.
©Chris Allen
Dist:0.4km<br/>This is a huge bit of kit and it is difficult to capture it in one shot. The mechanism is to the left behind the staircase.
©Chris Allen
Dist:0.5km<br/>Both built in 1892, in the foreground is the winding engine house and the pumping engine house is at the rear. The stack on the latter was originally higher but was damaged by a lightning strike in 1897. Wheal Grenville closed in 1920.
©Rod Allday
Dist:0.5km<br/>The chimneys in the distance are South Wheal Frances in [[SW6739]] one of the mines of The Great Flat Lode. http://www.cornwallinfocus.co.uk/history/swfrances.php
©Fred James
Dist:0.5km<br/>Now a museum/heritage centre. This geared winding engine was originally located here then was moved to Castle an Dinas wolfram mine in WWII and then ended up on display at Poldark Mine. It is now back to where it started in 1905. They can run this on compressed air.
©Chris Allen

Creative Commons Licence [Some Rights Reserved]

Members Nearby

Troon Discussion Forum


Places Near Troon

Barripper • Beacon • Bolenowe • Bosleake • Boswyn • Brea • Camborne • Carn Arthen • Carthew • Carwynnen • Croft Mitchell • Four Lanes • Grillis • Higher Condurrow • Illogan Highway • Killivose • Nine Maidens Dow • Pencoys • Pengegon • Penhallick • Penponds • Piece • Polgear • Stennack • Tolcarne • Tregajorran • Treskillard • Treslothan • Troon • Tuckingmill •