St Agnes

"ST. AGNES, (or St. Ann's), a parish and market town in the hundred of Pyder, in the county of Cornwall, 8 miles N.N. W. of Truro, and 267 miles from London. Its ancient name was Breanick. It is situated on the coast of the Bristol Channel, in the midst of scenery wild and picturesque. It is the centre of a very rich and important mining district. The houses are mostly cottages, and their inhabitants workers in the mines. The prevailing character of the rocks is granitic, and they are rich in minerals. Atone time, tin was the only mineral obtained here. It was this metal for which the Phoenician traders visited this part of the coast, before the Christian era. The principal mine, after yielding a very large supply, is at length exhausted. Copper is now the chief product of the mines. The principal mine, which is named Wheel Towan or Huel Towan ("Huel" signifying a work or pit), is 150 fathoms in depth, and is worked by 800 men. Others are named South Wheel Towan, Wheel Charles, West Pink, and Polperro, the last two being tin mines, and Polperro, the exhausted one. There is a pier-harbour, capable of holding eight, or ten small vessels, which can only enter it at high water It was formed in 1794, and has been enlarged and improved since. It is a sub-port of St. Ives. There is a large traffic with Ireland and Wales in slate and coal. Some hands are engaged in the pilchard fishery, which was commenced in 1802. St. Agnes' beacon is formed from an ancient British cairn; called Carn Breanach and consists of a mass of schist-ore, felspar, and quartz. It is situated on the summit of a rock, rising 621 feet above the level of the sea. During the French revolutionary war, this beacon was always held in readiness to transmit the tidings of invasion constantly expected. The rock on which it stands, was an important centre of observation and measurement, in the trigonometrical survey of these islands. There are shell beds of recent origin, lying 20 feet above high-water mark, at St. Agues Head. The living is a vicarage* in the diocese of Exeter, value £280, in the patronage of the Dean and Chapter of Exeter. The church, which is dedicated to St. Agues, is built of granite; it consists of a nave and chancel, with aspire and bells. The chapelries of Mithian and Mounthawke are formed in part out of the parish of Perranzabuloe; and there once existed a chapel at Dingle Combe, near to the seaside. There is also a chapel of ease in the hamlet of Mounthawke. The Independents and Wesleyans have chapels here, and there are a mechanics' institute, national schools, Odd Fellows' lodge, and Tradesmen's club. St. Agnes' Well, famed for miraculous efficacy, is in a dell, near a ruined chapel. This parish was the birthplace of the painter Opie. The market is held on Thursday, and a fair on the 30th April.