East Wheal Golden was a small lead-and-silver working in the Holywell–Penhale mining district. It followed a lode east of the better-known Wheal Golden workings. A production return for 1861 records lead ore and silver, placing it firmly in the industrial landscape behind the proposed Holywell harbour.
Its name needs care: Wheal Golden, East Wheal Golden, Phoenix and Penhale were neighbouring workings with connections, but their names should not simply be exchanged. The Geological Survey also records an association with a working called Pigeon Green.
The mine helps explain why promoters could look at this stretch of coast and see a potential outlet for minerals. That does not mean the proposed harbour was built, or that every named mine sent ore by the same route.
Sources
Source: https://geoguide.scottishgeologytrust.org/p/gcr36/gcr36_perranbeachtoholywellbay Source: https://webapps.bgs.ac.uk/memoirs/docs/B01793.html
Connected subjects
Read on
- The Railway to Holywell Bay That Never Was
I grew up walking this coast with a surfboard. A Victorian railway and harbour scheme makes me wonder whether I might have caught the train instead—and what would have been waiting when I got there.