Botallack Crowns Mine

Crowns Mine Botallack

Cornwall's industrial heritage is well documented but it is only when you see a site like the Crowns mine at Botallack that the scale and reality of that industry comes alive. The mine was technically called Botallack Mine but was known as Crowns Mine after the visit of the Prince and Princess of Wales in 1865 when it was at the peak of it's Copper production. After the royal visit, other visitors travelled the site as documented in a book Botallack - the mine beneath the sea by Cyril Noall

Set on the far West Coast, the remains of the mines and other buildings are like a lost city. At the foot of the cliff next to the sea are the Crowns mine where miners, some as young as 10 years old would have slipped on the rocks on their way to work without the benefits of electric lighting to climb down treacherous ladders into a dangerous working environment.

In the present day, these are some of the most photographed mines in Cornwall, but behind the pictures lie some very tough times for everyone involved.