Geevor Tin Mine

Geevor Tin Mine sits on the dramatic Atlantic clifftops at Pendeen, between St Just and St Ives on Cornwall's far western coast. One of the largest preserved tin mining sites in the country, Geevor closed as a working mine in 1990 and has since been transformed into a museum and heritage centre that forms part of the Cornish Mining UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The site spreads across the headland and includes the original surface buildings, processing mill, dressing floors and miners' dry, where men changed out of their wet underground clothes at the end of each shift. Visitors can walk through the Hard Rock Museum to learn how tin was extracted, follow the journey of the ore through the giant Victory Shaft mill, and take a guided underground tour into Wheal Mexico, an 18th-century adit that runs out beneath the cliffs.

Geevor also tells the social story of the mine's closure, a moment that ended thousands of years of Cornish tin mining tradition. The clifftop setting, with views down to Levant Mine and across to the Brisons rocks, is spectacular in its own right, and the on-site cafe and shop make for a comfortable full visit. Allow plenty of time; this is one of Cornwall's most substantial heritage attractions.