All language subtitles for Mysteries.of.the.Abandoned.S04E07.Alien.Hell.Portal.1080p.DISC.WEB-DL.AAC2.0.H.264-DoGSO_track3_[eng]

Narrator: a ghostly house
Built for a brutal dictator.

This is clearly something
That is out of place.

This is a very strange design,
And it doesn't really fit.

Narrator:
A colossal piece of engineering

Left to rust in the wilderness.

This huge, metal tunnel
Floating in midair

Just sort of arches
Down the mountain

And disappears into the trees.

It looks like
It goes on forever.

It looks like
It goes on forever.

Narrator: and towers
Battling violent storms

On the edge of the earth.

You've got the waves
Of the atlantic ocean

Crashing beneath,

And it's just like at
Any moment,

They could collapse

And just fall
Into the water below.

*

Narrator: engineering marvels
Now abandoned.

Ruins shrouded in mystery.

Ruins shrouded in mystery.

Within these decaying structures
Are the echoes of history.

They speak of death
And destruction,

But also human ingenuity
And endeavor.

Each haunted shell
Ready to be unmasked

And tell its own unique story.

*

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Discovery communications

*

In the east of
The mediterranean sea

On the greek island of rhodes

Is a building that's been
Under attack for decades.

*

It's a rather grand,
Impressive mansion,

But clearly has been abandoned
Or misused

For a great many years.

It has been
Meticulously vandalized

From top to bottom in such a way
And so purposefully

From top to bottom in such a way
And so purposefully

That it suggests
That it was done

With a real sense
Of aggression or even hatred.

*

Narrator: high above the towns
And coastline below,

This building feels
Strangely at odds

With the rest of the island.

This is an alpine lodge,
Not something one would expect

To see on a hot,
Mediterranean island.

Narrator: this structure is not
Alone in its unfamiliar design.

Narrator: this structure is not
Alone in its unfamiliar design.

Curiously, next to the house
Itself is an abandoned hotel

With abandoned barracks.

And then off in the distance,
Not too far away,

Is an abandoned village.

So it's not an isolated case.

Whatever happened here
In this house

Also happened
In the surrounding area.

*

Narrator:
Hidden away in the woods,

This building might appear
Insignificant and forgotten,

But it contains evidence
Of a defining moment

But it contains evidence
Of a defining moment

For rhodes during the 1930s.

As local expert
Chorafitis eleftherios

Knows well.

It is really unique and it
Was built at a period of time

Where it was still kind of
A peaceful

And romantic mixture
Of cultures.

It's sad because
This kind of thing

Suddenly is going
To change dramatically.

Suddenly is going
To change dramatically.

In a few years' time, everything
Is going to become darker.

*

Narrator: over 500 miles
From mainland italy,

Rhodes sits
Within a group of islands

Known as the dodecanese
That for 400 years

Had been under the rule
Of the ottoman empire.

The strategic advantage that
These islands afford

Has been coveted for centuries,

And come the 20th century,
That hasn't changed one bit.

And come the 20th century,
That hasn't changed one bit.

In 1911, italy will go to war
With the ottoman empire,

And some of the islands
Off the turkish coast

Are seized by the italians
And become italian territory.

*

Narrator:
Following the first world war,

Italy fell under the fascist
Leadership of benito mussolini,

And soon,
Expansion in the mediterranean

Became a priority.

Became a priority.

Overlooking
The island and its people,

This is villa de vecchi,

A prized possession

Of the feared
Italian governor of rhodes.

De vecchi actually was
A very strict ruler.

He was a kind of a man that
He wanted to control everything.

He actually didn't allow
The people

To talk their own language.

He forced them
To speak italian.

You know, all of our grandpas
Speak perfect italian today.

You know, all of our grandpas
Speak perfect italian today.

Here we have this italian
Fascist governor,

And he's built his own
Personal palace and castle.

It's a monument to the vanity
Of what is really

A small-time,
Petty politician.

