Local History

The spectacular St Just clifft top site is home to a Cornish beam engine that is still in steam.

But Levant mine was the scene of one of Cornwall's worst mining tragedies around 90 years ago.

In 1857 a Man Engine was installed on the mine. It saved the miners an enormous toil by enabling them to descend to and ascend from the 266 fathom level with little effort.
Before that installation the men had to climb countless steps to the surface at the end of a long shift, a perilous journey that might take an hour and a half before they reached the daylight.

Although life underground was tough the mine attracted many men from the St Just area. The work was hot, hard and dangerous and the miners were thankful to get out at the end of their shift.

On 20 October 1919 the main rod of the Man Engine broke killing 31 miners and injuring many more.

Before the tragedy Levant had been one of the largest and richest in the county. Tin was dug from workings that stretched a mile out under the sea.

Maureen Jolly's father survived the disaster and remembers his horrendous injuries in an archive BBC interview:

"He had about eight or nine crushed ribs, 38 stitches in his face, he lost all his teeth and he lost his hearing."

"One ear was very deaf, he couldn't hear anything... and it was about 12 months before he could even go to work again," recalls Maureen.

Levant Mine

William Murley was just shy of 30 when he died in the accident. His wife, Mrs Murley was seven months pregnant at the time.

"I had two children in bed with the measles at the time," said Mrs Murley in a BBC archive interview from 1969.

"I got my husband's dinner ready. I was expecting him from three, of course it went on until half four and he didn't come. I lingered around and as time went on, I still had no news. I was convinced there was something wrong.

"The neighbours sent for my parents to come down and they stayed with me all the night. Of course I had no official news, but then I knew, because I had heard people saying there were such a lot of men who hadn't returned home."

The Murley's ordered existence and happy family life had been shattered.  

"He would get up at six every morning and have a cooked breakfast, while I packed his lunch, and he'd leave for the mine at 6.30am. It was always a lovely time of the day to be up." said Mrs Murley.

Six years ago the National Trust has carried out a restoration project and opened the mine - situated on a cliff edge five miles from Land's End - to the public.

Visitors to Levant Mine

The opening of the shaft and tunnel in 2003 was the culmination of a project undertaken by the trust in partnership with local volunteers and Cornwall County Council's Environment and Heritage Service.

With many families in the St Just and Pendeen areas affected by the tragedy, the National Trust carried out local consultation before deciding to make the site accessible to the public.

At the time of the re-opening mining historian David Langsworthy said: "I believe the descendants of those miners who worked at Levant should know exactly what the conditions were like for their forefathers.

"It wasn't an easy life. It was very difficult, especially working in this particular mine which was very hot.

"Sometimes they could only work a six-hour shift, working 1,800 feet underground out under the sea."

Today the historic mine is steaming again after 60 idle years, supplying visitors with underground tours.

A community art exhibition with a difference is being held in Botallack from 17-30 October, to commemorate the lives of the Levant miners who died in the 1919 disaster. This will follow a memorial service at the Levant mine on the 90th anniversary of the accident.

The ‘90 years ~ 90 artists’ project is a community lead art project organised by the St Just and District Trust and the National Trust Levant with support from Cornwall Council.

The project has brought together local people in an activity which gives them a chance to research, and reflect on, the accident that tragically lead to 31 local miners losing their lives, and many more being injured.

The art exhibition will be held at the Count House, Botallack, St. Just, from 17-30 October, 10am to 4pm.