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The old mining site which is part of the Mellanear Mine is still in the same state since its abandonment. Whilst all the buildings have been removed including the old row of miner's cottages known as Mellanear Row, the shaft; so I am told; remains uncapped and planning permission was granted a few years ago for a housing complex to be built on this site and to include the old disused Water Board Reservoirs and some green fields.
Even after the mine was abandoned in 1889 there was still hope as late as 1906 that it could be restarted but by 1932 all parcels of land connected to the mine were sold. Since then and despite these parcels of land passing through various hands, the current owners of any houses built on the site do not have any mineral rights. These were cleverly kept by the original landowner and his heirs for ever.
So I have posted some photographs of the state in which it is today. A small portion was lost when the A30 bypass was cut through. It is opposite Tolroy Garage on the Helston road. There is no point looking at the garage site as that has all been cleaned up long ago.
The first photograph shows the mining area. The reservoir has been excluded from the photo as it was never part of the mine. The next photograph is another view.
I suspect that within all this undergrowth is the shaft and some mine dumps.
These two photographs show the footprint of the row of seven cottages known as Mellanear Row. These were demolished in 1948. In addition there were two thatched cottages that caught fire and burnt down.I suspect that the reason why the footprint is free of weeds and trees is that the moss is growing on the base foundations of the old buildings.
This 1938 auction notice in the local paper advertises the sale of the condemned and soon to be demolished row of the cottages. There was an opportunity to use them as cattle sheds.
With the workings of the mine and the operation of the smelting house, then the area became known as Mellanear, part of the parish of St Erth, adjacent to either side of the Helston road where Tolroy garage is today.