4.6 The archaeological work of the regional teams
Cornish mining heritage (4 of 4)
The last working tin mine in Europe, South Crofty in Cornwall, closed in March 1998. This marked the end of a long chapter in the county's history, going back into the prehistoric period. In medieval and early post-medieval times tin mining brought great wealth to a fairly impoverished and remote area, and the profits grew even greater when, in the eighteenth century, the industry harnessed new steam and pumping technology. During the first 60 years of the nineteenth century, however, Cornwall was to become the preeminent hard rock mining area in the world. At that time the county was the greatest producer of copper principally because its engineers further refined the steam engine and processing technology and thereby developed its own foundry industry. These foundries in turn exported Cornish engines and mining technology all over the world. Eventually other areas rivalled Cornwall for copper production and it came to rely upon tin mining again, but Cornish mining had by that time passed its peak and was in serious decline from the later nineteenth century onwards.
Vast numbers of Cornish miners emigrated to new mining areas all over the globe. Nevertheless the many Cornish mining districts retained high populations through to the present century, but with little available work, and some of the highest unemployment in Britain is still to be found in the Camborne and Redruth areas. During this long period of decline the remains of this once vast industry were left to decay slowly, unlike the rapid decline of former coalfield areas where the entire array of surface remains was almost entirely swept away very quickly indeed.
Over the last 15 years there has been a growing recognition of the importance of the mining heritage and its potential for regeneration. Underpinning this movement were a series of surveys and assessments of the archaeological remains by the Cornwall Archaeological Unit. That work was developed by a local partnership comprising mainly local bodies like the Archaeological Unit, all the local authorities, and the Cornwall Regional office of the National Trust. This partnership only began a long-term conservation programme and also coordinated work to promote public access (reopening old tramways for walkers and cyclists) and interpretation.
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Most of the initial work, funded from a variety of sources, including derelict land reclamation projects, European regional aid funding, and recently Heritage Lottery Funding, has now been completed. Reclamation of derelict and heavily contaminated land had, in previous years, been quite destructive to historic remains and the local ecology but as a result of the success of the regeneration measures and discussion with the funding agency, the derelict land programmes became much more focused on conservation and recreation. For some years now it has been agreed that archaeological assessment should form the initial part of each land reclamation scheme. English Heritage has not participated in this initiative as a major funder, but has been involved in two ways. It has given the whole programme and the partnership full backing and has advised other bodies on topics including the need for archaeological assessment for reclamation schemes.
English Heritage has provided funding for various vital pieces of work which otherwise would not have received sufficient backing from other sources. It provided grants for most of the initial archaeological surveys, the establishment of some local authority Conservation staff, certain repair schemes and condition surveys, and a film record of South Crofty mine carried out by the RCHME. In 1998 English Heritage agreed to a Conservation Area Partnership with the Cornwall Archaeological Unit and all the local authorities in Cornwall. The purpose of the Partnership scheme is to make an assessment of the built fabric of settlements associated with mining and related industries to help guide their future protection and management. This, and another English Heritage funded project assessing the historic landscape character of mining areas will complete the basic survey of the Cornish mining heritage of the last three centuries.
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Cornwall is still recovering from the shock of losing its last working tin mine, both from the impact on local employment and from its psychological effect. The idea of regeneration through conservation, however, is generally rekindling the pride of these economically depressed areas. Over the next few years the county should begin to reap the economic rewards for this unusual conservation and regeneration partnership, and at the same time, the partnership is starting to prepare its bid for World Heritage Site status for its unique mining heritage in the hope that it might attain designation early in the next century.
