Merrymeet and Pengover Green are two small villages within the Parish of Menheniot in the Caradon Region of Cornwall. Neither has a shop or a school, Both are generally quiet and fit in with the country life as though it was always that way. This is somewhat misleading as it was not always so. In fact their very existence as villages is inextricably bound to the mining industry.
Historically, Cornwall has always been renowned for its beaches, fishing, agriculture and mining. Tin was discovered in this county some 2000 years ago, and tin ore was mined, for the most part in west Cornwall, until it eventually started to became uneconomical during the 19th century. The quantity of tin mines, and the number of people employed in them gradually dwindled until, today, there are no working tin mines, the last working one having closed quite recently. Other metals including gold, copper, silver and zinc were mined on a smaller scale. Of these, one extra-ordinary rich vein of copper was mined in the Caradon area at around the 1840’s. This resulted in some large fortunes being made, and brought a lot of wealth to Liskeard. The main entrepreneurs in this success were the brothers Peter and James Clymo. At this period of time, lead had been discovered in Menheniot Parish and the two brothers set their efforts to opening up lead mines in the area which of course includes Merrymeet and Pengover.
The two most producive mines were at Mary Anne and Wheal Trelawny, both on the north side of Mennheniot. Apart from the high tonnage of lead, they also produced several ounces of silver. In the Merrymeet / Pengover area, the only successful mine was at Treweatha where two shafts produced 4,371 tons of lead and about 134,000 ounces of silver. The two shafts were located one each side of the road at Wheal Honey, and as customary were named after the mine captains. Harris Shaft was 62 fathoms (372 feet) and Ward Shaft 100 fathoms (600 feet) deep. A third shaft was started and a chimney built on the other side of the farm house, but did not prove to be much good. Treweatha worked from 1852 to 1872. In 1856 there were 75 men and 50 women and children employed there, some of the children being as young as 9 years. The women and children worked only on the surface, mainly sorting out the good pieces removing the rubbish.
Other, more exploratory mines, were started at Butterdon, Penhawger and Venton areas. Butterdon 1 was situated near the footpath that runs from Venton Lane to Penhawger and worked from 1850 to 1853. Butterdon 2 was east of Penhawger Farm and worked from 1854 to 1857 employing 20 men. It went down to 50 fathoms (300 feet). Penhawger mine was the most northerly. Situated just north of the farm it went to a depth of 28 fathoms (168 feet) and worked from 1850 to 1861. Venton mine was located somewhere near the existing sewage works and worked from 1850 to 1858. None of these mines proved to be economically sound, and it appears that a lot of money was spent on them for little or no return.
There were clearly insufficient workers locally available for the operations of the mines in the parish generally, and in particular a lack of experienced miners. Men were brought in from various parts of the country including many from the already dwindling tin mining areas in Cornwall itself. There was a rapidly increasing need for accommodation, not only for the men but for their families, and this growth had to be accompanied by appropriate social facilities. Cottages and other dwellings were put up in various areas. For instance, in 1851, Crift had 18 dwellings of which 16 were miners’ cottages, housing about 110 people. This increased to 38 dwellings by 1861, each with a small patch to grow vegetables. Crift then also had a beer house. Cottages were built at Pengover Green and Merrymeet. It seems possible that the name Pengover Green stemmed from that period. A school for 130 pupils was built at Merrymeet in 1842 and church services were held there until St. Mary’s was built in 1905. A Bible Christian Chapel was built in Pengover Green in 1850, and the Society also held meetings at Butterdon Mill. The existing Merrymeet Methodist Chapel was built in 1910 to replace a Chapel at Trengrove, where the cottages now are. In this period, each of these thriving communities had their own tradesmen including for instance blacksmiths and possibly bakers.
It did not last. The seams of lead petered out and by 1875 all lead mining had ceased. It must have been a distressing time. Workers and families which had moved into the area, to settle there, were now slowly forced by circumstances to move out and find work in other parts of the country. Clearly after a time various dwellings became dilapidated and eventually disintegrated or got broken up. The area was returning to some extent back to its original condition. But a complete reversal was clearly not possible. The communities decreased but still existed as smaller groups. There is nowadays little to indicate that Crift was at that time a relatively large community. Merrymeet and Pengover Green had not apparently expanded to the same extent, and tended to retain their core communities. Nevertheless over the intermediate years, and following the general trend throughout the country, they declined in self sufficiency, losing tradesmen and reducing their social/educational facilities. Still, both Merrymeet and Pengover Green retained a certain amount of their independence, being what could be called hamlets, although we now tend to call them villages.