Narrator: begun in the years
Leading up to his arrival,

De vecchi
Would ultimately leave

His own mark
On this residence.

But right from the start,
As every detail shows,

But right from the start,
As every detail shows,

This place was built
For the elite.

Like every other part of
The house has been designed

And made
And constructed in italy.

This specific wood, for example,
The beachwood and the parquet

Was all made in the north
Of italy.

The materials, the designs,
Everything --

Completely italian.

And the detail,
Very luxurious.

It has to be somebody

Who was really number one
On the island, right?

And that means definitely
A commander,

And that means definitely
A commander,

A very luxurious person,

A very rich person,
Or even a king.

Narrator: this italianization
Was also seen in the towns

And all across the island,

But the villa was the jewel
In the crown.

What this villa is saying

With its quintessential
Italian design

Is that
"This is now the new italy.

"Rhodes is really
Important to us,

And it's part of our plans
For the future."

And it's part of our plans
For the future."

Narrator: as the world sped
Toward the second world war,

Mussolini felt rhodes needed
A more domineering governor.

So at this point, de vecchi
Stepped in to rule the land

And add his own finishing
Touches to this project.

He was someone with
An all-together more obsession

About power,
More obsession about fascism,

More obsession
About being a dictator.

And we see that in the refined
Architecture

And the additions
That he brought to the villa.

And the additions
That he brought to the villa.

*

When you come to this point,
Not only that you

Feel the absolute...
[ speaks indistinctly ]

But you can see the whole
Of the coastline --

Asia minor, the coastline
Of turkey, the northeast sea,

Actually the city of rhodes.

If I was in his shoes, I would
Feel like zeus above olympus.

You are the god of the gods,
And this is how he was feeling.

The commander,
The absolute commander.

He was above all the people.

He was above all the people.

He was the god of them.

*

Narrator: with war looming
And weaker countries

Appearing vulnerable,

Mussolini was looking to expand
Italian control east,

Giving rhodes
An elevated position.

Any empire requires
Fort operating platforms,

Staging posts, and bases
From which to consolidate,

Command and control
The areas away from home.

And for mussolini,
Rhodes was to be that place,

And for mussolini,
Rhodes was to be that place,

Which would act as the area
To command

The new eastern roman empire.

Narrator:
So with a new focus on rhodes,

Was this villa actually meant
For someone

More important than de vecchi?

*

Narrator: with the italians
Looking to build an empire

During the 1930s,

This once lavishly decorated
Villa in occupied rhodes

Appeared to be
The perfect residence

For the guiding force
Behind it all.

This was not just another villa
And in fact,

Is part of a larger complex.

Is part of a larger complex.

There is space for soldiers.

There is space for visitors.

This is clearly
A guarded environment.

This is somewhere where very
Senior people,

People like mussolini,
Could be.

You can see that there is
A desire

To make rhodes
Into an important center

For the new
Italian fascist empire.

Narrator:
But although de vecchi

Had increased
The fascist hold on the island,

Life on rhodes was about
To become even worse.

Life on rhodes was about
To become even worse.

*

The second world war
Swiftly ended

The idea of a new roman empire.

And when the italians
Signed an armistice in 1943,

They were now pitched against
Their former allies,

The nazis, who quickly
Moved in to secure rhodes.

Under the nazis, the amount
Of war crimes, atrocities,

Brutality that the nazis
Will visit on the greek islands

Brutality that the nazis
Will visit on the greek islands

Is pretty horrendous.

They murdered, they executed,
They tortured,

Just to make it really clear,
"We are in charge now."

*

Narrator: following the war,

The villa was
Kept ready for the arrival

Of any important figures,
But no one ever came.

And in 1955,
It was abandoned for good.

And in 1955,
It was abandoned for good.

*

While mussolini never set foot
Here and de vecchi

Had left the island,

This villa came to represent
Those violent years

Of oppression
And suffered as a result.

Pretty much as soon as the villa
Falls into disuse,

The people take revenge.

They deface it.

