Named after the Crowns Rocks on which they sit on the north coast of Cornwall, in an area designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site, the two Crowns Engine Houses are icons of Cornish mining. 

Built in the 19th century, the lower building held the engine which pumped water out of the mine and the upper housed the winding engine that moved men and materials up & down the shaft.

Mining in the area dates back to the Bronze Age, but it was during the 1500s that mining in the area truly began to take off, as Cornish miners began to tunnel deep beneath the sea (with hammers, chisels & gunpowder) in pursuit of tin and copper.

Unfortunately the Botallack Mine closed in 1895 due to falling copper and tin prices but the site has been preserved as a monument to the area’s mining history.

I just love Cornwall. I (unsuccessfully) tried to get a job as a mine geologist in Cornwall when I left university in the 1970’s. However, we did get to live there for 5 years during the 1990s when I was retraining for a career change. So this scene brings back many happy memories.

Thanks to Malcolm Osman for use of his reference photo from the Facebook Group ‘Landscape Reference Photos for Artists’.

This is my pen & watercolour interpretation of his photo, a bit looser than some of my recent stuff.

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