The Mound and Mines

“Time and tide wait for no man.”

— St Marher

Islands are inherently intriguing. A huge part of the appeal of the world’s best selling mystery of all time—Agatha Crisite’s And Then There Were None—was the isolated island setting off the Devon coast. There is just something about them. Gaining access. Living in isolation. Obtaining life’s necessities. Weathering vicious storms. Place an imposing castle high on the island’s bedrock, at it’s base pepper some buildings that a small village of people call home, build a quaint harbor, and add a romantic tidal causeway that magically rises at low tide and suddenly disappears under lapping seawater twice each day, and you begin to understand the intrigue of St Michael’s Mount.

We both enjoy reading Jenny Colgan novels. A Scottish writer of romantic comedy fiction, Colgan has set her books in Shetland, the English and Scottish countrysides, and, of course, on the fictional tidal island of Mount Polbearne (aka St Michael’s Mount) in Cornwall. It’s been fun rereading the series while walking across the very places—including the causeway—the novels so vividly describe.

We were only in the area through Tuesday and the castle opened for tours for the first time of the season on Monday. We were super lucky to tour the castle before we left the area—yes!

The climb up to the castle begins near the dairy, which was designed and built during the Victorian period by Piers St Aubyn, who also designed many of the houses in the village, as well as the east wing of the castle.

By the time of the Norman Conquest in 1066, the island had come into the possession of the Benedictine abbey of Mont St Michel in Normandy. Construction began in 1135 on the church and priory buildings at the summit that form the basis of the structure that exists today. While the castle itself has undergone much change, the approach remains positively medieval (no ADA compliance here!).

Jack the Giant Killer

Cornish legend tells of a huge giant named Cormoran who lived in a cave in the midst of the Mount. Whenever he wanted food he would wade over to the mainland, where he would furnish himself with whatever came in his way. Everybody at his approach ran out of their houses, while he seized on their cattle, making nothing of carrying half a dozen oxen on his back at a time.

Only Jack, a young lad from the mainland, was brave enough to rid the town of its curse. On a moonlit night, Jack made his way to the island and dug a deep pit. Jack stood opposite the pit, farthest from the giant's cave, and, just at the break of day, he blew a horn and roused the giant, who rushed from his cave to kill Jack, but tumbled into the pit, where Jack killed him. Jack ripped out the giant’s heart and threw it as far as he could. When it landed, it turned into a stone.

Legend has it that if you stand still and listen hard, you’re still able to hear the pounding beat of the giant’s unhappy heart.

As with most legends there are variations that don’t line up. One of those was the **Giant’s Well** pictured above. Either the giant’s cave was near there or that’s where Jack dug his pit or who knows. In any event, it now bears the title The Giant’s Well. We can safely assume, however, that the part about the giant’s heart is absolutely true.

A beautiful spot to sit and enjoy the expansive southerly view of the ocean through the mullioned windows.

The gardens were not open during our tour, but the family that owns and lives in the castle maintains a beautifully terraced garden that supports a wide range of plants thanks to the unique microclimate on the island.

From the castle, looking out over the island’s small harbor, the causeway, and the town of Marazion beyond.
Interestingly, the Mount has not always been a tidal island. Until c. 2,000 BC, it was surrounded by marshy woodland with the coast some five miles away. At extremely low tides, the remains of petrified tree trunks from this period are sometimes uncovered.

Just outside the castle’s chapel is the **Wishing Stone**, which marks the tallest point of the island’s natural bedrock. The stone above this point is part of the construction. It is said to be good luck to make a wish while touching the stone.

Inside the island’s beautiful Catholic chapel.

The chapel’s statue of Archangel Michael defeating Lucifer.
From as far back as 495 AD, tales tell of seafarers lured by mermaids onto the rocks, or guided to safety by an apparition of St Michael. The patron saint of fishermen, it’s said the Archangel Michael appeared on the western side of the island to ward fishermen from certain peril. It’s a legend which has brought pilgrims, monks, and people of faith to the island ever since. (And I’m a little confused because a saint can’t be an angel, right? 🤔 ) Four miracles said to have happened on the Mount during 1262 and 1263 have only added to the religious magnetism for pilgrims far and wide.

