The Wherry Mine was located 240 yards offshore at Wherry Town, on the southern edge of Penzance. It was established on a mineralized dyke of ‘elvan’ (quartz-feldspar porphyry) that ran parallel to the shore and was only exposed during low tides. Thomas Curtis, a 57-year-old miner, dedicated three years from around 1778 to sinking the shaft, constructing a wooden coffer 25 inches square and 20 feet tall to keep out water. Curtis passed away in 1791, by which time the mine had become profitable. Operations involved a steam engine on land that powered pumps via flat rods carried on a trestle bridge to the coffer. In 1798, the mine was destroyed when an American ship, caught in a storm, demolished the trestles and coffer. Subsequent attempts to reopen the mine failed, making the Wherry Mine likely the only mine ever destroyed by a shipwreck.

1700s 1778-1798