Mining

The area has long been associated with tin mining.^[8][9] In the 1600s nearby Seworgan was known to contain a blowing-house as early as 1649.^[8] Carnebyn tin bounds are recorded in 1676 (the earliest reference to mining on the site). It was first worked by aid of a steam pumping engine in the 1790s as Tregonebris Mine, with a separate detached portion known as Fatwork Mine to the east, which was still drained with a waterwheel operating rag and chain pumps.^[10] Later the mine was worked under the title Tregonebris & Carnebone Fatwork, producing tin from 1853 to 1859 before its subsequent.^[9] The mines were documented selling tin in 1856 for £76.^[11]

East Wheal Lovell

Tin mining continued and East Wheal Lovell produced some 2,405 tons between 1859 and 1891.^[12] A rich tin deposit was struck at 60fms depth and between 1863 and 1874 the mine paid dividends, making it one of the richest in the Wendron mining district.^[13] Between October 1869 and May 1871 alone £27,000 were paid in dividends.^[14] During this period, East Wheal Lovell's prosperity lead to less prosperous imitation mines such as Great East Wheal Lovell (1864-7) and New East Wheal Lovell (1868-70).^[15]

Clement Le Neve Foster visited the mine for his geological studies and published his findings, as well as diagrams of the mine in 1876. He described the ore body between the 40 and 110fm level as:

"one continuous pipe; and as one climbs up and down the shaft, which is merely the space left by the removal of the tinny mass one feels how thoroughly the words pipe or chimney describe deposits of this kind. On looking at the section it will be seen that the shoot is sometimes almost vertical sometimes inclining a good deal in a south south westerly direction. To sum up, it may be said that this shoot is in the shape of a long irregular cylindroid or cylinder with an elliptical base, generally about 12 to 15 feet long by seven feet wide. From the 40 fathoms level to the 50 this one shoot produced about two tons of clean tin ore per fathom of ground sunk; from the 50 to the 90 fathoms level about one ton per fathom; from the 90 to the 100 four or five tons of tin ore per fathom sunk, taking the whole length excavated varying from six to eighteen feet"^[14]

And compared it to the carbonas of St Ives Consols Mine.

The last dividend was paid in 1874, the last of any Wendron mine, and the mine entered its terminal decline. Discoveries made in the Tasmanian Tin Mines during the 1870s had reduced the trading commodity value of tin on international markets.^[10] The engine house may have been colloquially known as "Roger's" after Henry Rogers, the pursor of the mine.^[16][14]

The engine house of East Wheal Lovell mine is grade II listed (dated 17 June 1988).^[17] In 2017 it was announced that the site was up for sale with planning permission at the asking price of £125,000.^[18] Between 2019 and 2021 it underwent conversion into a residentual dwelling.^[13]