Set in nineteen acres of industrial wasteland belonging to the former South Crofty mine, Heartlands is a flagship visitor attraction designed to inject some energy and funding into one of Cornwall's most impoverished areas.
South Crofty mine finally closed in the mid 1990s, after four hundred years of mining activity. The abandoned site lay derelict for more than a decade, while members of the local community worked hard to secure the thirty five million pounds of funding needed to re-develop it. Most of this money finally came from the Big Lottery Fund, in the form of the biggest grant ever awarded to a single project.
Located in Pool, just off the A30, Heartlands forms part of the Cornwall and West Devon Mining Landscape World Heritage Site and features state-of-the-art exhibition spaces, affordable art and craft studios, botanical gardens designed to represent the different countries Cornish men mined in, a cafe housed in a grade two listed former carpentry shed and the biggest adventure playground in Cornwall.
Sustainable homes have also been built on site and the Camborne Registration Office is soon to move here.
At the heart of Heartlands is Robinson's Shaft, a feat of engineering that reached 238 fathoms underground, that’s 1428 feet or 435 metres - higher than Brown Willy, the highest point in Cornwall. The shaft is still in possession of a unique Cornish pumping engine that dates back to 1854.
Heartlands, which opened in 2012, is managed by the Heartlands Trust as a social enterprise, designed to benefit Cornwall, especially the Camborne, Pool and Redruth regeneration area.
It is free to visit. Check the website for seasonal events and temporary exhibitions.