On the left are the ropes used to ring the church bells in the belfry above.
The bottom door leads to a tiny spiral staircase granting access to the belfry tower.
Interestingly, the upper door is for a minstrel. The door was apparently opened and the minstrel would sit on the ledge and play music. Best to be a homunculus.

There seems to be little agreement on all the facts, but it’s nevertheless highly interesting that a secret door was built into the south wall of the chapel behind the misericords (hinged wooden “mercy” seats placed in the choir stalls of medieval churches which, when tipped up, presented a ledge for the user to rest on when attending long services).

Not only was the vault's door blocked with stones behind the misericords, but a platform was raised to further obscure the door. It was the removal of this platform in 1804 or 1811 which revealed the door.

The stairs lead to a small vault below (8 feet by 6 feet), where there were discovered the uncoffined bones of a 7ft 8in person. The vault once had a small square-headed window that is now blocked.

The tour does not allow you to go into the vault, but here is a picture from a reporter who did.

Could the vault have been designed for someone to watch and pray during services without being seen? Was the chamber a cell for the correction of refractory monks? Was it for anchorites, religious hermits, often hidden from society because of physical deformities or differences, but revered by those worshipping within the church where they were kept?

There is no record of who was buried there and why, and we seem destined to never know. Whoever this giant was, his skeleton is now buried in an unmarked grave within the cemetery on St Michael's Mount.

The line between folklore and fact might be blurred at St Michael's Mount, but there is certainly some truth within these tall tales.

What we found most intriguing was that in 1588, the **Spanish Armada** was first spotted from St Michael’s Mount as it crossed Mount's Bay and a beacon was lit at the top of the church tower (above). This was the first of a chain of beacons that stretched along the south coast of England to alert London of the Armada's imminent arrival.

A parting shot from the Mount’s harbor wall, looking back at the island. We had a wonderful time and are so glad we were finally able to visit the tiny island in person.
But now it’s time to explore Cornwall’s rich tin and copper mining history.

The Tin Coast

Human endeavor worked hard here to haul tin and copper from the earth for over 2,000 years. Ruined engine houses and chimneys now frame the landscape creating a very special atmosphere across Cornwall’s coastline.

The region near St Just is known as the Tin Coast.

**The Crowns** engine houses perch right on the edge of the cliff, with a position that has made them possibly the most photographed engine houses in the entire World Heritage Site.

Standing on the cliff above the Crowns engine houses.

Selfie with the Crowns engine houses below.

The Crown’s engine houses were two engine houses started in 1858 to gain access to the tin ore under the Atlantic seabed. The upper house is **Pearce’s Engine House** that wound from the diagonal Boscawen Shaft, which accessed the mine’s undersea levels.

I was wondering how they got from the upper and lower mines. This old photo shows how: a rickety old ladder.

The lower is the **Pumping Engine House** that contained a 36-inch pump to drain the mine,.

On the cliff above, the remains of the New Botallack Power House from the early 20th century re-working of the mines. The generators housed here supplied power to electric submersible pumps and dressing floors were the ore was processed.

Given their amazing cliffside location, the Crowns engine houses were fun to explore and photograph, but every Poldark fan knows that the premiere place to visit is the real life winding engine house used as **Wheal Leisure** (rhymes with pleasure). Above is the abandoned mine engine house of West Wheal Owles, used as Wheal Leisure in the TV series.

The TV show set in place (the roof was added by CGI).

The Calciner Arsenic Labyrinth

A calciner is used to roast tin ore to remove arsenic, a naturally-occurring impurity found in the ore. The arsenic was actually recovered and sold for use in arsenic-based insecticides and herbicides, and in wood preservatives widely used in marine applications and timber poles.

Once the tin was sufficiently heated, arsenic was released as a vapor that would condense along the flu leading to a chimney, usually on a hillside above.
However, pictured here is a massive arsenic recovery labyrinth. The small tunnels were where the arsenic condensed before being removed, bagged, and sold.

St Agnes Head

This is a bit out of order. We visited the sites below the day prior (Sunday). However, since it’s connected to Poldark filming, it makes sense to add it here.

St Agnes head is another large mining site, located further north from the Tin Coast.