History Group

The site of the medieval Glasney College provided members of Constantine History Group with an in interesting and informative morning. Hosted by Chas Wentworth and his team, members viewed the various finds relating to Glasney College on display in the Penryn Museum before walking down to the site of the college. Enroute, buildings of interest were pointed out and material from the college which has been incorporated into later properties, including part of the former gateway, were observed. The College of St Thomas the Martyr and the Virgin Mary was established in 1265 by Bishop Bronescombe of Exeter and was in existence for 300 years until it fell foul of the change from Catholic to Protestant worship in the reign of Edward VI. The college once covered an area of at least 12 acres and included a deer park, a farm and fishponds. Some of the building material was brought by sea from Caen in France and Seaton in Devon.  A key site for the Diocese of Exeter’s administration of religion in Cornwall, a palace for the bishop was located just above at Hillhead.

The group will be visiting Mullion Cove for a guided walk at 14.00 on Friday 21^st July. Visitors are welcome. Contact 01326 250604. 

Don Garman

Members visited a key religious site in Cornwall’s history when they visited Gwennap Pit. The grassy depression, which in the 18^th century was surrounded by mining activity, provided a suitable location for John Wesley to preach. He first preached on the site in 1762 and returned a further eighteen times, the last time when he was 86 years old.

The stepped pit, as viewed by the group on their visit, was the result of remodelling by a group of local mine captains in 1807. The twelve rings seat 1500 people and annual Methodist services are still held on the site. Busveal Chapel, adjacent to the pit, was built in 1836 and has a visitor centre attached, made possible by a grant resulting from designation as part of the Cornish Mining World Heritage.

Members enjoyed a talk by Tony and Jenny followed by tea and cake.

The next visit will be at 10.00 on Friday June 23rd to Penryn Museum followed by walk to the site of the Medieval Glasney College. Visitors are welcome to join. Phone 01326 250604.

Don Garman Hon Sec   

In the last few weeks, the Constantine History Group has enjoyed Richard Radcliffe sharing his researches into the many attempts to develop a safe harbour at St Agnes and a visit to the County Archive at Kresen Kernow, Redruth.

Trevaunance Cove St Agnes posed a challenge to develop a harbour with its exposure and high cliffs. Following four unsuccessful attempts the fifth lasted for several years until storm damage rendered it unusable. Many of the dressed granite blocks still lie on the floor of the cove and some of the structure can be seen in the cliffs. There was a 20th century move to reinstate the harbour but it was decided the challenges were too great and the funds raised should go to local charities

The tour of Kresen Kernow led by Tamsin Mallett was much enjoyed. The converted brewery is impressive and members noted how well appointed it is and had sight of the amazing county collection. Tamsin had Constantine Vestry Minutes, school photographs from the 1960s, a lease of a farm owned by one of the group, a farm diary and details of a court case available to be viewed .

Our next meeting will be a visit to Gwennap Pit at 18.00 on Friday 20th May at 18.00. Visitors and new members are welcome. Contact: 01326 2050604

February Meeting

Will Hazel, of Falmouth Uncovered, shared his meticulous research into the life and work of Richard Pascoe aka “Dr Dick” with members of Constantine History Group at their February meeting.

Richard Pascoe was born in Chacewater around 1829. His father was a surgeon to the mining community. Richard became an apprentice carpenter and moved to London, where he found work on constructing the Great Exhibition. Returning to Cornwall, despite a lack of formal training, he began a medical career based on the knowledge gained from his father. Dr Dick became involved in providing abortions and spent time in Pentonville. This experience did not halt the service he provided and he was once again in court but was found innocent at Bodmin Assizes and received public acclamation on his return to Truro. Shortly afterwards he was arrested and spent a further spell in Pentonville. Living with his son near Newquay he was arrested again in his 80th year but found not guilty. He died aged 81 years.

Members were left wondering whether he was motivated by money or in the context of the time that he thought he was providing a necessary, though illegal service.

January Meeting

Constantine History Group’s January speaker was Lyndon Allen who told the story of Charlestown through a series of splendid period photographs, many of them taken by members of his family who have been associated with the harbour for eight generations.

Charles Rashleigh commissioned Smeaton to design a floating dock to resolve the problem of ships being wrecked on the exposed beach. Copper was exported from the very productive Crinnis mine just a short distance way, later to be replaced by china clay from the St Austell pits. Charles, unfortunately, was declared bankrupt and the Crowder family took over ownership. In the latter part of the 20th century new owners decided to strip the harbour of its assets and many who had lived in the community were forced to move away.

