SW688402
New Cornish stamps and dressing floors were erected by West Wheal Basset on the former northern part of the North Wheal Basset sett which had been abandoned in 1866. There was insufficient space on their own sett to accommodate the new floors which were required to increase stamping and dressing capacity. The site selected on the southern slope of Cam Brea had a natural fall which was conducive to dressing processes requiring gravitational flow to minimise handling. The only disadvantage of the site was the lack of water which they overcame by constructing an aqueduct to carry water pumped from Thomas' shaft to three surface reservoirs to the north of the stamps engine. This aqueduct lay alongside the tramway they laid to bring tinstone from their producing shafts to the new dressing floors. Water was conserved by recirculation from the bottom of the dressing floors where settling tanks were built underground. It was pumped back by means of a secondary beam on the stamps engine.
The remains of the dressing floors are probably unique in Cornwall in presenting a palimpsest of the treatment process practiced during the 19th century.
References
Palmer, M. & Neaverson, P., The Basset Mines: Their History & Industrial Archaeology, Northern Mine Research Society, 1987.
See also: BASSET TRAMWAY; WHEAL BASSET; BASSET MINES.