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A GUIDE TO THE PARISH

by Julia Symons Mosman

Please see our Photograph section for more extensive views of what we've described herein; everything shown is marked with an *

St. Austell, located in the south-central section of Cornwall, is today Cornwall's largest town, with approximately 28,000 residents. The parish is part of the Hundred of Powder, and is bordered on the east by Par, St. Blazey, and Luxulyan parishes, on the north by Roche, and on the west by St. Stephen in Brannel, St. Mewan, and St. Ewe parishes. Mevagissey is just to its south. It is about 14 miles east of Truro. (see map).

Originally, the parish was quite large, covering 11,450 acres. In 1847, the parish of Charlestown was created from the eastern section, and Treverbyn from the northern in 1850, leaving St. Austell a parish of 1,339 acres. (English acres, that is. The Cornish acre is 60 times larger, in case you see it in land records.) Since then, there have been different divisions and re-organizations. St. Austell is now governed by the Restormel Borough Council.

The parish extends from the broad "spine" of granite running down the center of Cornwall with its moors and mines,drops to the urban center of St. Austell, which nestles in the semi-circle of granite deposits which defines "the Northern Quarter" from the Southern, then gently descends down to the sea. At one time it was a land of green valleys and spreading elm and elder trees. Since then, it has become a landscape of "abrupt and shining burrows", noted for its lunar-like white cones rising wherever china clay was found.

St. Austell, with china clay "mountains" behind

At the time of the Domesday Book, St. Austell was not mentioned. However, there was a "sanctuary" which Robert Fitzwilliam, by his deed bearing the date of 1169, discharged of a payment to which it had been subject. Much of the territory was controlled by the Priory of Tywardreath. There were also lands under the jurisdiction of the Earl Cardock's manor of Towington (Tewington) which were mentioned in the Domesday book, as were Treverbyn and Trenance.

Treverbyn (Tre-verbin= the herb, rape, or root), in the north of the parish, was the voke lands of a considerable manor long before the Norman Conquest (as it appears from the Domesday book). Walter Treverbyn was Sheriff of Cornwall in 1223. The property descended through generations of family until Henry Courtenay, Marquess of Exon and Earl of Devon, forfeited the lands to the crown for treason against Henry VIII. The lands were later sold to local families such as the Rashleighs, Sawles, and Carlyons under the Land-Tax Redemption Act. For centuries it was the territory of tinners, copper miners, and "hard-scrabble" farming. Then china clay was discovered - and the region became one of "abrupt and shining burrows" throughout it's length and breadth. Carn Rosemary, one of the principal villages by 1841, was renamed "Bugle", and still continues as a centre for the population today.

Another manor that was included in the Domeday book was Tewington, with it's center at Towan (heaps of sand, or hillocks). Pentewan, part of the manor, slowly replaced Towan over the centuries as its role as a place for shipping of ore, etc. became more important. There has been a quarry in the area which produces stone that is unusually strong which has been used for many of the famous buildings throughout Cornwall. Nearby Pentewan a manor named Polruddon once stood; John Polruddon built the house near a cliff, with a stirring view of the sea. However, lights from the house apparently attracted pirates or privateers, for one night John Polrudden disappeared, leaving the house to slowly disintegrate. (Some say it was the French who took him, others slavers, but there is no proof for any theory.) Stones from Polrudden were used to build Penwarne, once home to Mr. Otwell Hill, then owned by the Scobells. Windows and mullions from Polrudden were said to have been used in the building of the nearby Pentewan church and terrace.

All Saints church and terrace* in Pentewan were built by Sir Charles Hawkins in 1821. The south wall of the church is possibly Norman. Always subject to sedimentation, after Charles Rashleigh built Charlestown Pentewan's trade diminished. Then, during WWI, the tiny railroad* which ran between Pentewan and St. Austell, carrying coal one way and china clay the other, was stopped. The tracks were pulled up, to be reused on some military front, and the cars were turned into guns. The shipping dwindled even further, and the port became a "sleeping treasure". It is now a sailing centre, and a lovely little seaport that is largely unchanged.

What of Charlestown*? In 1790, it was named Porthmear (or West Polmear), and comprised 9 people. In 1769 Charles Rashleigh - a partner with Edward Fox, the Quaker,in Polgooth mine - envisioned building a facility to ship the increasing output of the area mines by digging a port - by hand - from the rock where the tiny fishing enclave once existed. In time, his project became a model Georgian "new town" named Charlestown. It handled much of the ore and clay being sent all over the world*. In 1847, it became the hub of the new administrative parish of Charlestown. Rashleigh also built a 6-mile long leat* to carry water from Cam Bridges in Luxulyan Valley to Charlestown. The water was then kept in 2 reservoirs, where the water was used to keep ships in the dock afloat at low tide and to periodically flush sand and debris from the harbour. It remains in working order today, and the ruts are still cut through the rocks where the wagons once passed. The industry developed the unique wagons* to transport the clay from the mines to the port capable of carrying the huge loads. They'd rumble up and down the streets, shaking the building foundations, day and night. At a later date a system was devised to send china clay slurry to the port via underground conduits. The town today is still a working port, while also being a tourist site and the location for several movie "shoots".

