| Description | The Archive contains institutional records for The Camborne School of Mines and documents the activities and achievements of the School, its staff and students. Within this large Collection there are a number of notable record series as follows: (please note, as large parts of this Collection remain uncatalogued, covering dates are not exhaustive)
Admissions Registers:
- Camborne School of Mines - attendance and exam results for full-time students 1900-1977
- Camborne Mining School Evening Sessions 1907-1912
- Camborne Evening Science School 1924-1940
- Enrolment & Signature Books 1919-1991
- Attendance Register & Exam Results 1919 -1940 (Camborne Evening Science School)
Fee Books:
- Redruth Evening School 1911-1947
- Redruth Evening Science School 1928-1948
- Camborne Mining Day and Evening School 1908-12
The CSM Magazine & Journal contain School news, mining articles, details of student's activities and achievements and lists of Alumni that kept the School informed of their whereabouts:
- CSM Magazine 1896 - 1971
- CSMA Journal 1972 -current
Minutes:
- Student Committee and Sports Committee 1896-1904
- Liaison Committee 1969-1978
- Club Management Committee 1963-1989
- Student Union Committee 1976-1988
- Student Union Committee Minutes Books 1940-1977
- Sports Club Committee and Executive Committee 1977-1985
- Executive Committee 1995-1996
- Academic Board and Court of Governors 1971-1990
- School Board meeting minutes 1996-2003
- Student Union Minutes Books 1908-1966
- Sports Club Minutes 1923-1976
- Teaching Committee 1994-1996
- External Affairs and Marketing Committee 1996-1999
- The Institute of Materials 2002
Prospectus:
- School of Science and Art, Camborne 1905-1906
- The Mining School, Camborne 1904-1910
- Camborne School of Arts 1897-1898
- The School of Metalliferous Mining 1910-1926
- Camborne School of Metalliferous Mining 1971-1972
- Camborne School of Mines 1972-2004
- A selection of records relating to the CSM Geothermal project, including project and research papers, photographs, VHS footage, information on Geothermal energy, surveys, articles and press cuttings
- A series of scrapbooks containing materials relating to events such as crazy week, smokers nights and student dinners 1974 - 1983
Photographs & Slides:
These include images of staff and students engaged in mining activities, on trips or participating in events, such as presentations, sporting activities, annual dinners and royal visits. Wider mining operations are also well represented with images of geology, quarrying and blasting. Within the photographic material in this collection there are a number of notable series:
Graduation Photographs:
- CSM Group Graduation 1987-2008
- School Photographs 1927 - 1988
Sport Photographs:
Photographs for club and team activities for male and female participants for variety of teams such as hockey, rugby, squash, badminton, tennis, football, diving, caving, basketball and golf. For many of the long established sports in particular there are large series of images as follows:
- Rugby Team Photographs c1895-c2001
- Football Team Photographs c1899- 2000
- Badminton Team Photographs c1951-1961
- Hockey Team Photographs 1909-1980
Course documentation includes:
- B.Eng (Hons) Mineral Process Engineering - 1983-2000
- B.Eng (Hons) Mine & Quarry Engineering - 1996-2000
- B.Sc/B.Sc (Hons) Mineral Processing Technology CNAA 1976-1979
- B.Sc (Hons) & unclassified degree in mining CNAA 1983
- B.Sc/B.Sc (Hons) Mining CNAA 1974
- B.Sc/B.Sc (Hons) Mining 1978-1979
- B.Eng (Hons) Mining Engineering 1983-2000
- B.Eng (Hons) Industrial Geology 1990-2000
- B.Sc Surveying & Earth Resources 1996-1998
- BSc Surveying & Environmental Management 1996-1999
- B.Sc (hons) Environmental & Mineral Science 1996
- B.Sc Environmental Science & Technology 1995-2000
- HND Mineral Surveying & Resource Management 1995-1996
- B.Eng (Hons) Mineral Surveying & Resource Management 1996
- M.Sc Mining Engineering 1987-1989
- M.Sc Mining Geology 1979-2005
- M.Sc Mining & Mineral Engineering 1990-2000
- HND Science Industrial Geology 1995-1998
- BTEC Higher National Diploma Engineering 1992-1994
- Diploma Course in Mineral Industries 1976
- HND Mining & Minerals Engineering 1998/99
- HND Engineering 1996-1998/99
- BTEC HND Engineering 1992
The Collection also contains:
- A selection of student notes and notebooks for mining, geology, assaying, mine economics and mechanical engineering 1900-1924
- A selection of records relating to student activities at the King Edward Mine
- Ephemera relating to annual dinners and bottle matches including programmes and menus
- Institutional correspondence and documentation relating to teaching provision
- Press Cuttings.
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| Admin History | Founded in 1888, Camborne School of Mines [CSM] brought together previously ad hoc and disparate attempts at mining education across Cornwall. CSM was initially established as part of the Camborne Art and Science School. The collaboration between Science and Art has come full circle with CSM now sharing a campus with Falmouth University (previously Falmouth School of Art) at the University of Exeter's campus at Penryn.