They try to humiliate it.

It's their way of getting
A piece back at those

It's their way of getting
A piece back at those

Who had oppressed them.

*

Narrator: in the thick forests
Of west virginia,

Deep in the appalachian
Mountains,

A river snakes through
The formidable new river gorge.

*

You're deep in what feels like
A jungle or a tropical forest

And you're heading into
The middle of nowhere.

And you're heading into
The middle of nowhere.

As you go through the trees, you
See these bits of rusting iron.

There seems to be a scattering
Of abandoned machinery.

And then scattered amongst
All of this machinery

Are foundations of buildings,
Suggesting that, once,

There must have been
Some kind of community there.

Narrator: delving deeper,

Objects all-together stranger
Begin to emerge.

One of the most impressive sites
In the gorge

One of the most impressive sites
In the gorge

Is almost hidden by trees.

You have to get up close to it,

And then you realize
There's this massive structure

Going up the side of the gorge.

This huge, metal tunnel
Floating in midair

Just sort of arches
Down the mountain,

Disappears into the trees.

It looks like
It goes on forever.

Narrator: what is this bizarre
Contraption?

The answer is linked
To a giant of industry

And his stubborn obsession.

And his stubborn obsession.

*

This tale begins
In the mid-19th century

With a man of
Extraordinary ambition.

Born in england and driven
By an american dream,

His name was john nuttall.

The story of john nuttall is
A classic example

Of an ambitious young man who,
From the age of 11,

Was working in the mines,
Saves his money,

Was working in the mines,
Saves his money,

And leaves england to seek
His fame and fortune

In the promised land.

Narrator: tragedy struck soon
After arriving on american soil.

Nuttall's wife died,

Leaving him to tend to their
Three young children alone.

Yet, his thirst for adventure
Was undimmed.

And one night,
He spotted something

That would change his life.

While standing in a tavern,
John nuttall noticed

That they were using
A particular kind of high-grade,

That they were using
A particular kind of high-grade,

Smokeless coal.

Then he discovers that
The railways are gonna be

Coming through and he says,
"You know what?

There's a fortune
To be made here."

Narrator: at one dollar an acre,
Nuttall snapped up

As much of this rugged
Mountainside as he could.

When the chesapeake
And ohio railway line

Was completed through
The gorge in 1873,

John nuttall and the town
Were ready and waiting.

John nuttall and the town
Were ready and waiting.

*

This is nuttallburg.

Its arrival began in an era
Of rapid transformation.

For a millennia,
The new river gorge

Was a wild, natural area,
And then coal was discovered.

It turned into this booming,
Industrial zone with rail lines,

Coal trains rumbling through,
Mines operating day and night,

Towns growing up
Up and down the gorge.

Towns growing up
Up and down the gorge.

*

Narrator: but what made new
River coal so easy to access?

*

The river course cuts through
The appalachian mountains,

Such that it could
Only have been there

Before the mountains
Themselves rose.

The rivers cut down
Through all of the geology,

And in doing so,
It's actually exposed

Four very nicely preserved
Coal seams,

Which makes it
Also easy to get at.

Which makes it
Also easy to get at.

Narrator: easy to access, but
Grueling work for the miners.

This particular layer of coal
Was actually very shallow --

Just 3 1/2 feet deep.

And so the conditions were
Actually really dangerous.

The miners were often just lying
Horizontally on the ground

Just chipping away at the coal.

And the deeper they got,
The more danger there was

Because the ceiling,
Essentially,

Because the ceiling,
Essentially,

Was becoming more
And more fragile.

And if there was a collapse,
They had no way of getting out.

*

Narrator: despite the dangers,

This coal
Was highly profitable.

And though hard to imagine now,

By the time of nuttall's death
In 1897,

The town had developed into
A vibrant and diverse community.

Nuttallburg was the most
Productive mine

In the gorge for a time,

And as such, it attracted
Workers from all over the world.