Much of the above factual information was obtained from a book ‘The Mines & Mining Men of Menheniot’ by Stephen Bartlett who kindly gave permission, via Cyril Symons, for us to use material as long as we respected sensible limitations. We thank.him sincerely. For those interested in learning more about lead mining in this area, it would be worth reading this book, which is available in book shops and on the internet. There are also copies in some Cornish Libraries, including Liskeard.
Historically, Cornwall has always been renowned for its beaches, fishing, agriculture and mining. Tin was discovered in this county some 2000 years ago, and tin ore was mined, for the most part in west Cornwall, until it eventually started to became uneconomical during the 19th century. The quantity of tin mines, and the number of people employed in them gradually dwindled until, today, there are no working tin mines, the last working one having closed quite recently. Other metals including gold, copper, silver and zinc were mined on a smaller scale. Of these, one extra-
The two most producive mines were at Mary Anne and Wheal Trelawny, both on the north side of Mennheniot. Apart from the high tonnage of lead, they also produced several ounces of silver. In the Merrymeet / Pengover area, the only successful mine was at Treweatha where two shafts produced 4,371 tons of lead and about 134,000 ounces of silver. The two shafts were located one each side of the road at Wheal Honey, and as customary were named after the mine captains. Harris Shaft was 62 fathoms (372 feet) and Ward Shaft 100 fathoms (600 feet) deep. A third shaft was started and a chimney built on the other side of the farm house, but did not prove to be much good. Treweatha worked from 1852 to 1872. In 1856 there were 75 men and 50 women and children employed there, some of the children being as young as 9 years. The women and children worked only on the surface, mainly sorting out the good pieces removing the rubbish.
Other, more exploratory mines, were started at Butterdon, Penhawger and Venton areas. Butterdon 1 was situated near the footpath that runs from Venton Lane to Penhawger and worked from 1850 to 1853. Butterdon 2 was east of Penhawger Farm and worked from 1854 to 1857 employing 20 men. It went down to 50 fathoms (300 feet). Penhawger mine was the most northerly. Situated just north of the farm it went to a depth of 28 fathoms (168 feet) and worked from 1850 to 1861. Venton mine was located somewhere near the existing sewage works and worked from 1850 to 1858. None of these mines proved to be economically sound, and it appears that a lot of money was spent on them for little or no return.
There were clearly insufficient workers locally available for the operations of the mines in the parish generally, and in particular a lack of experienced miners. Men were brought in from various parts of the country including many from the already dwindling tin mining areas in Cornwall itself. There was a rapidly increasing need for accommodation, not only for the men but for their families, and this growth had to be accompanied by appropriate social facilities. Cottages and other dwellings were put up in various areas. For instance, in 1851, Crift had 18 dwellings of which 16 were miners’ cottages, housing about 110 people. This increased to 38 dwellings by 1861, each with a small patch to grow vegetables. Crift then also had a beer house. Cottages were built at Pengover Green and Merrymeet. It seems possible that the name Pengover Green stemmed from that period. A school for 130 pupils was built at Merrymeet in 1842 and church services were held there until St. Mary’s was built in 1905. A Bible Christian Chapel was built in Pengover Green in 1850, and the Society also held meetings at Butterdon Mill. The existing Merrymeet Methodist Chapel was built in 1910 to replace a Chapel at Trengrove, where the cottages now are. In this period, each of these thriving communities had their own tradesmen including for instance blacksmiths and possibly bakers.
It did not last. The seams of lead petered out and by 1875 all lead mining had ceased. It must have been a distressing time. Workers and families which had moved into the area, to settle there, were now slowly forced by circumstances to move out and find work in other parts of the country. Clearly after a time various dwellings became dilapidated and eventually disintegrated or got broken up. The area was returning to some extent back to its original condition. But a complete reversal was clearly not possible. The communities decreased but still existed as smaller groups. There is nowadays little to indicate that Crift was at that time a relatively large community. Merrymeet and Pengover Green had not apparently expanded to the same extent, and tended to retain their core communities. Nevertheless over the intermediate years, and following the general trend throughout the country, they declined in self sufficiency, losing tradesmen and reducing their social/educational facilities. Still, both Merrymeet and Pengover Green retained a certain amount of their independence, being what could be called hamlets, although we now tend to call them villages.
Much of the above factual information was obtained from a book ‘The Mines & Mining Men of Menheniot’ by Stephen Bartlett who kindly gave permission, via Cyril Symons, for us to use material as long as we respected sensible limitations. We thank.him sincerely. For those interested in learning more about lead mining in this area, it would be worth reading this book, which is available in book shops and on the internet. There are also copies in some Cornish Libraries, including Liskeard.