However, there were problems using Charlestown harbour for the newer, larger ships which started to carry china clay. Therefore, Par Harbour was built by J. T. Austen (Treffry) in the early 1800's. By the mid-1840's, there was not only a southern and northern breakwater, but smelters and every function needed for granite and ore handling. It became the primary point for shipping ore and clay, and continues its role today.

One of the legends of the area was that a giant, named Tregeagle, while traveling over Gwallow downs, was overtaken by a storm that blew his hat off. He immediately ran after it. Having a large staff in his hand, which impeded his progress a bit, he threw it in the ground until he found the hat. At length the dark and stormy night defeated him; he gave up the pursuit and returned to secure his staff - but could not locate it, either. Both were irrecoverably lost. The hat lay of Whitehouse downs, and bore some resemblance to a mill-stone, but very thick, and not of great diameter. This singular stone remained in place until 1798, when a regiment of soldiers was camped near it. They fancied that, as the season was unusually wet, the stone was the cause, so they raised it on its edge and rolled it over the cliff into the sea. But the giant's walking staff still remains stuck in the ground, being an enormous pillar of granite about twelve feet high.

And in truth, the Longstone is the only granite within a mile of the location it occupies

The Long Stone at Mount Charles (also named for Charles Rashleigh) circa 1966

The town of St. Austell* is in the center of all this. While not mentioned in the Domesday book, A. L. Rowse, in his book "St. Austell: Church, Town, and Parish", cites records which show a church was dedicated October 9, 1262, by Bishop Bronescombe, and other records show a church there in 1169, dedicated to Saint Austolus.

Though small, it acted as a market town for the surrounding area, and the population stayed stable for centuries. However, as the importance of the natural resources became paramount, the size of the population grew. Eventually, it became a market and union town, and was the polling place for the eastern division of the county. It was the head of the county court district, as well as being a transportation hub - and for a few short years in the 1840's acted as a coinage town.

Holy Trinity church* was largely built in the 14th century.The baptisimal font dates from the early 1200's, when Bishop Bronescombe dedicated the site. The early church building exists today in the chancel; the round pier and low pointed arches of the south arcade are 13th century. In 1291 Philip Cornwallis, Archdeacon of Winchester,(who had been born in St. Austell), gave the church of St. Clether for the endowment of a still-standing chantry chapel. The church was extended in 1498-99, and the place where two sections are joined are evident. It was again heavily remodeled in Victorian times, but still retains a wonderfully ornamented tower *(14th c) which is carved from Pentewan stone. It has been called "the finest tower in Cornwall" (Rowse), with "rich pinnacles, and grotesques on the walls looking as though they would leap down". It is divided into 3 sections, to represent the Trinity, and is "a Bible in stone". A pew-end* still exists from the 1498 restoration, showing a worshipper gazing up at the Fox as it preaches from the pulpit! Palms once grew in the churchyard, but have been since removed. The register dates from 1564. According to the 1874's Kelly's Directory, the priest was provided a residence and 2 acres of glebe (browsing land), a gift of the crown, along with a vicarage valued at £500 per year - at a time when many families were living on 7s. per week!

For those unable to earn their shillings, the Union Workhouse was built in 1839 for 300 persons. It served the following parishes: St. Austell, St. Blazey, Charlestown, Creed, St. Dennis, St. Ewe, Fowey, Golant, Gorran, Grampound, Holmbush, Mevagissey, St. Mewan, St. Michael Caerhayes, Roche, St. Stephen in Brannel, and Treverbyn. Workhouses were abolished in the U.K. in 1930.

In St. Austell, the White Hart Hotel* was once the town house of Charles Rashleigh, the visionary builder of Charlestown. It's been in the centre of events ever since. Hand-painted wallpaper from the White Hart is now in the V & A Museum, London, while some fine original pre-Raphelite paintings remain. Another 1600's manor house (Tewington) became the General Woolfe Inn* - which has had many incarnations, including as a steak house.

Other notable places include the St. Austell Brewery, which was started by Charles Hicks in 1856, and is still open to visitors Monday through Friday, 9 am to 4:30 pm. His ales have spread the name of St. Austell worldwide. The town is also home to the first college in Cornwall which specializes in languages. And in the middle of town, embedded in the
street, is the Meeting Stone, which marks the conjunction of the 3
original manors. At one time, it was the center of activity; a witch was burnt there, pronouncements made, and a cattle market held.                        

