Visit - A10 Tamar Valley Mining District with Tavistock
A10 Tamar Valley Mining District with Tavistock - Nans Tamar & Tavistock
Nature and industry entwined
Set in a National Landscape (a designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty), the Tamar Valley encompasses a breathtaking landscape that is as diverse as it is historically important. Stretching from the high granite ridge and exposed moors of Kit Hill in Cornwall to the lush, deep wooded valleys of the meandering River Tamar – and the farming lands of the Devon plateau beyond – the Area spans the border between Cornwall and Devon Tavistock itself is unlike any other town within the Cornish Mining World Heritage Site. The dramatic remodelling of much of the medieval town by the 7th Duke of Bedford during the mid-19th century was achieved with profits from his mines.
‘In today’s tranquillity it’s hard to imagine the noise from over 100 mines that operated at the height of its mining boom’.
Places to visit
The Tavistock Guildhall Heritage Centre is a Key Centre within the UNESCO Cornwall & West Devon Mining Landscape World Heritage Site operated by Tavistock Town Council in partnership with Tavistock Heritage Trust.
Visitors can learn how 19th century mining transformed Tavistock - once home to one of the largest copper and arsenic mines in the world via the building’s new interpretation centre.
The building is also home to the town’s Visitor Information Centre and a stunning Victorian courtroom which has been restored and converted into a unique events venue.
A fascinating exploration of Blanchdown Wood, on the east side of the Tamar Valley, and the extensive remains of Devon Great Consols, via pleasant paths and tracks.
This circular walk explores the mines of Devon Great Consols, at one time the largest copper supplier in Europe. Following the discovery of a 3-mile (4.8km) long copper lode – the largest in the southwest – in 1844, these steep slopes upriver from Gunnislake were the site of intensive mining activity, eventually stretching over 140 acres. When copper prices fell, the mine switched to producing vast quantities of arsenic; it was said that enough arsenic was stored at Morwellham Quay ‘to poison the entire world’. The mine went bankrupt in 1901, with arsenic production seeing a brief revival from 1915 into the 1920s. The area is now home to a complex network of signed multi-use trails and unsigned paths.
Set in the heart of the Tamar Valley National Landscape, the Tamar Valley Centre provides inspiration to visitors and is a wonderful resource for the community.
It also offers a fantastic space for corporate meetings, workshops, regular leisure groups and exhibitions.
