Poldark Tin Mine and Gardens, an open air museum in a beautiful rural setting.

Archaeological evidence indicates that Cornwall has a history of tin production dating from at least 1800 BC. From the Bronze Age the County was an important producer of tin, which when mixed with copper forms the alloy bronze.

Until the 14th century tin was produced from rich alluvial deposits. By the 18th century Cornwall had developed into the world's major producer of tin and copper as well as commercially producing many other metals including lead, silver and arsenic.

By the early 19th century Cornwall was the world's most technologically advanced mining district.

Until the 14th century tin was produced from rich alluvial deposits primarily in the moors around Bodmin and St. Austell and, in west Cornwall, the Wendron Mining district. These deposits had been formed in ancient times when the granite mountains were eroded over millions of years and the tin ore contained in lodes within them was washed onto the moors and river valleys forming extremely rich deposits.

It was the use of and development of steam power in the mines of Cornwall, coupled with the County's relative remoteness and lack of coal, that resulted in the Cornwall becoming the most technologically advanced mining region in the world by the early 19th century.

Removing water from deep mine workings was a major problem and a factor that limited the depth to which a mine could be sunk.

Development in steam technology in Cornwall resulted in the production of the world's most efficient steam pumping engine, the Cornish Beam Engine.

Cornwall was somewhat isolated from the rest of Briton until the coming of the railway. By the 13th century there was some three thousand years of tin production and many traditions and customs had developed. Tin was an important commodity. The problem of controlling the tin trade and taxing the tin workers was overcome in a system which is unique in British legal history.

King James gave the tinners their own Charter which amongst other things created them free men, exempt of all taxes, save that raised on the tin they produced, exempt military service and created the Cornish Stannary Parliament.

In July 2006 ten mining districts, nine in Cornwall and one in Devon were designated a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in recognition of the important part Cornwall played in the development of mining technology during the 19th century and in dispersing that knowledge across the mining fields of the world.

For further information click this link to the Cornish Mining World Heritage Site web site.

The Great Tin Crash of October 1985 heralded the end of tin production in Cornwall. The price of tin, until October of that year, had hovered at around £10,000 a ton.

In October trading in tin metal on the London Metal Exchange was suspended when banks withdrew their funding for the International Tin Council's support of the metal.

When trading eventually resumed the price had collapsed to around £2,000 a ton, well below economic production levels for the Cornish producers.

For a graph of present day prices click here.