 Kenidjack valley is accessible once more. |
The National Trust has completed its clean-up operation at the Carn Praunter tin mine near St Just in Cornwall. Work has included the consolidation of the arsenic calciner, two large mills and the re-instatement of the millpond.
Some 160 tons of arsenic-laden soot and soil was also removed at Kenidjack valley during the two-year project.
The work is part of a 10-year project to secure the long-term future of many of the industrial sites in the historic mining area around St Just.
A survey of the St Just mining district, published in 1992 by the Historic Environment Department of Cornwall County Council, identified that the area's mining heritage was under threat.
In commemoration of the trust's centenary year in 1995, it launched the St Just Coast Project to acquire, protect and restore the area.
Ten years on, the trust now owns and protects many of the sites in the St Just mining district including Carn Praunter.
Paul Bonnington, National Trust Project Co-ordinator said: "Before work started in the Kenidjack valley, it was virtually impossible for anyone to get to the site, primarily because of the knotweed.
"As well as making Carn Praunter safe, the site is now accessible and we are already seeing an increase in wildlife in the area - the millpond is becoming an attraction for birds and pond-life."
Kenidjack valley, is an area of world significance archeologically and historically.
It is thought that tin extraction took place here during the mediaeval period, but the first official record dates from the 1780s.
The valley was mined extensively for tin until the general collapse of tin prices in the 1870s.
At the height of valley's tin production in the 19th Century, the river ran red with iron oxide.
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We are already seeing an increase in wildlife in the area
