Levant Mine and Beam Engine

The National Trust has restored the Levant beam engine to full working order, and it runs under steam on announced days during the summer season — a remarkable piece of industrial machinery that visitors can watch in operation. The engine house sits at the cliff edge, with views down the coast past Botallack toward Pendeen.

The site is part of the Cornwall and West Devon Mining Landscape UNESCO World Heritage Site, which covers the most significant surviving Cornish tin and copper mining landscapes. Combined with the Botallack Crown Mines a mile south, this stretch of clifftop represents some of the most dramatic industrial archaeology in Britain. The National Trust runs short underground tours of the accessible mine workings when conditions permit — book ahead.

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The Levant beam engine, built in 1840, is the last surviving in-situ Cornish beam engine in the world that still runs under steam. It pumped water from mine shafts that extended more than a mile out under the Atlantic seabed — the miners could hear the ocean breaking directly above them. In 1919 a connecting rod snapped while men were being raised in the shaft; 31 miners died in what became known as the Levant Disaster.

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