The Brythons of Iron-Age Britain (c.600BC to AD43) were skilled workers in iron, gold and (in Cornwall) tin and engaged in trade with continental Europe and the Mediterannean - about 330 BC, Pytheas of Marseilles recorded that the Brythons traded large quantities of corn with the Phoenicians and it is likely that they traded in tin as well.

Written records from 5th century BC Greece fifth century B.C refer to Phoenicians trading in tin from 'Cassiterides', 'tin-islands', vaguely located beyond the Mediterannean in northern Europe. Archaeological evidence shows tin was mined in Cornwall at the time and the 'tin-islands of the Phoenicians have been associated with the Scilly Isles (themselves barren of the metal) and even the Cornish mainland itself. The Phoenicians traded for tin to alloy with copper and make bronze. "Cassiterides", "Cassiter Street" in Bodmin and the tin ore Cassiterite are all derived from the Greek word for tin which itself is of Phoenician origin. he "Long Ships" rocks off Land's End are are named after the long and narrow Phoenician trading vessels of this era.

Until the advent of the steam engine which could pump water from mine-shafts, gold, tin and other alluvial minerals were obtained by streaming (washing away other materials with water leaving the heavier metal or ore).

Richard Trevithick introduced double-acting high pressure steam engine to the mines of Cornwall and South Wales in 1800.

Conditions in the mines were harsh; miners worked in humid cramped and dirty conditions by candle or oil lamp light in temperatures which could reach 100°F. Accidents were frequent and the miners' life expectancy short. Boys as young as eight would work below ground with fathers or uncles and girls worked above ground as "bal maidens", sorting the ore in the open air and frequently in atrocious weather.

Tin mining has always been subject to the vagrancies of the price of the metal and, as early as 1860 a slump in prices led to the migration of over 250,000 miners from Cornwall who spread their skills world-wide;

      "Wherever there's a hole in the ground, you'll find a Cornishman in it."

South crofty, the last Cornish tin mine, was closed in 1998.

South Crofty was reopened in September 2001 by Baseresult Ltd as "New Cook's Kitchen Mine" and, although about 140 feet, the company hoped to resume tin production there within two years. The attempt to re-open the mine was unsuccessful.

The rise in the price of tin from a low of £64 in 1896 to a high of £181 in 1906 saw a corresponding increase in mining activity and many mines which had been recently closed reopened. The slump in the tin price to £133 shortly after its 1906 high was followed by production but the 1912 peak of £210 brought another mini-boom to the industry.

The Great War broke out in 1914, the price of tin slumped to £151, prime manpower left the industry to fight in Europe and both machinery and materials became scarce forcing a contraction in the industry so that only twenty mines survived when war ended in 1918. The 1920's saw more closures while the tin crisis of 1930 closed most of the remaining mines. Strategic considerations during World War II brought government intervention at East Pool between 1939 and 1945 but, when the subsidy ended with the war, so did mining opertions.

The post war years saw mines such as South Crofty and Geevor with antiquated machinery and shortage of local skilled labour saw them taking on Italian and Polish miners. A better tin price in the 1960's brought a period of expansion and investment into the mining industry until the collapse of the tin price again in 1985. On March 6th, 1998, South Crofty, Cornwall's last tin mine closed.

Since the start of lode mining, miners climbed to and from the their work places using series of near-vertical ladders. By the 1830's, many of the mines had passed a depth of 1,300 feet and were sinking rapidly ever deeper. At such depths, temperatures as high as 100°F were encountered in which sweltering temperatures the miners worked shifts of eight hours. Not only was the climb of over 1,000 feet before the walk home detrimental to the miners' health, but increasing numbers of the exhausted men fell to their deaths while ascending the ladders.

Mine owners and managers searching for a solution, as muchfor economic as humanitarian reasons, adopted the fahrkunst introduced into German mines of the Harz Mountains in the 1830's. This consistedof spikes attached to a pump rod at intervals corresponding to the shafts stroke with small platforms placed in the shaft so that the men could step onto the platform to wait for the next spike at the start of the next upstroke.

This was developed into a double rod engine, one rod rising as the other fell, allowing the miners to step from one to the other making a more rapid ascent.

Richard Trevithick lived in a cottage now owned by the National trust at Penponds when his father was a mine manager in Redruth. He returned there when he was married.

Trevithick invented the first high pressure steam engine, known as a "puffer", for winding Cornish ore. He employed the same technology to build the first steam locomotive for a railway in South Wales in 1804 - his work being elaborated by George Stephenson.

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