On This Day in Wembury
16 December 1848 — Insolvent Debtor Linked to Wheal Emily Mine
The Exeter and Plymouth Gazette listed Henry Rook, an insolvent debtor due to appear at Exeter County Court. Formerly a brewer and beer-seller in Morice Town, Devonport, he had also briefly served as purser of the Wheal Emily Mine in the parish of Wembury.
Wheal Emily stood on Knighton Farm, near Wembury Wood, and was worked in the early to mid-nineteenth century. Records show it was active between 1849 and 1852, with a shaft and capstan site marked on Ordnance Survey maps. It was not a tin mine but a small antimony and silver-lead mine, producing minerals such as jamesonite, galena, and bournonite. These ores often carried silver, explaining why it was remembered locally as a silver mine.
Like many speculative ventures of the period, Wheal Emily did not prosper for long, and financial difficulties were common among those connected with it. Today, traces of its workings remain part of the archaeological record, and the mine’s presence is why modern property buyers in parts of Wembury are still advised to commission a mining search before purchase.
Source: Exeter and Plymouth Gazette, 16 December 1848; Devon Heritage Environment Record; Mindat mineral locality reports.