You had italian-americans,
Eastern europeans,

You had italian-americans,
Eastern europeans,

African-americans,
All working in this area

And in many cases,
Buying land and building homes.

Narrator: but their lives
Were about to change.

A famous pioneer was set
To arrive

And put his own
Unique stamp on the town,

Bringing with him
National attention.

*

Narrator: amongst the thick
Forests of the new river gorge

Is a memorizing tunnel
Of steel

That seemingly floats
Up the mountain.

Its creator was none
Other than henry ford,

Who arrived here in 1920.

When henry ford bought up
Nuttallburg, the reaction --

It was largely dismissive.

In fact, one of the local
Journalists

In fact, one of the local
Journalists

Sarcastically wrote that
He would have been better off

Using the old workings
He had just acquired

For storing auto parts
As opposed to mining.

Narrator:
Some felt the coal seams

Had been largely worked out,

But ford was undeterred.

He wanted to get coal from
The seam hundreds of feet

Above the river corridor
Down to the railway below

In a faster
And more efficient way.

The coal was extremely friable,
Or brittle,

And so it had to be handled
With care,

And so it had to be handled
With care,

So henry ford built
This conveyor belt

To transport it down
To the river.

And that conveyor belt was one
Of the longest in the world.

Narrator: it became the beating
Heart of the town,

As park ranger
David fuerst explains.

This is the most prominent
Feature in the town.

It's the conveyor system,

Which is
The heart of nuttallburg.

And as you look up
The hill here,

You can see it runs 1,400 feet
Down from the mine portal,

You can see it runs 1,400 feet
Down from the mine portal,

Which is above,
Down to the tipple.

And the way it operated was
It carried the coal down a chute

Using what's called
A rope-and-button system,

Which was a very advanced
Technology at that time.

Narrator: this rope-and-button
Conveyor belt

Was part of
A cutting-edge process.

Loaded coal cars exited the mine
And entered the head house.

The cars were dumped,

And the coal transferred
To the conveyor.

And the coal transferred
To the conveyor.

The brittle coal
Was transported downhill

Slowly and gently to avoid
And risk of damage.

At the bottom was the tipple,
Where the coal was sorted

And loaded
Into waiting rail cars.

125 tons of coal were moved

By this efficient system
Every single hour.

So why would ford's high-tech
Venture go down in flames?

At this time,
Henry ford's plant in dearborn

Was turning out model-t cars
At a terrific rate.

Was turning out model-t cars
At a terrific rate.

It took a huge amount of energy
To run what, at the time,

Was one of the largest
Mechanized production facilities

Ever built.

Narrator: ford wanted to control
The supply of this energy,

The fuel that would power
His factories.

Henry ford wants to control

Every aspect
Of the car-making process,

Whether that was
The rubber for tires,

The steel for the body work,

And even the coal
For powering the factories.

And even the coal
For powering the factories.

Narrator:
His desire to monopolize

Every stage of production

Was known as
Vertical integration,

But ford faced
One crucial obstacle.

He bought the mine,

But he couldn't afford
To buy the railroad,

And the railroad was what
He needed to get the coal

To his plant
In dearborn, michigan.

If he couldn't predict exactly

When the deliveries
Were gonna come,

If he couldn't
Control the price,

He realized
That controlling the mine

Really didn't help him
That much.

Really didn't help him
That much.

Narrator: once ford realized
He could neither control

Nor buy the railways,

He swiftly abandoned
Nuttallburg, selling up in 1928.

The mine finally closed
For good in 1958,

And the last of the residents
Of nuttallburg moved away.

They left their homes,

And the forest
And the vegetation

Began to creep back in
And take over once again.

*

*

Narrator: today, the national
Parks service is engaged

In a constant battle with
Mother nature to prevent her

From consuming nuttallburg's
Industrial heritage.

Today, the new river gorge

Has returned to being
A near wilderness.

Most of the visitors are people
Coming to enjoy wild nature,

Rock climbing,
And white-water rafting,

And the mines are silent.

