121:: where after entering a narrow hole, about 150 feet in there was a "huge excavation ... the top or 'back' could not be seen, and the depth must have been about 150 to 200 feet, as we could hear the sea roaring away down there This huge "gunnies" could have contained a decent sized cathedral." The writer recommended that it be made accessible so that the public could admire "the works of the men whose enterprise, energy, daring and skill are unsurpassed in the history of our country".
40:
815:
197:
into a huge volume of water. Despite this care, Pryce reported that the water pressure could quickly enlarge the small hole and uncontrollably flood the mine; he also stated that men were paid extra money for working in such dangerous areas and that he was aware of miners being killed when doing this.
183:
to enable the continued development of the mine. These large open underground spaces were the inevitable cause of accidents too: in 1836 a miner was killed at
Dolcoath mine when he fell 13 fathoms (about 80 feet) from a "swing stage", a platform let down on ropes or chains into a gunnies that was too
286:
A fathom is six feet, and depths are measured from "grass" or the ground level at the top of the mine shaft. So ground level at Wheal Owles was 180 feet (30 fathoms) above sea-level, at which depth there would have been a drainage adit, to keep the mine free of water to as great a depth as possible.
248:
Rather than being kept open, disused gunnies were often used as a convenient site for the disposal of waste rock (known as "deads" or "attle"). This had the useful side-effect of avoiding the need to support the sides of the gunnies with stulls, especially if the gunnies diverged significantly from
95:
That the gunnis was an element of mining in ancient times has been shown by archaeological investigation, such as that performed in the 1990s at Bir Umm
Fawakhir, an ancient gold mine in Egypt. The exploration revealed that some 20th-century drives had broken into ancient gunnises which were filled
196:
of 1778, William Pryce talks of the care taken by miners when they thought they might be digging an adit towards a house of water: they ensured that they used an iron rod to bore a small hole several feet ahead of their main pickaxe excavation; by so doing they received advance warning of breaking
249:
the vertical, to avoid the likely collapse of the hanging wall. This was still not an ideal solution, however, because if it became necessary to pass through the filled gunnies in later development of the mine, the problem became one of digging through and supporting tons of loose rock. The 1893
287:
A pumping engine was necessary to drain the workings that extended another 540 feet (90 fathoms) below sea-level to the sump, the deepest part of the mine. The breach occurred at the 65-fathom level (390 feet below the surface).
231:
were breached. This occurred because of former errors in "dialling" (the only means of underground surveying available at that time): according to the records, the level in which the breach occurred was being driven
179:
wrote in 1916 that in 1908 he had had to bridge the "gunniss" of the Great Lode at the 160 fathom level, and that of the New North Lode at the 240 fathom level and install expensive timber
240:
on the site was not powerful enough to drain the mine and attempts at fund-raising to install a better one were unsuccessful, so the bodies of those who drowned were never recovered.
175:
The large extent and great depth of some gunnies often caused problems when they lay in the way of later mine development. For instance, Joseph
Jennings, the former mine manager at
79:. It can also be used to describe the deep trenches that were dug by early miners in following the ore-bearing lode downwards from the surface – in this case they are often called
132:
from a personal name "Gunna" and the local word "lake" for a stream, but by 1796 the name had changed to its present form as a result of the mining that took place in the area.
192:
Another problem caused to later mining was if a gunnies became flooded, when it would sometimes be called "a gunnies of water", but more often "a house of water". In his
236:
from the old workings. The Wheal Owles mine was said to have filled from the 120-fathom sump to the 30-fathom sea level in only 20 minutes. After the accident, the only
216:
area of
Cornwall in 1868 were an inspiration for his novel. His reminiscences include a mine captain named Jan telling him about a house of water that was discovered in
31:
100:, or fallen from above. It was discovered that a wall had been built around one of the gunnises in Roman or Byzantine times to stop material from falling in.
