Take a Bird's Eye Tour of the Cornwall and West Devon Mining Landscape World Heritage Site

As part of our continuing 20th anniversary celebrations, we are delighted to share a stunning short film showcasing the remarkable heritage and landscapes that make up the Cornwall and West Devon Mining Landscape World Heritage Site.

The World Heritage Site is a landscape of Outstanding Universal Value, recognised internationally for its global significance and the pioneering role that ‘Cornish’ mining played in shaping the modern world. Spanning Cornwall and West Devon, the Site is made up of a great many internationally important features known as "Attributes". Together, these Attributes express the Outstanding Universal Value of the World Heritage Site and reflect the distinctive character of Cornwall and West Devon's historic mining landscapes.

The new film offers a unique bird's eye view across the 10 distinctive Areas that make up the World Heritage Site, revealing the scale, diversity and beauty of this internationally significant mining landscape.

The film explores the wide range of Attributes that contribute to the Site's significance, including:

• Historic mine sites and ore dressing works, featuring iconic ‘Cornish’ engine houses, chimneys and mine buildings.
• Mine transport networks, including ports, harbours, tramways, industrial railways, canals, tracks and pathways.
• Ancillary industries such as foundries, engineering works, smelting works and chemical industries that supported mining operations.
• Mining settlements and social infrastructure, including towns, villages, chapels and public buildings.
• Mineworkers' smallholdings and farming landscapes that shaped local communities.
• Great houses, estates and gardens connected to generations of mining wealth and influence.
• Mineralogical and scientific sites of national and international importance.

Together, these landscapes tell the story of the extraordinary legacy of mining in Cornwall and West Devon and highlight the rich heritage that continues to inspire communities and visitors today.

We hope you enjoy this unique bird's eye tour of the Cornwall and West Devon Mining Landscape World Heritage Site and you can head over to our website to discover more about ‘What makes it special?’ 

Credits

Produced by Fionn Tangye Crow of Crow Creative.
Graphics by Frazer Fox and Simon Green of Design 79 

for the Cornish Mining World Heritage Site Team.