*

Narrator: near the west coast
Of portugal,

Narrator: near the west coast
Of portugal,

High in the hills of sintra
Is a beguiling mix of structures

Set within
A fantastical landscape.

*

The site's a little creepy,

And the thing about it
Is that everything is hidden.

The gardens are large and lush,

But when you start
Walking around them,

Things seem a little strange.

Things seem a little strange.

Gough: the entire place
Is like a labyrinth.

You can go off this direction,
You can go off that direction.

There's too many options for you
To logically sort of figure out.

*

At the center of it all is
A structure like nothing else.

It looks like some kind of
Mythological entry

To the gates of hell
Or the center of the world.

It just feels powerful.

It feels purposeful,
And you just want to descend.

It feels purposeful,
And you just want to descend.

You want to find out
What's down there.

But as you start that journey,

It's absolutely not clear
Where it's going.

So there are still questions
About this place.

We don't have all the answers
To the mysteries here.

*

Narrator: growing in the shadows
Of the enchanting mansion

Of quinta da regaleira,

Of quinta da regaleira,

The gardens have a life
Of their own

And hide a world full of secrets
And surprises.

*

When we walk in the garden,

We are going to see lots of
Contrasts

Between darkness and light,

The green of nature
And the dark stone.

It seems a labyrinth,
Not only the exterior,

But also the tunnel.

But also the tunnel.

Narrator:
So where might this maze end,

And for what strange ritual

May this have been built for?

*

Narrator: hidden beneath
The trees of sintra, portugal,

Is a mysterious private garden

That was under lock-and-key
For most of the last century,

But since its rediscovery,
Different theories

Of what it was used
For have surfaced,

And as local guide
Matilde almesh knows,

With this place, there's always
More than first meets the eye.

With this place, there's always
More than first meets the eye.

There's always something
New to discover,

A surprise in every corner.

A cave or a tunnel

Or something dark
That I didn't see before.

*

Gough: there's pathways
That lead to nowhere.

You turn the corner,
There's a huge tower.

The whole thing feels
Very surreal,

As though it's a dream sequence
From a movie.

*

*

Narrator: the theatrics of this
Environment were no mistake.

Everything here came straight
From the imagination

Of this site's two creators,

Both with something to prove.

It was built by a wealthy man

Called antonio augusto
Carvalho monteiro.

Carvalho monteiro was
The heir of a huge fortune.

Meigs: monteiro worked with
An italian architect

And stage designer
Named luigi manini.

And stage designer
Named luigi manini.

Well, manini must have felt
Like this was the ultimate.

He had a client with
Unlimited amounts of money

Who wanted to build
Some of the craziest,

Most fanciful, most delightful
Stuff ever created.

*

Narrator: born from the melding
Of these two minds,

This masterpiece of curiosity
Was completed in 1910,

And the result was
Something entirely unique.

And the result was
Something entirely unique.

You see a promenade of statues
Of greek and roman gods,

You see a chapel,

You see a waterfall with
Stepping stones.

Everywhere you turn you see
A different fantastical element

Borrowed from history
With no real rhyme or reason

For how it
All hangs together.

Narrator: dramatic, baffling,
And intriguing,

The route through the garden

Continues towards
An unusual rock structure,

Continues towards
An unusual rock structure,

Which seems to reveal
The true purpose of this site.

It's known as
The initiation well.

The well is almost like
An optical illusion.

It's like looking at
A medieval tower in reverse.

Instead of rising up
Into the sky,

It's a staircase that spirals
Down into the earth.

Narrator: this spiraling descent
Into darkness

Makes it apparent
This is all part of a journey,

Makes it apparent
This is all part of a journey,

But to where?

We are at the top
Of the structure

And we need to go down
Nine levels,

And the idea is for us
To find the darkness down there.

You don't really know what you
Are going to find down there.

You don't know if you need to
Go up or if you have an exit.

This is a test to make you
Feel the right way,

To make you listen to your
Instincts, listen to yourself.

To make you listen to your
Instincts, listen to yourself.

