See also: Giew Sett etc. Wheal Reeth is situated between Trink Hill and Nancledra in Towednack parish, approximately two and a half miles southwest of St. Ives. It was part of the Reeth Consols group, along with Wheal Durloe, Giew Mine, and Billia Consols. These mines operated on the tin lodes located on the southern slopes of Trink Hill near the moorland village of Cripplesease. Nearby mines included Wheal Sisters, Wheal Kitty, Wheal Trencrom to the southeast, and Balnoon Consols and Worvas Downs to the northeast. To the north lay the copper and tin mine of Tyringham Consols. These mines were located close to the southeastern boundary between the Lands End Granite and the Killas-Greenstone country rock around Canon’s Town.

The lodes mainly ran southwest to northeast, with the underlie to the southeast. Wheal Durloe worked Durloe Lode just west of the B3311 road at Cripplesease, while Wheal Reeth worked four lodes including Durloe Lode, North Lode, and South Lode. Reeth worked Durloe Lode from various shafts, including Trewhella’s Shaft, West Whim Shaft, Durloe Shaft, and Magy’s Shaft. North Lode was worked from Reeth Shaft, Boundary Shaft, Bag’s Shaft, Garden Shaft, Monster’s Shaft, and Trink Shaft. South Lode was explored from Ned’s (Stvens’) Shaft and New or Frederick’s Shaft.

Records indicate that Wheal Reeth dates back to at least 1835, as reported by Thomas Spargo in his book ‘Statistics and Observations on the Mines of Cornwall and Devon’ (1865). The mine primarily focused on Billia lode, from which it derived its name. It was noted for not being a large tin producer, with available records showing that it raised 1,955 tons of black tin for the periods of 1837-1839 and 1853-1867. Wheal Durloe, on the other hand, produced 462 tons of black tin in the five years between 1859 and 1864.

1834-1852 1852-1859