L2021_3925 - Wheal Martyn China Clay Museum - Cornwall

The main entrance to Wheal Martyn. The café, shop and discovery centre are located in the settling tanks of the Gomm Works, whilst the outside cafe seating area is within the area occupied by the pan kiln and linhay. The stack would have served the pan kiln fires used to dry the china clay.

For a gallery of images of Wheal Martyn please click here: www.jhluxton.com/Industrial-Archaeology/Mines-of-Devon-Co...

Wheal Martyn China Clay Museum is a museum of china clay mining, at Carthew 2 miles north of St Austell in Cornwall, England.
The museum is in a preserved Victorian china clay works.

The museum occupies 26 acres. A large collection of artefacts, machinery, photographs etc are preserved. The Museum was established in 1975. Part of the site is a Scheduled Monument, listed on April11, 1979. It is also Site of Special Scientific Interest, because of the geological features of the locality.

HISTORY
In 1790 Richard Martyn bought the Carthew Estate, and his son Elias started the Wheal Martyn china clay works there in the 1820s. By the 1840s there were five pits, and by 1869 Wheal Martyn was producing 2000 tons of clay a year. After Elias's death in 1872, his son Richard closed or leased works to other operators.

John Lovering took on the lease of Wheal Martyn in the 1880s and made many modifications to the works. The pit at Wheal Martyn closed in 1931, but the pan kiln, for drying clay, was used for clay from nearby pits until 1969.

The Gomm china clay works, which is also part of the site, was leased by the Martyn brothers from the Mount Edgcumbe Estate circa 1878 and was worked until the 1920s.
Wheal Martyn pit reopened in 1971 and is now worked by Imerys Minerals Ltd.

In order to pump clay slurry from the pit, which is some distance from a source of water, a system of iron rods transmits power, by a reciprocating motion, from a waterwheel of diameter 35 feet, made at Charlestown Foundry in the 1880s.

The waterwheel was in use until about 1940 and was restored in 1976.

The slurry pump, used to pump slurry around the site, is powered by a waterwheel of diameter 18 feet, built about 1902.
There are areas that were used for thickening the clay: settling pits, with a sloping floor, where the clay settled for several days until it had about 12% solids; settling tanks, where the clay reached about 30% solids in two to three months; the pan kiln, or "dry", where clay was heated from below by gases from coal-fired furnaces, and dried in one to three days, depending on the distance from the fire end.

Adjacent is the linhay, where about 1000 tons of clay could be stored; from here it was taken away to the customer.
Transport

Examples are exhibited of transport used in the clay industry: a Peckett railway locomotive of 1899, used at Lee Moor Pit in Devon; a 19th-century clay wagon (to be pulled by a team of three horses); a 1934 ERF lorry; and a First World War Peerless lorry.

Taken in: UK / England / Treverbyn / Carthew (show map)

Taken on: September 13, 2021

Tags:

2021

Carthew

China Clay Industry

Cornish Mining World Heritage Site

Cornwall

Cornwall and West Devon Mining Landscape

England

Industrial Archaeology

Industrial Heritage

Industrial History

Industrial Museum

John H. Luxton Photography

Kernow

Leica

Leica M

Leica M-E 240

Leica M-E typ 240

Mining Heritage

Museum

Restormel

Restormel District

St Austell

West Country

Wheal Martyn

mining

mining museum

www.jhluxton.com

United Kingdom « less

Sets appears in: • China Clay Industry • Cornwall Digital more » • Mines of Devon and Cornwall « less

Groups appears in: • Leica • Cornwall more » • Mines & Mining • West Country • Leica Digital • Arqueología - Industrial - Archaeology • Industrial Architecture/ Archaeology UK • Industrial Archaeology • Leica M Users • The End of Industry • Historic UK and Ireland • Devon & Cornwall • made in Cornwall • Magic Cornwall • Kernow • South West England • MINING • Leica digicams • Industrial Landscapes - 工場萌え • INDUSTRIAL LANDSCAPES & INDUSTRIAL STRUCTURES OLD AND NEW. • Cornwall - Kernow • Cornwall-Kernow • Leica M photography • Cornwall Landmarks and Legends (No Animals/Portraits) • Images of Cornwall • LEICA PICS • WORLD MINING HERITAGE ⚒ • Reflections of Cornwall • This is Cornwall • Historic Buildings, Monuments, Parks & Gardens of British Isles • Devon & Cornwall Photography • Leica M/M-P/M-D (Type 240/262) • Mining Heritage • Leica enthusiast • Historic Architecture • MUSEUM OF MEMORIES • Cornwall & West Devon Mining Archaeology • China Clay Around Cornwall • A MILL AND MINE • INDUSTRY WORLD • IndustrialWorldWide • ( 2 ) WEST COUNTRY PORTFOLIO • CELTICA - Photos of Celtic Countries and Culture « less

Camera: Leica Camera AG LEICA M (Typ 240), f/8.0, 1/1000 sec, 28mm, ISO 500 (more info) (hide info)

Camera:	Leica Camera AG LEICA M (Typ 240)
Lens:	Elmarit-M 1:2.8/28 ASPH.
Aperture:	f/8.0
Exposure Time:	0.001 sec (1/1000)
Focal Length:	28mm
ISO:	500
Exposure Bias:	0 EV
Flash:	No Flash
Exposure Program:	Aperture-priority AE
Exposure Mode:	Auto
Metering Mode:	Center-weighted average
White Balance:	Auto
Saturation:	High
Sharpness:	Hard
Color Space:	sRGB
Software:	Adobe Photoshop 22.5 (Windows)
Show full info

Stats: 3,564 views