Part of the really
Interesting symbolism

Is the fact that there's nine
Levels to the initiation well,

The journey itself,
And the number nine

Is reminiscent of dante's
"Inferno," of dante's hell,

So it's almost a symbolic
Journey to hell and back.

*

Narrator:
The symbols and references

Appear to obscure
The meaning of this journey,

But then one sign starts
To unlock the mystery.

But then one sign starts
To unlock the mystery.

*

Okay, so we end down nine
Circles into the darkness,

And we find a clue
Here on the floor.

At first, it seems
An eight-pointed star,

But it is a compass.

As you continue to look
At the compass,

Another major shape
Jumps out at you.

It's a large cross.

We believe it is
A knights templar's cross,

We believe it is
A knights templar's cross,

And this can be related
To some initiation rites

Or the idea
Of initiation rituals.

Narrator: the knights templar
Were a powerful religious order

In the middle ages

Known for their secret
Initiation ceremonies.

So, that reference suggests this
Is linked to a similar ritual.

*

But if this was all about
Joining a secret society,

Then which one,

Then which one,

And what would be
Discovered inside the tunnels?

*

Narrator: in sintra, portugal,

Carvalho monteiro
And luigi manini

Built a convoluted labyrinth
That's rumored to have been used

As a site
For initiation rituals.

But was this the real purpose?

It seems as if monteiro
And manini,

They wanted their visitors
To rely on their senses.

They wanted their visitors
To rely on their senses.

As you walk through the tunnel,
You can't really see anything,

So you have to use
Your hearing to direct you.

Initiation usually involves
Journey,

And if you go back to some of
The earliest initiatory cults,

They were physical journeys
Through tunnels

Into different spaces
With different experiences,

And here, one gets the sense
That a similar journey

Might be being laid out
For the visitor.

Any visitor brave enough
To venture

Any visitor brave enough
To venture

Toward the sound of the water
Is eventually rewarded

By coming out in this lovely
Garden scene with its waterfall.

*

Narrator: while the journey of
Self-discovery and enlightenment

Seems to be part
Of monteiro's intentions,

If it was meant
For an initiation,

Then into which group
Remains unclear.

Everywhere you look, there's
This wild mishmash of symbolism.

You have pagan symbols, tarot,
You have symbols

You have pagan symbols, tarot,
You have symbols

That are associated
With the knights templar,

Even greek and roman gods.

Narrator: but finally, as
The journey through the garden

Draws to a close, the answer
To what it's all about

Suddenly seems
To appear up ahead.

Gough: so, you find yourself
At the end, in this chapel,

This apparent house of god.

You think,
"All right, this is it.

This is where I'm supposed
To finish my journey.

This is where I'm supposed
To finish my journey.

It's all about god."

Narrator:
Or perhaps, once again,

The real meaning
Isn't so clear.

This is no ordinary chapel.

It's full of symbols that
Can have different meanings.

Gough: one of the symbols
You notice right away

Is the all-seeing eye.

Now, of course,
That's a masonic symbol

That says the eye of god
Is always watching.

Narrator: but there is
Another interpretation

Of what this could be linked to.

Of what this could be linked to.

The ropes around it,
A reference to freemasonry,

Or a reference to the portuguese
Cavalries in the 16th century,

Representing the vessels.

Narrator:
While the freemasons are known

For their initiation ceremonies

And their use of a symbol
Of a rope or tow-line,

The alternative
Maritime use of ropes

Could be the key to
What monteiro was really up to.

It may, of course, have nothing
To do with initiation at all.

It may, of course, have nothing
To do with initiation at all.

At the time it was built,

Portugal was going through
Many changes.

Those could have been felt
As very unstable times

By someone like
The builder of this place,

And he may well have been trying
To hark back to a time

When things felt
A little more certain,

When portugal was a stronger,
More international country.

This may simply be
A reaffirmation of the solidity

Of the portugal he remembered

Rather than anything
Remotely arcane.

