BERIOW MINE

Beriow Mine, also known as Beriow Consols or Wheal Beriow, was started in 1844 and was operational until around 1875. There are references to it being part of the Caradon & Phoenix Consols Mine but such references are incorrect; q.v. Royal Cornwall Gazette 8 Jul 1871 at the foot of this page.

The mine was situated on land adjoining the granite of the moor and the surrounding shales. The heat and pressure from the granite batholith that formed Bodmin Moor altered the sedimentary shale into metamorphic slate and all states in between; this native rock here is known as killas. Quantities of copper, and some zinc, were mined from three parallel lodes that range from west to east. The lodes outcrop in the lower reaches of the valley and from the surface but dive into the depths at an angle of 65 degrees. It was this geological arrangement that made it necessary to build a mine to access the valuable ores.

The population of the hamlet of Beriow increased whilst the mine was operational and there are two studies based upon Victorian census on the Berrio page of this website. In 1847 a fight involving the miners was reported at the Farmer’s Inn. This is the earliest recorded date of the mine in the local newspapers. The report can be seen by clicking on this image.

Records of the mine appear not to have survived and the level of output is not known. There are references to the mine’s accounts in local newspapers along with some additional information. Newspaper reported activity shows that this was a cost-book company (a mining partnership in transferable shares, without limit to the number of partners). Many of the larger mines were reporting balances and sales in the thousands or even the tens of thousands of pounds. You will see from the extracts below that the Beriow Mine was a much smaller proposition.

From the Royal Cornwall Gazette:
6 Feb 1852 - a call for investment at 10 shillngs per share, hoping to raise £128
9 Apr 1852 - the previous call for investment was repeated.
12 Nov 1852 - balance at last account was £1 3s 0d; calls for investnment had realized £125 10s 0d; total = £126 13s 0d; labour costs paid £67 17s 0d; sundry payments £2 17s 0d; balance carried forward £55 18s 11d ( a penny was lost in the calculation)

From the Royal Cornwall Gazette:
10 Mar 1854 - balance in favour of adventurers £33 4s 0d (an adventurer was a share holder in a cost book company); a call of £1 per share was made.
7 Jul 1854 - balance in favour of the mine was £90 10s 11d; a call of £1 per share was made.
10 Nov 1854 - balance in favour of the mine was £46 1s 0d; a call of £1 per share was made.
7 Dec 1855 - balance in favour of the mine was £150 17s 6d; a call of £1 per share was made.
4 Jul 1856 - balance in favour of the mine was £17 9s 6d; a call of £1 per share was made.
31 Oct 1856 - a balance against the adventurers of £91 2s 10d; a call of £1 per share was made.
29 May 1857 - a balance against the mine was £68 18s 11d; a call of £1 per share was made.

From the Royal Cornwall Gazette:
16 Oct 1857 - balance against the adventurers £67 5s 10d (an adventurer was a share holder in a cost book company); a call of £1 per share was made. This was reported in the Cornish Times on 3 Oct 1857, see above.
12 Feb 1858 - balance against the adventurers £109 14s 8d; a call of £1 per share was made.
28 May 1858 - balance against the mine £148 6s 5d; a call of £1 per share was made.
3 Dec 1858 - balance against the mine £21 9s 1d; a call of £1 per share was made; (see below)

From the Royal Cornwall Gazette:
9 Dec 1859 - balance against the mine £323 14s 8d; a call of £1 per share was made.
6 Apr 1860 - a debit balance of £54 14s 6d; a call of £1 per share was made.
8 Feb 1861 - a credit balance of £71 9s 5d

The plots of land referred to in this article can be seen on the map below.

Reproduced with the kind permission of Kresen Kernow ref: AD1409/1

The image at the top of this page shows Beriow Mine as shown on the 1905 Ordnance Survey map and a view from the north east up into the woods where the remains of the mine can be found.

(Extract from the tithe map has been reproduced with the kind permission of Kresen Kernow ref: AD1409/1)