Description

CARN BREA

1535/0/10039 POOL
27-MAR-08 The Gunpowder Magazine, Robinson's Shaft

II
Gunpowder magazine. C19
MATERIALS: Granite rubble

DESCRIPTION: The building comprises a circular powder magazine enclosed within an encircling blast wall. Both walls are constructed of uncoursed granite rubble, originally flush pointed with cement and both have west facing entrances. The blast wall stands up to 2m high and the opening has half-height granite door jambs and fittings for a small gate. The magazine wall stands up to 1.8m high and is unroofed.

HISTORY: The South Crofty gunpowder magazine dates from the 1860s and was constructed to serve Palmer's and Bickford's shafts situated 250m to the east. For safety reasons, the magazine would have ceased being used in 1900 when the adjacent Robinson's shaft was established. The building is likely to have continued as a store for the new working and the roof was not removed until the early 1990s.

SUMMARY OF IMPORTANCE: Despite loss of its roof, this gunpowder magazine at Robinson's Shaft survives relatively well. It is unusual both for its large size and in its plan being circular with a circular blast wall rather than taking the more usual rectangular form. Most significantly, it sits within an internationally important historic industrial landscape recognised through its designation as a World Heritage Site and is part of the nationally significant Robinson's Shaft mining complex.

NGR:- SW6670941306

Reasons for Listing

Despite loss of its roof, this gunpowder magazine at Robinson's Shaft survives relatively well. It is unusual both for its large size and in its plan being circular with a circular blast wall rather than taking the more usual rectangular form. Most signifcantly, it sits within an internationally important historic industrial landscape recognised through its designation as a World Heritage Site and is part of the nationally significant Robinson's Shaft mining complex. Given its unusual form and its context within the Cornish mining landscape it merits listing at Grade II.

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q26671701

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

• 
  Norfolk 1: Norwich and North-East: Norwich and North-east v. 1 (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Devon (Pevsner Buildings of England)
• 
  Bedfordshire, Huntingdonshire, and Peterborough (Pevsner Architectural Guides): Written by Charles O'Brien, 2014 Edition, Publisher: Yale University Press [Hardcover]
• 
  Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990
• 
  The Listed Buildings and Other Principal Structures at the Royal Gunpowder Mills Waltham Abbey
• 
  Listed Buildings: The Law and Practice of History Buildings, Ancient Monuments and Conservation Areas