Rather than anything
Remotely arcane.

Narrator:
Following the assassination

Of the portuguese king in 1908,

The old order
Was being ripped up.

For an aging, wealthy monarchist
Like monteiro,

Perhaps this was his own
Elaborate,

But private tribute
To a lost world.

He tried to represent here
His ideals, his beliefs.

That is why when we walk
Around the garden,

And when we visit the chapel
And the palace,

And when we visit the chapel
And the palace,

It's like to take a glimpse
Into carvalho monteiro's mind.

*

Narrator: following monteiro's
Death in 1920,

The house
And gardens were sold,

And the initiation
Well forgotten about

For the next 75 years.

*

Gough: this appears to be
An initiation center.

Gough: this appears to be
An initiation center.

But guess what?
We might be wrong.

Monteiro, he never
Wrote it down,

But what we do know,
Its real purpose,

He's taken it to the grave.

*

Narrator:
Along the rugged coastline

Of cornwall
In southwest england

Is a stark and dramatic sight.

*

*

It's an abandoned, isolated,

But quite beautiful scene
Of these derelict buildings

On top of these high,
Craggy cliffs with the vast,

Crashing waves down below.

Narrator: beneath the lush,
Green hills above,

Man-made structures
Emerge from the rock face.

It's all a bit dramatic.

You've got these big structures

Precariously balanced
On this clifftop.

Precariously balanced
On this clifftop.

You've got the waves
Of the atlantic ocean

Crashing beneath.

And it's just like at any time,

These structures
Could fall into the sea.

It's a startling and quite
Dramatic juxtaposition

Between this rolling,
Gentle, calming,

Poldark countryside
Just in land,

And then this rough,
Violent, industrial scene.

Narrator: a mixture of towers
And cavernous ruins

Litter the hilltops.

Litter the hilltops.

The buildings themselves look

So precarious
On the edge of the cliffs,

And you really wonder "Why would
You need them to be there?

They're not lighthouses."

So were they getting something
For the sea?

What was the reason for them
Being so close

On the water's edge?

*

Narrator:
These structures stand defiantly

Over the atlantic ocean,

Yet the peaceful tranquility
Today is in stark contrast

To the scene
Witnessed here centuries ago.

To the scene
Witnessed here centuries ago.

This was once at the center of
Cornwall's rich mining heritage.

*

Working in these mines
Would have just been

An assault on the senses.

It's a cacophony of noises.

This would have been victorian
Industry at its most intense --

The noise of the stamps
Crushing the tin ore

Of the vast chains
Hauling the carts.

This was an extraordinary

Industrial hive of activity.

Industrial hive of activity.

Narrator:
Glimpses of powerful machinery

Inside remaining stone towers

Pay homage
To this mighty industrial past.

This is botallack and levant,

Two neighboring mines
On cornwall's wild tin coast,

The site of tin and copper
Mining since roman times.

These, however,
Are no ordinary mines.

These, however,
Are no ordinary mines.

What I love about
These structures

Is they give a glorious window

Into an incredible feat
Of victorian engineering.

*

Narrator: but why were
They built on the precipice,

And what catastrophes brought
Them crashing down to earth?

*

Narrator: by the mid-1700s,
These two mines had established

Themselves firmly on
The tin and copper mining map,

But these weren't just
Your typical mine shafts,

As illuminated by
Charlotte tomlinson

Of the national trust.

Tomlinson: this shaft is where
The skips came up.

It's about 2,000 feet down,
And then it does go out

Into the sea
About a kilometer as well.

Into the sea
About a kilometer as well.

What's incredible
About these mines is

They weren't mining land.

They were mining under the sea
And half a mile out at sea.

Narrator:
These are submarine mines,

Workings that follow seams

Of precious minerals
Out under the seabed.

Scott: so the way these mines
Worked was you would start

By digging vertically,

And you'd dig down
In a mine shaft,

And then you'd start
Digging horizontally,

And you'd just keep on digging.

And you'd just keep on digging.

