Blue Hills Tin Stream tours provide a fascinating insight into Cornwall's ancient tin mining industry, which according to legend even brought Jesus to Cornish shores as an adolescent.
Set amid the stunning scenery of the St Agnes Heritage Coast Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, tours of these otherwise ordinary looking waterways demonstrate first hand the process of tin production. Starting with the collection of the metal ore from the stream beds and coastline, in goes on to the polishing of the finished items of jewellery.
Known as alluvial mining since it involves no digging, it is the most ancient and environmentally-friendly way of manufacturing the metal. The Wills Family who own the site have been doing so since the 1960s. They even have special permission from the Duchy of Cornwall - none other than the Princes of Wales – to collect their metal deposits and bring it to their in-house craftsmen for its conversion from the ordinary and every day to the extraordinary.
Blue Hills Tin Streams is open to visitors from May until October each year.