Reposing in the Victoria and Albert Museum in London is the oldest surviving church plate in the United Kingdom, which includes silver plate and an extremely rare silver scourge. This rich treasure horde was unearthed near Trewhiddle. It is thought to have been buried by a monk or abbot to keep it safe from marauding Norsemen about 875 AD. (And it is telling that no one retrieved the bundle!)

At Higher Blower House, formerly part of Menacuddle Wood, and about 1/2 mile north of town, is an ancient baptistry or well. Once a church stood nearby. For centuries sickly infants were dipped in its water to bring them to health. Menacuddle, in Cornish, means "the stone (or rock) wall" according to Rowse, but has been also interpreted by Cyril Bunn as "place of the Irish Monks" from the Irish "Menagh Codhal". Whatever the meaning of the name, the little stone building over the well was rated "one of the most beautiful in Cornwall" by A. Lane-Davies, and it's estimated to be over 500 years old. It's located next to the stream, surrounded by woods, making it a lovely escape from the busy street nearby.

Natural resources in large part defined the people who lived there. People in the "upper" half of the parish were generally miners, first of tin and copper, later of clay. People of the "lower", or southern half, were more invoved with the sea - fishermen, boat builders, rope makers, as well as small farmers. Many people had two or three sources of income; a farmer might also mine, a miner might have a shop in his lower floor, while a shopkeeper might also be a part-time free-trader. All, of course, grew food and/or fished to survive.

There has been mining in Cornwall since time immemorial. Existing records show that Cornish miners traded with the Phoenicians; since that day, tin and copper mining have played a persistent role in the lives of the people in the parish. There were small deposits of silver and gold, but the main mining activity was tin-streaming. Tin streamers typically back-filled as they dug out new ground, so there is very little evidence of their activities today.

Single Rose, Wheal Virgin, and Wheal Elizabeth were royal mines. In 1580, Queen Elizabeth brought German miners to the area to work copper mines; according to Canon Hammond, local family names of Bowman, Ham, Hart, Hore, Keast, Kessell, Lobb, Sleeman, Starke, Waldron all stem from these settlers. During the Stuart period, many more mines were opened, including Wheal Fatwork, Virtue, Bold-venture, Wet and Weary, and Heartsease. George I brought further German miners into the parish as the mines deepened, since the Germans had experience with hard rock and deep mining - especially Polgooth, which was given a new lease on life.. (In it's heyday, more than 2,000 miners worked at Polgooth, and it had 26 shafts working concurrently.)

Eventually deeply tunneled tin and copper mines abounded. Bob Acton said he was surprised to find "the St. Austell area was once nearly as important for mines as it is now for china clay". One expert has stated that the modern-day equivalent value of the copper and tin mined from the parish would equal £ 9 billion! The Crinnis was the highest-producing mine of its time, and Carclaze the largest, being one mile in diameter, and 150 feet deep. Tin mining abated in the 1840's, and copper collapsed in 1866. Some engine houses still stand to mark the existence of these mines, eerie remnants of a long-ago, highly prosperous industry.

In 1759 chemist William Cookworthy discovered the secret of utilizing the very high quality china clay, which is the residue of decomposing granite, and which occurred in large deposits in the parish. From small beginnings the industry grew rapidly. St. Austell became a world supplier for this valuable resource, as well as supplying the English porcelain manufacturers such as Wedgwood. (The quality of the clay is only equaled by that found in 4 other places in the world!) By the mid-1800's, the majority of the population was involved in china clay mining. Women and men, as well as children as young as 8, were fully engaged in the work - about 7,000 strong. Most of the clay mines were located in "the Higher Quarter", or what became Treverbyn parish. When in 1866 there was a collapse of copper mining, clay continued to thrive, and people moved to the area for jobs - working for 12s. per week. Even though trade in china clay diminished in the 1900's, it is still in production today, and an excellent china clay museum presenting an authentic 19th century mine allows people of today to see what the most modern technology was like in 1860. The equivalent value for the clay mined over the years equals £13 billion!!!

Gleaming white pyramids which marked china clay mine sites have long been a trademark of the parish. Some have slowly been reclaimed by nature, while others have been created with the new "thumbprint" (flattened) outline, but some still exist - a reminder of what once was.

Gunheath china clay mine, in Treverbyn, 1966

Notable mines in the area included the Great Crinnis Mine, part of which is now covered by the grounds of the Carlyon Bay Hotel, the Wheal Eliza mines, Gunheath, Goonbarrow, Cuddra, the Tregrehan Mine (or Wheal Joney), Greensplat, and the famous Carclaze - which started out with tin and copper, and ended with china clay!

St. Austell Parish is almost a microcosm of Cornwall. It has lovely views of the ocean, great old homes, historical monuments, farming - and a long, productive history of mining. Its people were (and are) solid, industrious individuals who were (and are) independent and self-reliant. While it is not outstanding in any one area, it excels in all.