208:
includes a chapter entitled "Describes 'holing to a house of water' and its terrible consequences." In his later book of personal reminiscences entitled
140:
722:
592:
562:
393:
421:
747:
422:"The Cornwall and West Devon Mining Landscape World Heritage Site nomination, Section 3a – Description of the Property"
862:
857:
253:
in which seven men were killed was caused by failure of the stull holding up a huge quantity of deads in a gunnies.
852:
657:
554:
637:
534:
509:
111:
where there had been a big collapse in 1828 and "ominous slow movement" for the last 27 years; a 1934 article in
652:
627:
524:
499:
113:
128:
in east
Cornwall, England, UK, is partly derived from the term: the first record of the name in 1485 is as
39:
783:
692:
676:
446:
87:, writing in 1778, also used the term as a measure of width, a single gunnies being equal to three feet.
763:
71:. The term is also used when this space breaks the surface of the ground, but it can then be known as a
334:
Boycott, A. E.; Haldane, J. S. (January 1903), "An
Outbreak of Ankylostomiasis in England. No. 1",
475:
351:
213:
118:
228:
767:
743:
718:
588:
558:
369:
308:
394:"The Cornwall and West Devon Mining Landscape World Heritage Site nomination, Sections 4 – 8"
708:
688:
467:
359:
343:
201:
180:
64:
712:
223:
The greatest loss of life in
Cornwall caused by "holing into a house of water" occurred at
43:
A gunnies that has breached the surface, becoming a coffin (in this case at a lead mine at
820:
153:"And then I went on, bearing east so far as I recollect. There's a deep gunnies here..."
833:
578:
364:
217:
176:
163:
30:"Gunnis" redirects here. For the biographical dictionary edited by Rupert Gunnis, see
846:
829:
250:
227:
in
January 1893. Twenty miners were drowned when the flooded workings of the disused
108:
84:
136:
97:
769:
The Penny Cyclopædia of the
Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge. Vol 15
582:
458:
Meyer, Carol; et al. (2003), "Ancient Gold
Extraction at Bir Umm Fawakhi",
237:
224:
810:
347:
125:
44:
373:
83:; their existence can provide the earliest evidence of mining in an area.
479:
355:
17:
471:
835:
Mineralogia Cornubiensis: A Treatise on Minerals, Mines and Mining
484:
378:
38:
714:
An Author's Adventures, or Personal Reminiscences in Book-making
103:
Some gunnies can be very large: in 1901 a warning was issued in
68:
587:. Vol 4 of the Poldark Series. Pan Macmillan Ltd. p. 198.
795:
Vivian, John (1970). "When the Bottom of Dolcoath Fell In".
697:. Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott & Co. pp. 200–218.
27:
Space left in a mine after the extraction of a vertical lode
184:
wide for any available timber to reach from side to side.
212:, Ballantyne states that his visits to the mines of the
608:
Jennings, Joseph (July 1916), "East Pool Exploration",
139:
is mentioned as a notable feature in the successful
63:
is the space left in a mine after the extraction by
143:World Heritage Site nomination document of 2004.
740:A History of Tin Mining and Smelting in Cornwall
460:Journal of the American Research Center in Egypt
427:. Cornwall County Council. 2004. pp. 72, 90
799:. St. Austell: H. E. Warne Ltd. pp. 38–40.
551:The Cambridge Dictionary of English Place-names
399:. Cornwall County Council. 2004. pp. 221–2
157:"I climbed across'n – a plank, 'alf rotten..."
151:
8:
742:. Exeter: Cornwall Books. pp. 209–10.
67:of a vertical or near vertical ore-bearing
363:
32:Dictionary of British Sculptors 1660–1851
717:. London: James Nisbet. pp. 90–91.
309:"Shaft of light for Britain's tin mines"
141:Cornwall and West Devon Mining Landscape
671:
669:
416:
414:
299:
277:, so that is the spelling adopted here.
