SW688401
The remains here all date from the period when it was re-equipped by the Wheal Basset company from 1879 onwards when they took over this former North Wheal Basset shaft. The shaft is sometimes known as Waddington's, and the layout is similar to Marriott's with a pump, winder, crusher and capstan houses; the winding and pumping engines were, however, of traditional Cornish beam type.
The westernmost house contained the original winding engine for the shaft. At one period it also wound from Grace's shaft to the west by ropes along the ground. When the new winder in the valley to the east was commissioned in 1889, Lyle's winder was relegated to capstan duty on the shaft.
The derelict ivy covered pumphouse once contained an 80 inch engine to operate 16 inch pitwork, made by Harvey's of Hayle in 1879 to Hocking designs. The engine also pumped from Grace's shaft using flat rod connections; the track for these and the winding ropes can be seen on the ground as an overgrown footpath. The adjacent boiler house served compressor engines as well as the pump and winder; it was rebuilt at least once as can be seen from surviving photographs and at closure contained six Cornish boilers.
The small building immediately to the east of the pumphouse contained a 12 inch horizontal engine installed in 1888 to drive a Marsden 14 by 10 inch jaw stone breaker. This was supplied with steam from a Cornish boiler which remains in the hedge bank nearby (no longer there) and was connected to a separate chimney stack.
Refs; The Basset Mines-Palmer and Neaverson.
See also: NORTH WHEAL BASSET; WHEAL BASSET; BASSET MINE; BASSET TRAMWAY.