Photographs taken 2004 to 2009
There are only partial remains of the old Engine House left at the New Phoenix Mine, together with the foundations of the old boiler house. This site is also often confused with the nearby remains of the old Silver Valley Mine, the remains of which date from the Second World War, when a group of Canadian Royal Engineers attempted to re-open the mine workings at this adjacent but related site that originally dated from around 1910 to 1912. The Canadian attempt was somewhat unsuccessful, and now steeped in local mining legend. Apparently the new shaft that was sunk, together with the associated underground workings, flooded due to a slight (20 degrees!) error in the Surveyor's navigation. The result was meeting with the underside of the Withybrook Marsh, and a flooded mine in less than 48 hours. Their search for new viens containing tin and wolfram came to an unexpected end.
The New Phoenix Mine was a late development of the nineteenth century, and may well have been a new working of an older mine that was originally designated the Silver Valley Mine, and merely became confused in the inconsistent mining records of the time.
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