Walking tour unites Geevor and Levant Mines for a special Cornish Museums at Night

Museums at Night 2011: Geevor and Levant Tin Mines, Cornwall, May 13 2011

Museums at Night reached the furthest outcrops of the country on May 13 when Geevor and Levant Tin Mines in West Cornwall hosted an evening of tours.

Appropriately named The Night Shift, visitors were given in-depth guided walks of the 300-year-old mines and allowed to see Levant’s Engine in full steam.

This rare treat can only be described as breathtaking as you walk down the steps into the cliff-edge engine house to see the huge eight-ton engine in full motion. 

Used to pump water out of the mine, it is the oldest Cornish mine engine still in existence and is truly a spectacular relic of the region's mining heritage.

Geevor and Levant mines are approximately half a mile apart with sprawling ruins, chimneys and engine houses scattering the rugged cliff-top that looks out across the Atlantic Ocean. 

The tour took in this magnificent scenery as visitors walked along Maggies Lane, between the two mines.

Penzance resident Vernon Dugdale, a frequent visitor of the mines, was one impressed explorer.

“I’ve been coming to these mines all my life so I know them very well," he said. "However, the team here has done a brilliant job in bringing a new perspective to them. I’ve had a really great night.”

Both Geevor and Levant mines dug for tin and copper. Levant stopped digging in 1930, and Geevor continued until 1990.

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