But obviously, these places
Were full of water,

And that's where
The beam engine came in

'cause it would pump
The water out

So you could access
The rock face.

Narrator:
Beam engines were designed

And developed
In the early 1700s

Specially to remove flood water
From cornwall's

Deep water mines.

A form of steam engine,

An overhead beam
Would pivot up and down,

Applying force
From a vertical position.

The driving motion of this
Piston powered a water pump

The driving motion of this
Piston powered a water pump

Using the pressure of steam
And atmospheric pressure.

The miners could then
Continue their perilous work.

And so, you could imagine,
You know,

Particularly in the early days,

They're just using,
You know, sheer brute force

To break the rocks open
With pickaxes

And a bit later with dynamite --

You know, going deep down

But then
Going out with sea above you.

That's a really dangerous
And precarious thing to do.

That's a really dangerous
And precarious thing to do.

Narrator: despite the dangers,
The market value of tin

Ensured healthy profits
For the owners.

The value of tin at the time

Meant that more risks
Were being taken.

People would go to further
And further lengths

To be able
To extract that metal.

Narrator: and that meant pushing
Further and further out to sea.

Now, remember, this is back
In the 18th century.

We don't have the mechanical
Air drills,

We don't have the mechanical
Air drills,

We don't have
The tunneling machines.

These are people working by hand
With chisel, hammers,

And gunpowder.

Narrator: for the miners,

Every day meant
Descending into the depths

And praying.

This was very dangerous work

And long
Before health and safety.

The human casualty toll
Was high,

Not only from the natural
Dangers --

Falling rocks, injuries,
Disasters, accidents --

Falling rocks, injuries,
Disasters, accidents --

But also the long-term effects

Of working
In such toxic environments.

It was dark and dirty and hot,

And the effects on their health
Of working underground were bad,

And they had
Very short lifespans.

They didn't really live past
30 quite often.

That was the usual life
Expectancy of a miner.

*

Narrator: in the early 1800s,

Narrator: in the early 1800s,

A pumping engine was set up
At the base of the cliffs.

These mines became
A hotbed of action,

Producing tin, copper,
And arsenic

With hundreds of women
And children working on-site.

Botallack alone dumped
A staggering 1.5 million

Tons of waste into the sea,

Dyeing it a distinctive
Red color.

As the industrial revolution
Roared into

The mid-19th century,
New technology was introduced

To streamline production
Even further.

To streamline production
Even further.

In 1865,

Botallack became the center
Of national attention.

At botallack, they had installed
A new winding engine,

And it was so cutting-edge
And so innovative

That the prince of wales
And his wife,

The future king edward vii
And queen alexandra,

Came to visit,

And they went down the shaft
In the winding engine.

This became such a topic of note
And such a tourist attraction

That the mine was even able
To charge visitors a guinea

That the mine was even able
To charge visitors a guinea

To come in and look around.

Narrator: this new technology
Vastly increased the speed

And efficiency of moving men
In and out of the mine shafts,

Yet dark days loomed
On the horizon.

In the late 19th century,
Falling tin and copper prices

Hit this region hard.

Most of the mines closed,
Among them botallack,

Which fell silent in 1895.

Which fell silent in 1895.

Then, in 1919,
Disaster struck at levant.

The engine that powered men

Up and down the main shaft
Gave way.

A link between the rod
And the engine snapped,

Sending 31 men
Plummeting to their deaths

At the bottom of the shaft,

And that led to the eventual
Decline of the mine,

From which it never recovered.

*

*

*

Narrator: today, botallack
Is a world heritage site,

And while the age of tin
May be over,

The beam engine at levant
Has been lovingly restored,

And tourists can now see this
Mighty engine in use once again.

Tomlinson: I think levant
As a site is unique

Because it's got
The working beam engine

In its original place.

Essentially, it could be doing
The job that it was doing,

Essentially, it could be doing
The job that it was doing,

You know, 178 years ago,

And they can see
That working in action.

*