As one of only 6 schools in Britain offering courses for mining engineers at this time, within two years of opening CSM had 189 students who mainly attended classes during the evenings for theoretical training, gaining practical experience during their day jobs at local mines. Intially classes were held in the Basset Laboratory and at the premises of the Science and Art School. CSM obtained its own teaching mine at South Condurrow (renamed King Edward Mine to mark the accession of Edward VII) in 1895, a development which allowed students to develop further practical mining skills. The mine flooded and was abandoned in the 1920s but has been re-established as a museum in recent years.
From 1893 the School awarded a 'School Certificate' to those who sucessfully completed the whole course with the requirement of passing at least four qualifying subjects alongside exams and practical experience. During this period the School quickly established a reputation and identity distinct from the science and art classes on offer, becoming a member of the Association of Technical Institutions in 1902. With an increasing number of full time students there was a recognition of the importance of relaxation as well as work and in 1902 the first recreational student club was formed in the Savings Bank Rooms at Camborne. During 1909, CSM merged with other, smaller, part time mining Schools in Redruth and Penzance under the official name of School of Metalliferous Mining (Cornwall). The colloquial name of 'Camborne School of Mines', however, continued to be dominant.
CSM saw its numbers fall as many of its students left to undertake military service during the First World War. Many students served in the dangerous tunnelling companies of the Royal Engineers, using their knowledge of excavation and explosives. The names of 70 students who lost their lives are recorded on the CSM War memorial lists. Student numbers were affected once again by the large number of young men leaving for military Service during the Second World War. In 1942 CSM allowed 17 year olds to undertake a qualification in a shorter period of just over 2 years by cutting short vacation periods, thus enabling young men to complete before their military service. For those who preferred to work for the war effort rather than fight, known as 'optants', the School also ran special courses in Practical Mining. 230 men trained in just two years. By 1945 students numbers were down to just 42.
CSM has a strong sporting tradition, from the mainstay of rugby and football, through to cricket, badminton, squash, table tennis and hockey. Historically, rugby has always been central to the School's sporting achievements. The infamous annual Bottle match against the Royal School of Mines [RSM], established in 1902, is reputed to be the second oldest varsity rugby match in the world. The trophy, a giant bottle, was first recorded in 1946, and is said to have been 'acquired' from a Bass-Charington beer lorry by RSM students. The Bottle is still fought for today and is a much anticipated event in the School's calendar.
The Geothermal Energy 'Hot Rocks' project is one of the most significant research undertakings made in the history of the Camborne School of Mines. The focus of the project concerned the extraction of Hot Dry Rock (HDR) Geothermal Energy from the earth through drilling at a great depth into rocks below, enabled by the granite bedrock particular to Cornwall. The project began in 1974, and went on to receive funding from a variety of organisations furthering international collaboration with partners in France, Germany, Sweden and Switzerland. This multimillion-pound project pioneered research in this field and ran until 1991.
Although there has been a long history of women attending CSM through its' original art and evening School and gaining academic awards in the 1970s and 80s, Julie Holl was the School's first female BSc Graduate in 1984, gaining a first class honours and the F.B Michell Gold Medal for Mineral Processing Technology. The School's first female Principal, Professor Frances Wall, was appointed in 2008.
In 1975 CSM relocated from Camborne to the Trevenson site in Pool. The move was not popular, but the School benefitted greatly through improved facilities and equipment. The move saw a strengthening of the already robust CSM identity, which has continued following the merger with University of Exeter in 1993. While many were concerned the School would become lost amid a bigger organisation, it has in fact gone from strength to strength, with increasing student numbers and a widening portfolio of courses. The original CSM site in Camborne is now a Tesco store but the stone outside the School entrance was relocated to the School's current site before demolition.
In 2004 CSM moved again to the Tremough site, now the University of Exeter's Penryn Campus, as part of the Combined Universities Cornwall initiative. With an international reputation for its' forward-thinking approach to research and industry developments the School continues to provide both an academic education and professional training in both mining and a variety of geoscience subjects. Such undertakings support the University of Exeter's wider research interests with regard to innovative and sustainable solutions to energy needs, the use of natural resources and environmental impact. The School is accompanied on the Penryn campus by the University of Exeter's Environment and Sustainability Institute and the Science and Engineering Research Support Facility (SERSF) which undertake cutting edge research into solutions for the problems of environmental change, offshore renewables and biosciences.
List of Presidents/Principals
1888 -1910 - J. J Beringer
1910-1912 - W Fischer Wilkinson
1912-1915 - J. J Beringer
1915- 1918 - T Knowles (Acting Principal)
1919 - 1919 - Professor J G Lawn (Temporary Principal)
1919-1922 - Alex Richardson
1922-1933 - R.A. Thomas
1933-1941- Henry Standish Ball
1941-1946 - George. A. Whitworth (Acting Principal)
1946-1959 - George. A. Whitworth
1960-1969 - Ralph. A. Gorges
1969-1970 (acting) - F. B. Mitchell
1970-1994 - Peter Hackett
1994-2002 - Keith Atkinson
2002-2008 - R. J. Pine
2008-2013 - Frances Wall
2014-2015 - Hylke J. Glass (Acting)
2015- Current K Jeffrey (Head of CSM)
Current - Kim Marie Clothier - President of CSM
A full acount of the history of Camborne School of Mines History can be found in the book 'Camborne School of Mines, A History of Mining Education in Cornwall' by Lawrence P.S.Piper, Trevithick Society, 2013. |