| Abstract: |
Following an initial site meeting attended by Ann Preston-Jones (Historic England),
Gary Lewis (Tamara Landscape Project), Luckett CIC and Clive Meaton (Cotswold
Archaeology) a decision was made to refine the original scope of the project. This
was due to the extensive vegetation cover across the Site, especially on and
surrounding important structures and features. To this end, a preliminary field survey
was undertaken on 25th and 26th August 2021 by Cotswold Archaeology, in overcast
but dry conditions, to establish the requirement for initial vegetation clearance so as
to facilitate specialist surveys. The results of this survey were then tabulated, and
further consultation undertaken between Tamara Landscape Partnership, Historic
England and Cotswold Archaeology. A refined scope was then agreed in October
2021, with vegetation clearance and targeted tree felling undertaken in February
2022 to facilitate specialist surveys.
In accordance with the refined scope, a drone survey was undertaken across the site by Aerial-Cam in March 2022, with a number of structures then processed as 3D Structure from Motion (SfM) models. The results of this survey and the 3D models have also been used to inform this report. The structures included in the drone survey 11 New Consols Mine, Costed and Prioritised Proposals for Capital Works © Cotswold Archaeology and 3D modelling were identified in the original project brief and refined scope These were: 1, 8, 14, 16, 20, 21, 23, 24, 38, 47, and 48. In addition, a float video survey was undertaken through the River Tunnel (9) in December 2021 to ascertain the condition of the interior structure and any impediments to the flow of Luckett Stream.
Conditions surveys across the site were undertaken by both Cotswold Archaeology
and PCA Consulting Engineers in the spring and early summer of 2022. The results
of these surveys were synthesised to produce the Site Gazetteer.
The Phase 1 Ecology Survey was undertaken by Western Ecology. The Schedule of Works for Vegetation Control has been produced by western Ecology. Walkover surveys were undertaken between August 2021 April and August 2022, in
reasonable weather conditions. In April 2021 Cotswold Archaeology was commissioned by Tamara Landscape Partnership to
undertake a Costed and Prioritised Proposal for Capital Works for the Conservation and
Management of New Consols Mine, Luckett, Cornwall. The work includes an update to the
existing condition survey and has been undertaken to help address the declining condition of
the Scheduled Monument.
New Consols is a Scheduled Monument located within the Cornwall and West Devon Mining
Landscape World Heritage Site. It includes five Grade II Listed Buildings and is listed on the
Heritage at Risk register due to its deteriorating condition. Copper, tin and arsenic were the
principal outputs of the mine between 1844 and 1879, although there was increasing emphasis
on refined arsenic and tin production towards the end of this time. The mine was re-worked in
the 1920s, and then again between 1946 and 1952, when a modern treatment mill was built
to process both old waste dumps and ore from new underground workings.
This project has been informed by an existing archaeological assessment, prepared in 2010,
and includes a drone and photographic survey with resultant 3D modelling, a phase 1
ecological survey, and separate archaeological and structural condition surveys. It also
presents an update to the existing site gazetteer, first prepared as part of the earlier
archaeological assessment.
In addition, costed and prioritised management recommendations, targeted at the specific
features and structures on Site have been prepared. These have been informed by the
recently completed field surveys and associated assessment work. |
