Description

CARN BREA PIECE
SW 63 NE
8/152 Pump engine house
to Marriott's shaft on
South Wheal Frances sett

GV II
Pump engine house to former tin mine, now derelict. Late 1890's, for South
Frances United Mine. Granite rubble with quoins, brick arches to openings; now
roofless. Rectangular plan on north-south axis, with pump opening at south end,
chimney attached at north-east corner. Two high storeys; the gabled front wall
has a very large round-headed opening overlooking the former shaft (which is
now capped with concrete), and a circular window in the apex of the gable
above; the rear has a similar opening which was formerly a large window at 1st
floor (the masonry beneath it having been removed) and a similar circular
window above; the sides have round-headed windows at 1st floor. Slightly-tapered
cylindrical chimney now lacking brick upper stage. Interior not accessible.
History: built to replace former engine house destroyed by fire in 1895;
contained inverted compound beam engine, said to have been the only one of its
type to work in Cornwall, with beam operating beneath floor, pivoted within the
house itself, and cylinders mounted on floor above, supported by massive interior
buttresses. Part of one of the best equipped mines in Cornwall, closed in 1918.
Reference: Marilyn Palmer & Peter Neaverson The Basset Mines, their History
and Industrial Archaeology (1987); J.Trounson Mining in Cornwall Vol One (1985).
Scheduled Ancient Monument No.953. Central element of very impressive group.

Listing NGR: SW6805939375

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q26596919

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

Recommended Books

• 
  Old House Care and Repair
• 
  Lancashire: Liverpool and the South-West (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Yorkshire West Riding: Sheffield and the South (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Essex: Buildings of England Series (Buildings of England) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Drawing up a Local Listed Building Consent Order: Historic England Advice Note 6
• 
  [(Shropshire)] [By (author) Nikolaus Pevsner] published on (January, 1958)