History
The Tamar Valley is probably best known for its recent industrial heritage, dating from the great mining boom in the mid 1800s when rich copper deposits were discovered. Other minerals mined in the Valley included lead, silver, manganese, tin and arsenic. In fact at the height of this boom, the Tamar Valley and Devon Great Consoles was the richest copper mine in Europe with over one hundred mines.
Morwellham Quay served the mines and was referred to as 'the greatest copper port in Queen Victoria's Empire'.
The output from 1844 to 1902 was 736,229 tons copper ore which sold for £3,473,046 and 72,279 tons of refined arsenic worth £625,062.
As copper supplies began to run out, arsenic ore was mined providing a deadly poison to be used in insecticides and weed killers. It is believed that there was enough arsenic stored on the quayside at Morwellham to kill every man, woman and child in the world. When Devon Great Consols eventually closed thousands of miners were forced to emigrate in order to find work.
Indeed, the area is part of the Cornwall and West Devon Mining Landscape (Cornish Mining) - declared a World Heritage Site, recognised as having cultural importance on a global level. Visit the Cornish Mining website for the latest information.
The Tamar Valley landscape has been shaped by a long history of settlement and industry, and it retains a rich and diverse rural as well as industrial heritage. There is evidence of prehistoric settlement in the Stone and Bronze Age barrows in the Kit Hill and Hingston Down area, as well as a hill fort at Dunterton Castle.
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