The prince described Cornwall's mining heritage as "dynamic"

Prince Charles toured the Holmbush Mine at Kelly Bray in east Cornwall on the second day of his South West visit.

The prince walked through a woodland in pouring rain to see the mine, now part of the Cornwall and West Devon Mining Landscape World Heritage site.

The mine was worked for copper and lead as long ago as the 1600s.

Charles, who is Duke of Cornwall, viewed progress on the restoration of mine building which began in 2000, with �152,000 European and Lottery money.

'Industrial progress'

The prince then went to Cotehele House, where he was presented with the World Heritage Site certificate by Unesco's director of operations for Europe and North America.

Dr Mechtild Rossler said the designation of the site in July last year reflected the contribution the area had made to the industrial revolution and mining practices around the world.

The Cornwall and West Devon site was "one of the great industrial landscapes of Europe," she said.

The Duke of Cornwall said less than 200 years ago the area was a "powerhouse of technological innovation and industrial progress and physical reminders of this period could be seen across the countryside of Cornwall and west Devon".

Charles said the region had dominated the hard rock mining world for nearly 100 years and Cornish mining, miners, engines and engineers "came to represent everything that was dynamic and innovative in the early days of the industrial revolution".

The weather hampered the prince's attempt to unveil a plaque

A mining heritage picture depicting a site called "The Prince of Wales Shaft" was presented to the prince as a memento of his visit.

The Duchess of Cornwall then joined her husband on a tour of the fishing villages of Kingsand and Cawsand.

During the walkabout the couple popped in for a drink at the 18th Century Rising Sun Inn and were also introduced to 94-year-old Doll Jago, the eldest resident of the two villages.

The prince also inaugurated a new village family tree, which aims to trace descendants back to the 16th Century.

On Friday the royal couple will visit Dartmoor and the Tavistock Times Gazette in Devon which is celebrating 150 years in print.