URPoint Details
Geological Museum open Monday to Friday, 9am-5pm, free entry. Unsuitable for disabled visitors with many flights of stairs no WC's Braille guide available.
Two great beam engines (one with a cylinder 7ft in diameter), used for pumping water from over 1,700 ft deep and for winding men and ore.
They impressively evoke the days when the tin and copper mining industry dominated Cornish life.
To the west is the geological Museum of the Camborne School of Mines, where the National Trust's Norris minerals can be seen.
The engines exemplify the use of high pressure steam patented by the Cornish engineer Richard Trevithick in 1802.
The winding engine is rotated today by electricity.
A further engine (Robinson's) is preserved at a mine which is still working but can only be seen when visits can be arranged to fit in with normal mine routine arrangements must be sought beforehand from the Manager, South Crofty.
- Type:
- Landmark