St Austell

"ST. AUSTELL, a parish and market town, in the eastern division of the hundred of Powder, in the county of Cornwall, 28 miles to the S.W. of Launceston, 40 from Plymouth, and 93 from Exeter. It is situated on the coast of the English Channel, about midway between the eastern and western extremities of the county, and was formerly of very large extent, comprising 12,125 acres, before the new parishes of Charlestown and Treverbyn were formed out of it, under Sir R. Peel's Church Endowment Act. Owing to its position in a district of great mineral wealth, the town, originally a poor village, has risen to considerable importance. It was once called Trenance: its present name is supposed to be taken from that of the hermit St. Austol. During the civil war the troops of the Earl of Essex were quartered here, and the town was taken by Charles I. in 1644. The town occupies the eastern slope of a hill, at the foot of which flows a small stream. It is not incorporated, but under the government of the parochial officers and a vestry. The streets are narrow, partly paved and lighted with gas; but great improvements have been made during the last ten years by the erection of new houses and handsome shops in Fore-street, besides many private residences in the suburbs. The Union work house, which was built in 1830, is a large Elizabethan structure overlooking the town on the north side. A convenient market-house has been recently built, above which is a capacious townhall. There are two foundries, one in the town, the other at Charlestown, besides several smelting-houses for the grain tin which is found in this county. Harbours have been constructed at Charlestown, Par, and Pentewan, which are connected with the town by tram railways. Charlestown has a dock and a shipyard, and Par harbour has a good break water. Coals are imported from Wales, and the copper ore and china-clay of the district are exported. The latter substance is so remarkably pure and abundant in quantity that many thousand tons are annually exported to the potteries in the North of England and Scotland, and even to the continent and America for making earthen ware, bleaching, and other purposes. A large number of vessels are engaged in this trade. Many boats are employed in the pilchard fishery. The predominating rock in the district is granite, rich in metallic veins, especially of tin, copper, and silver; there are also some very productive iron mines; besides these are very valuable tin stream-works. In one of these gold, in small quantities, has been found, and in one work, to the south of the town, topaz and other game have been casually met with. The great tin mines are those of Polgooth, Carclaze, Crinnis, Pembroke, and Pentewan; the copper mines are at Lanescot. The Polgooth mine, 2 miles from the town and partly in another parish, is about 120 fathoms in depth, and was once held to be the richest in the island. The annual value of its produce was about £20,000. It contains 50 shafts. Its name signifies" Old Pool." Carclaze is on the summit of Carclaze Down, a wild brown moor, and is a quarry rather than a mine, being shaped like an enormous bowl. It is sup posed to have been in working more than 400 years, and until ten years ago (1851) for tin exclusively, but is now worked for china-clay, of which an immense quantity is washed from the decomposed granite, of which its strata consists. It is a vast hollow, excavated in the white granite, about a mile in circumference, all alive with busy workers, streams, and mills, and presents a start ling magical contrast to the surrounding scenery. Porphyry, valuable porcelain clay and china-stone, nickel and freestone, are other products of the district. The mines furnish employment to more than a thousand persona. A few hands are engaged in the woollen manufacture and in linen bleaching. St. Austell is a stannary town, and had the Blackmoor court, the principal of the stannary courts, held in it recently. Polling for the county takes place here, and petty sessions for the Austell division of East Powder are held by the county magistrates. There are also courts held periodically for the manors of Tewington, Penrice, and Treverbyn Courtenay. The magistrates sit in the townhall on the first Tuesday in every month, and the Board of Guardians for the poor every alternate Friday. The living is a vicarage* in the diocese of Exeter, of the value of £576, in the patronage of the crown. The church is dedicated to the Holy Trinity. It is a large and ancient edifice, in the perpendicular style of architecture, with a tower above 96 feet in height, decorated with curious sculpture. The chancel is early English, and the church in the Norman and Saracenic styles. The font is very old, and covered with fanciful ornament. On the walls of the building the forms of the ladder, hammer, nails, and spear frequently occur. These the unlearned not unnaturally take for representations of the implements of the miner, while the learned see in them objects of a most sacred character. There is a perplexing inscription over the south porch, which some read as a Cornish sentence, signifying "Given to God." This church was at one time a cell to the priory of Tywardraeth. At Charlestown and Treverbyn are two neat district churches, the former, erected in 1851, is dedicated to St. Paul, and the latter in 1850, to St. Peter. There are chapels belonging to the Society of Friends, Baptists, Wesleyans, Primitive Methodists, Reformed Wesleyans, Wesleyan Association, Congregationalists, Bible Christians and Plymouth Brethren. There are national and Sunday schools, and a literary institution, well supported, besides an horticultural society, which holds its fetes in the townhall in the beginning of August. There is an almshouse, founded in 1809, for six persons. At Higher Blowing-house, formerly part of Menacuddle Wood, is an ancient chapel or baptistry, a beautiful early English structure in good preservation. It contains a holy well. A similar building stands at Towan. The Mengu stone is a stone near the market-house venerated for its antiquity and for some traditions and customs associated with it. To the north of the town are two large barrows, called Cock's Barrow and Hen's Barrow. St. Austell is the seat of a county court district and of a Poor-law Union. Friday is the market-day, but a market is also held on Saturday afternoon. Fairs are held on the Thursday before Easter, Whit-Tuesday, the 26th July, the 19th October, and the 30th November.

"EAST CRINNIS, a tin mine in the parish of St. Austell, in the county of Cornwall, one of the richest in England, having yielded about £80,000 worth of ore in one year; silver and antimony are also found.

"POLGOOTH, an extensive tin mine in the parish of St. Austell, county Cornwall, 2 miles S.W. of St. Austle."

"PORT PENTEWAN, a creek to Fowey in the parish of St. Austell, county Cornwall, 3 miles S. of St. Austell.

"PORTHMEAR, (or Charlestown), a maritime village and sub-port to Fowey, in the parish of St. Austell, county Cornwall, 2 miles S.E. of St. Austell. It is situated on St. Austell's Bay, and serves as the shipping-place for that port. The harbour, which was formed in 1790 by Charles Rashleigh, Esq., is accessible for large vessels, and is defended by a battery of heavy cannon. It consists of an inner and outer basin, with commodious docks and a pier. There are long-established yards for building and repairing ships, iron foundries, rope walks, and works for the manufacture of naphtha. Great quantities of china-clay, artificially prepared from granite, together with lime and other mineral produce, are annually exported. Many of the inhabitants are employed in the Charlestown tin and copper mines, and others in the fisheries, particularly that of pilchards, which was formerly more productive than at present. The living is a perpetual curacy in the diocese of Exeter, value £130, in the patronage of the crown and bishop alternately. On Gwallon Downs, recently enclosed, are traces of a British camp and several barrows.

"TREVERBYN, a parochial chapelry in the parish of St. Austell, hundred of Powder, county Cornwall, 3 miles from St. Austell. It was constituted a separate parish in 1846, under the Church Endowment Act. The living is a perpetual curacy in the diocese of Exeter, value £160, in the patronage of the crown and bishop alternately. The church is dedicated to St. Peter."