Grade II listed steel headframe at Vivian's Shaft, Great Condurrow Mine, preserved and maintained by the Carn Brea Mining Society as an active training site.
Vivian Mine, recorded as Vivian's Shaft within Great Condurrow Mine in Camborne, is the site of a small steel headframe that is the oldest surviving example of its type in Cornwall and is listed Grade II. Great Condurrow Mine was first mentioned in mining records in 1815 and produced copper ore from the mid-1820s. After a short closure the mine was reopened in 1844 and, following the discovery of black tin at depth, paid its first dividends in 1849.
At its height between 1845 and 1876 the mine employed over 380 people. Vivian's shaft, named after mine manager Captain N. Vivian, was one of the principal shafts recorded at the mine from 1850 onward. The mine was eventually abandoned in 1873 and briefly reopened in 1911 as Condurrow Mines Ltd before ceasing again in 1913.
The existing steel headframe over Vivian's shaft was designed by Head Wrightson and Co. Ltd of Thornaby-on-Tees in 1936, built by Holman Bros. of Camborne, and erected by staff and students of King Edward Mine in early 1937 for the purpose of training students at the Camborne School of Mines. The freehold of the site was purchased in 2008 by the Botallack Trust, the funding arm of the Carn Brea Mining Society, which maintains the shaft, headframe, and winder for ongoing practical mining training.
Great Condurrow Mine, Camborne, was first recorded in mining journals in 1815 and produced its first copper ore in the mid-1820s. Good quality ore achieved a price of over £8 a ton in 1825. Production increased but the mine closed in 1830 after only a short period of operation.
The mine was reopened in 1844 along with an adjacent mine known as Old Tye, approximately 300 metres to the south. In 1845 Baroness Grenville granted a lease to work the area to the southwest, which became the Wheal Grenville Sett. Ore produced at the reopened mine was of lower grade than previously, and the mine struggled financially for several years until black tin was discovered at depth. Dividends were paid for the first time in 1849. The structure, shafts, and drives of the mine were not recorded in detail until 1850. The principal shafts at that time were Pryce's Sump Shaft, supporting a 36-inch pumping engine; Vivian's shaft, named after mine manager Captain N. Vivian; Hope's Shaft; and Woolf's shaft, later renamed Neame's shaft. Mining Journal records from Christmas 1852 show copper and tin being produced in almost equal measure by an underground workforce of just under 200 men and boys. From 1856 to 1865 the mine produced 30,495 tons of copper ore at 6.5% copper, 2,030 tons of black tin, 6.5 tons of pyrite, and 34 tons of arsenic. At its height between 1845 and 1876 the mine employed over 380 people. Extraction and production costs rose, and dividends could not be offered after mid-1857. Captain Vivian, the mine manager, resigned in 1861. The company continued to run the mine at a loss and it was eventually abandoned in 1873.
The mine was briefly reopened in 1911 as Condurrow Mines Ltd and small amounts of black tin were raised, but operations ceased in 1913 as the mine was being unwatered. Following the transfer of mining activities in the area to the adjacent King Edward Mine training operation, Great Condurrow and specifically Vivian's shaft came to be used for Camborne School of Mines training purposes.
The existing steel girder headframe over Vivian's shaft was designed by Head Wrightson and Co. Ltd of Thornaby-on-Tees in 1936, built by Holman Bros. of Camborne, and erected by staff and students of King Edward Mine in early 1937. The headframe was built specifically for training students at the Camborne School of Mines and is described in the Historic England designation as the oldest surviving headframe of its type in Cornwall. Two vertical shafts were sunk to approximately 100 feet from surface in the 1920s, with the east shaft equipped with skips wound by an electric winder and upcast ventilation. The underground mine consists of two sections: the old nineteenth-century workings reopened up until 1936, and newer workings to the east and south of Vivian's shaft developed since that time. Much of the broader Great Condurrow Mine area is now built over; an engine house ruin survives at Woolf's shaft, and extensive dumps remain around Hope's Shaft and Pryce's Shaft south of Condurrow Road.
The freehold of the Vivian's shaft site, together with all machinery, was purchased in 2008 by the Botallack Trust, the funding arm of the Carn Brea Mining Society, to preserve this element of Cornwall's mining history. Since then, volunteers from the Society have met regularly at the site to carry out restoration and maintenance work, refurbishing the hoisting shaft, the headframe, and the winder so that rock can be hoisted. The headframe has been restored by members of the Society, who have also been relining the shaft with timber for future skip winding. The Vivian's Shaft headframe is listed at Grade II on the National Heritage List for England (list entry 1401848).