262:
96:in by rocks that had fractured off the
694:Deep Down; a Tale of the Cornish Mines
206:Deep Down; a Tale of the Cornish Mines
7:
269:From the literature, the plural of
25:
813:
117:related a trip to the cliffs at
584:Warleggan: A Novel of 1792–1793
107:about the "immense gunnies" in
500:"Mining Notes – A Forewarning"
307:Marsh, Peter (21 April 1983).
1:
506:, p. 2, 26 December 1901
797:Tales of the Cornish Miners
634:, p. 2, 8 January 1836
251:mining accident at Dolcoath
124:The name of the village of
879:
658:English Dialect Dictionary
555:Cambridge University Press
553:(1st paperback ed.).
135:An 18th-century gunnis at
29:
638:British Newspaper Archive
535:British Newspaper Archive
510:British Newspaper Archive
348:10.1017/S0022172400032757
531:, p. 2, 6 June 1934
529:The Western Morning News
220:and how it was cleared.
194:Mineralogia Cornubiensis
114:The Western Morning News
738:Barton, D. B. (1989) .
641:(subscription required)
538:(subscription required)
513:(subscription required)
488:(subscription required)
382:(subscription required)
155:"That's so," said Ross.
636: – via
632:Royal Cornwall Gazette
628:"Fatal Mine Accidents"
549:Watts, Victor (2010).
533: – via
508: – via
483: – via
377: – via
336:The Journal of Hygiene
210:An Author's Adventures
159:
48:
200:The Victorian author
42:
525:"Mine Cut in Cliffs"
147:Problems and dangers
610:The Mining Magazine
273:appears also to be
863:Mining in Cornwall
858:Underground mining
49:
853:History of mining
724:978-0-665-50418-1
709:Ballantyne, R. M.
689:Ballantyne, R. M.
594:978-0-330-46340-9
564:978-0-521-16855-7
244:Disposal of waste
16:(Redirected from
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188:A house of water
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821:Cornwall portal
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579:Graham, Winston
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557:. p. 266.
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830:Pryce, William
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772:. p. 244.
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662:. p. 764.
653:Wright, Joseph
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504:The Cornishman
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238:pumping engine
218:Botallack Mine
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177:East Pool mine
164:Winston Graham
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105:The Cornishman
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749:1-871060-09-5
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315:. p. 162
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313:New Scientist
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109:Dolcoath mine
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85:William Pryce
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429:. Retrieved
401:. Retrieved
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339:
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317:. Retrieved
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137:Poldark Mine
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104:
102:
98:hanging wall
94:
80:
76:
72:
60:
56:
52:
50:
47:in Scotland)
36:
431:13 February
403:13 February
319:13 February
225:Wheal Owles
847:Categories
295:References
229:Wheal Drea
126:Gunnislake
81:open-works
691:(1883) .
581:(2008) .
466:: 20–21,
342:(1): 97,
204:'s novel
168:Warleggan
130:Gonellake
45:Strontian
832:(1778).
766:(1839).
711:(1893).
655:(1900).
480:40000289
374:20474163
119:St Agnes
807:Sources
784:p. 327.
677:p. 168.
660:Vol. II
616:(1): 31
447:p. 181.
365:2236066
356:3858890
275:gunnies
271:gunnies
214:St Just
91:History
65:stoping
61:gunniss
53:gunnies
746:
721:
591:
561:
478:
372:
362:
354:
181:stulls
77:goffen
73:coffin
57:gunnis
18:Gunnis
485:JSTOR
476:JSTOR
425:(PDF)
397:(PDF)
379:JSTOR
352:JSTOR
257:Notes
59:, or
744:ISBN
719:ISBN
589:ISBN
559:ISBN
433:2013
405:2013
370:PMID
321:2013
234:away
69:lode
468:doi
360:PMC
344:doi
75:or
849::
668:^
630:,
614:XV
612:,
527:,
502:,
474:,
464:40
462:,
413:^
368:,
358:,
350:,
338:,
311:.
166:,
55:,
51:A
838:.
752:.
727:.
597:.
567:.
470::
435:.
407:.
346::
340:3
323:.
170:.
162:—
34:.
20:)
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