Birch Tor and Vitifer mine
Encyclopedia
Birch Tor and Vitifer mine was a tin
mine
on Dartmoor
, Devon
, England. Located in the valley of the Redwater Brook, to the east of the B3212 Moretonhampstead
to Princetown
road, below the Warren House Inn
, the mine was worked between the mid–18th century and 1925.
Strictly speaking, Birch Tor mine on the eastern side of the Redwater Brook valley and Vitifer mine on the west were separate mines, but for most of their working lives they were operated under the same management, so they are usually considered together. The first documentary reference to "Vitifer Mine" was in 1750, and to "Burch Tor Bounds" in 1757. By the 1780s Vitifer was being operated by the Dartmoor Mining and Smelting Company, and in 1796 it was said to be employing 40 men. A few years later it was reported that the mine had a 36 ft (11 m) water wheel for pumping water out of the mine, and it had a half-mile long adit
that had taken nearly four years to drive up the valley. At this time the ore from the mine was sent to Cornwall for smelting
, but by the 1820s it was being smelted at Eylesbarrow mine
, also on Dartmoor.
In 1834 the mine was reported to be "large and profitable", but the conditions for the more than 100 employees, including women and children, were very poor and many of the miners there were said to be refugees from other districts on account of petty crimes they had committed. At this time, one of the men who worked underground at Birch Tor said that the quality of the air down the mine was so bad that "it killed scores of miners".
In 1838 Birch Tor mine had two 40 ft waterwheels and one of 32 ft and it was said to be the only mine of any size working on Dartmoor. The two mines were amalgamated in 1845 and the underground workings were then being drained by two waterwheels of 45 ft diameter. It was around this time that it was discovered that the deeper excavations were not producing the quality of ore that had been expected, unlike many of the mines in Cornwall which proved to be richer in tin at depth.
By the 1850s the mine had only about 20 men working, but by 1863 it had revived and had about 150 employees. The next year was its peak, when it sold 150 tons of black tin
. In 1870 it was still employing 102 people, but it was abandoned in 1882. From 1887 to 1903 a small amount of work continued at the mine under Moses Bawden, who had been involved with the mine since the 1860s; and from 1903 to 1913 new owners Phelips and Padfield kept just over 20 miners employed each year. This was the last underground work done at the mine, but the dumps were reworked until 1925, and although some further work on the dumps was undertaken in 1938-9, there is no record of any production from this period.
Tin
Tin is a chemical element with the symbol Sn and atomic number 50. It is a main group metal in group 14 of the periodic table. Tin shows chemical similarity to both neighboring group 14 elements, germanium and lead and has two possible oxidation states, +2 and the slightly more stable +4...
mine
Mining in the United Kingdom
Mining in the United Kingdom produces a wide variety of mineral fuels, metals, and industrial minerals. In 2006, there were over 2200 active mines, quarries, and offshore drilling sites on the continental land mass of the United Kingdom.-Brief history:...
on Dartmoor
Dartmoor
Dartmoor is an area of moorland in south Devon, England. Protected by National Park status, it covers .The granite upland dates from the Carboniferous period of geological history. The moorland is capped with many exposed granite hilltops known as tors, providing habitats for Dartmoor wildlife. The...
, Devon
Devon
Devon is a large county in southwestern England. The county is sometimes referred to as Devonshire, although the term is rarely used inside the county itself as the county has never been officially "shired", it often indicates a traditional or historical context.The county shares borders with...
, England. Located in the valley of the Redwater Brook, to the east of the B3212 Moretonhampstead
Moretonhampstead
Moretonhampstead lies on the edge of Dartmoor and is notable for having the longest one-word name of any place in England. The parish church is dedicated to St. Andrew. George Oliver and John Pike Jones , 1828, Exeter: E. Woolmer. Moretonhampstead is twinned with Betton in France.-History:The...
to Princetown
Princetown
Princetown is a town situated on Dartmoor in the English county of Devon.In 1785, Sir Thomas Tyrwhitt, Secretary to the Prince of Wales, leased a large area of moorland from the Duchy of Cornwall estate, hoping to convert it into good farmland. He encouraged people to live in the area and suggested...
road, below the Warren House Inn
Warren House Inn
The Warren House Inn is a remote and isolated public house in the heart of Dartmoor, Devon, England. It is the highest pub in southern England at 1,425 feet above sea level...
, the mine was worked between the mid–18th century and 1925.
History
In medieval times, or even before, the area later occupied by this mine was at the centre of the most extensive surface mining operations on Dartmoor, and today it is still scarred by the waste heaps left by stream working and numerous gullies of open cast mining.Strictly speaking, Birch Tor mine on the eastern side of the Redwater Brook valley and Vitifer mine on the west were separate mines, but for most of their working lives they were operated under the same management, so they are usually considered together. The first documentary reference to "Vitifer Mine" was in 1750, and to "Burch Tor Bounds" in 1757. By the 1780s Vitifer was being operated by the Dartmoor Mining and Smelting Company, and in 1796 it was said to be employing 40 men. A few years later it was reported that the mine had a 36 ft (11 m) water wheel for pumping water out of the mine, and it had a half-mile long adit
Adit
An adit is an entrance to an underground mine which is horizontal or nearly horizontal, by which the mine can be entered, drained of water, and ventilated.-Construction:...
that had taken nearly four years to drive up the valley. At this time the ore from the mine was sent to Cornwall for smelting
Smelting
Smelting is a form of extractive metallurgy; its main use is to produce a metal from its ore. This includes iron extraction from iron ore, and copper extraction and other base metals from their ores...
, but by the 1820s it was being smelted at Eylesbarrow mine
Eylesbarrow mine
Eylesbarrow mine was a tin mine on Dartmoor, Devon, England that was active during the first half of the 19th century. In its early years it was one of the largest and most prosperous of the Dartmoor tin mines, along with Whiteworks mine and the Birch Tor and Vitifer mines. Its name has several...
, also on Dartmoor.
In 1834 the mine was reported to be "large and profitable", but the conditions for the more than 100 employees, including women and children, were very poor and many of the miners there were said to be refugees from other districts on account of petty crimes they had committed. At this time, one of the men who worked underground at Birch Tor said that the quality of the air down the mine was so bad that "it killed scores of miners".
In 1838 Birch Tor mine had two 40 ft waterwheels and one of 32 ft and it was said to be the only mine of any size working on Dartmoor. The two mines were amalgamated in 1845 and the underground workings were then being drained by two waterwheels of 45 ft diameter. It was around this time that it was discovered that the deeper excavations were not producing the quality of ore that had been expected, unlike many of the mines in Cornwall which proved to be richer in tin at depth.
By the 1850s the mine had only about 20 men working, but by 1863 it had revived and had about 150 employees. The next year was its peak, when it sold 150 tons of black tin
Black tin
Black tin is the raw ore of tin, usually cassiterite, as sold by a tin mine to a smelting company. After mining, the ore has to be concentrated by a number of processes to reduce the amount of gangue it contains before it can be sold...
. In 1870 it was still employing 102 people, but it was abandoned in 1882. From 1887 to 1903 a small amount of work continued at the mine under Moses Bawden, who had been involved with the mine since the 1860s; and from 1903 to 1913 new owners Phelips and Padfield kept just over 20 miners employed each year. This was the last underground work done at the mine, but the dumps were reworked until 1925, and although some further work on the dumps was undertaken in 1938-9, there is no record of any production from this period.