The Cornwall and West Devon Mining Landscape is a UNESCO World Heritage Site that includes certain mining areas in Cornwall and West Devon, located in the southwest of England. The site was added to the World Heritage List during the 30th Session of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee in Vilnius, July 2006. After plans in 2011 to restart mining at South Crofty and to build a supermarket at Hayle Harbour, the World Heritage Committee made a decision in 2014 to add the site to the List of World Heritage in Danger. However, this decision was rejected during the 38th Committee Session in Doha, Qatar (July 2014), and instead, a follow-up Reactive Monitoring Mission was recommended.

History

Before the mid-16th century, Devon made about 25-40% as much tin as Cornwall did. However, the total tin produced by both regions during this time was still small. After the 1540s, Cornwall’s tin production increased greatly, while Devon’s production became only about one-ninth to one-tenth of Cornwall’s. From the mid-16th century onward, the Devon Stannaries provided very little income to the King and were no longer important after the Supremacy of Parliament Act 1512 (this law did not affect Cornwall’s Stannaries).

During the 18th and 19th centuries, the landscapes of Cornwall and West Devon changed greatly because of deep-lode mining for copper and tin. Underground mines, engine houses, foundries, new towns, small farms, ports, harbors, and other industries show many new ideas. These innovations helped the region produce two-thirds of the world’s copper supply in the early 19th century. By the late 19th century, arsenic production became more important, with mines in eastern Cornwall and West Devon supplying half of the world’s need.

In the early 19th century, steam engine technology improved, which changed how hard-rock mining was done. Engineers Richard Trevithick and Arthur Woolf developed high-pressure engines that allowed mining at much greater depths than before. Beam engines and other mining machines designed in Cornwall were made in places like Hayle, Perranarworthal, and Tavistock. These machines were then sent to mining areas around the world throughout the century.

Starting in the early 19th century, many mine workers moved to live and work in mining communities based on Cornish traditions. This movement was strongest at the end of the 19th century. Today, many Cornish communities around the world still exist, and Cornish-style engine houses can be seen in places like Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Mexico, the British Virgin Islands, Spain, and in mining areas of other parts of England, Wales, Scotland, Ireland, the Channel Islands, and the Isle of Man.

After the copper crash of the 1860s, Cornwall’s mining industry became much smaller, with production focusing mainly on tin. Metalliferous mining in Cornwall ended in 1998 when South Crofty Mine in Pool, the last tin mine in Europe, closed. South Crofty has large tin reserves, and in January 2025, the British government announced a £28.6 million investment to help reopen the mine.

Areas

The World Heritage Site includes separate areas that are connected by similar themes. These areas are located in Cornwall and West Devon. The areas, along with their codes from the site nomination, include:

• A1 – St Just Mining District
• A2 – Port of Hayle
• A3i – Tregonning and Gwinear Mining District
• A3ii – Trewavas
• A4 – Wendron Mining District
• A5i – Camborne and Redruth Mining District
• A5ii – Wheal Peevor
• A5iii – Portreath Harbour
• A6i – Gwennap Mining District
• A6ii – Devoran and Perran Foundry
• A6iii – Kennall Vale
• A7 – St Agnes Mining District
• A8i – Luxulyan Valley
• A8ii – Charlestown
• A9 – Caradon Mining District
• A10i – Tamar Valley
• A10ii – Tavistock