This national park contains the ruins of an abandoned 19th-century copper mine. that was constructed in 1837 and its first shaft was sunk in 1838. In two separate periods over the next 24 years, 36 Cornish miners extracted ore from this site with the aid of some 140 British Virgin Islands workmen. The ore which was extracted was sent by road to Spanish Town (the largest settlement and harbour on Virgin Gorda) along Coppermine road (originally built by the miners), and then by ship to Wales; on the return trip the ships would carry provisions, wood for construction, wages for the workers, and coal with which to power their steam engine. The mine was abandoned in 1862 and was never reopened. Parts of the original stack, the engine house, and the main building are all that remain. The beam engine at the Virgin Gorda copper mine is the oldest surviving Cornish beam engine in the world.