St Cleer: top of Gonamena inclined plane

Introduction

The photograph on this page of St Cleer: top of Gonamena inclined plane by Martin Bodman as part of the Geograph project.

The Geograph project started in 2005 with the aim of publishing, organising and preserving representative images for every square kilometre of Great Britain, Ireland and the Isle of Man.

There are currently over 7.5m images from over 14,400 individuals and you can help contribute to the project by visiting https://www.geograph.org.uk

St Cleer: top of Gonamena inclined plane

Image: © Martin Bodman Taken: 27 Aug 2010

View towards ruined engine houses at South Caradon mine including Pearce's shaft, top left and Sump shaft, lower down. South Caradon was one of the most successful copper mines in east Cornwall, the first ores being sold in 1838. By 1855 no less than 600 hands were employed here and Minions, Crow's Nest and Tokenbury Corner were then not dissimilar from the mining camps of Colorado and the far west of the USA. Gonamena inclined plane was on the original route of the Liskeard & Caradon Railway from Moorswater, near Liskeard, to Cheeswring Quarries in Linkinhorne parish, opened in 1846. It brought the railway up to the Minions plateau from the Seaton valley. The incline was bypassed in 1877 when a new line of railway was constructed to the east of Caradon Hill. On the right of this view a large waste dump from West Caradon mine can also be seen

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