The village was noted for the Wheal Kitty Mine with a depth of some 180 fathoms. In ancient times tin was mined in the area.[1] The mine reopened in the 1830s, mining tin and copper ore but was closed in 1842 before reopening ten years later.[1] Two Cornish engine houses and four stacks remain with a 65-inch beam engine constructed by the Perran Foundry in 1852 and installed here in 1910. It pumped water from Sara's Shaft and was reported to be some 950 feet deep.[2] It employed about 220 people in 1914 and closed in 1930.[3]