Lyndon highlighted some of the famous sea captains who worked out of Charlestown, one for winning the coveted blue ribbon in a sailing vessel and the other for helping to save lives on the torpedoed Lusitania.

November meeting

Following the 2022 AGM, Kingsley Rickard gave an informative and interesting talk on Trevithick and this Cornishman’s contribution to the history of steam power. The development of the Cornish boiler, which could tolerate high pressure because of its shape, revolutionised the use of steam as a means of energy and led to the first locomotive. Trevithick’s Puffing Devil, built in 1801, proved that steam could be used to enable motion. All steam locomotives, for example, were to make use of the Cornish boiler.

A mine engineer by the time he was 26, Trevithick engineering skills were not limited to steam and   extended for example to screw propellors for ships, the construction of the Plymouth breakwater and the Thames tunnel. Some of his projects took him to abroad to countries in South America. The man from Illogan is, perhaps, not as well know beyond Cornwall as Watt, Newcomen and Stephenson but is equally important.

Kingsley completed his talk be recounting the building of a Puffing Devil by the Trevithick Society.

The Group will meet in the WI Hall Constantine on January 20^th at 19.15 when Lyndon Allen will talk about the development, growth and change of the harbour of Charlestown.

Don Garman
01326 250604

October meeting

Members enjoyed an informative talk about the Royal Navy’s presence in Falmouth by Lt Cmdr Trevor Brookes at their October meeting.

Royal Navy vessels approaching the UK from the Western Approaches had frequently made use of the port but the Naval presence became significant in both world wars. Peter de Savary’s refocussing of the docks to specialise in ship repairs in the 1980s, the closure of naval dockyards and the need for the Royal Fleet Auxiliary (RFA) vessels to have a regular refit programme led to contracts with A and P Falmouth from 2008 on- wards. The contracts have extended beyond the RFA and include patrol and hydrographic survey ships. On occasions there have been more grey ships in Falmouth than in Devonport dockyard. Frig- ates and destroyers sometimes visit the port for crew respite.

Trevor also explained his varied role as RNO Falmouth. This involves: making arrangements for vessels’ overseeing security, and community and engagement.

Don Garman

September meeting

Trevor Smitherham gave an informative talk with period photographs of the history of the Port of Hayle from the eighteen hundreds to the twentieth century. This included the three quays and ship building. A total of 79 vessels were built - one of the last being the SS Ramleh in 1891 weighing 4000 tons!

This industry supported other busnesses such as rope making. Then the famous Harvey’s Foundry, which made, amongst many other things, the largest beam engine at 12 ft diameter for a Dutch pumping station and huge boilers, some needing teams of 36 horses to move them!

He continued with the Cornish Copper Company, with its ship building & work on the Royal Albert Bridge. He then covered the various work sites for gas, electricity, arsenic, sulphuric acid & more recently the Esso fuel terminal. For 30 years up to 1800 workers were employed in the Dynamite Works in the Upton Towans until the explosion in 1904! More recently Rhino Barges were assembled in the estuary for the D Day Landings.

August meeting

A sunny August Friday evening saw members of Constantine History Group arriving at United Downs to learn about the geothermal power project from Community Manager Jane Charman, developed from an earlier project at Rosemanowas, near Longdowns.

Geothermal Engineering Limited has drilled two wells across a fault and has tapped ground water at a temperature of 180 degrees centigrade. One well goes to a depth of 5km whilst the other, which will be used to return the geothermal water, has been drilled to 2.5km. The hot water, once the power plant is installed, will generate sufficient power for 5000 homes and heat the homes in the new development at Langarth, Threemile Stone. On return lithium will be extracted before the water is returned to the geological structure below to be reheated. Further sites are proposed each of which should gener- ate renewable power 24/7 for up to 10,000 properties per installation.

The site requirement for the well heads, cooling and power plant are very small. Significantly less than either wind or solar power.

June & July 2022

The June visit for the Constantine History Group was to the Penlee House Museum and Gallery in Penzance to see the recently hung Walter Langley exhibition. The gallery had been able to gather paintings from far and wide for the spectacular exhibition of this talented artist’s work.

Despite coming from a poor back ground in Manchester his drawing talent was recognised at an early age and his mother scrimped and saved to pay for his education. Langley largely used water colour as a me- dium and his arrival in Cornwall heralded the start of the Newlyn School as others followed in his footsteps. A return to Manchester to paint industrial scenes was not successful and Langley returned to Cornwall where he continued to paint the members of the community going about their daily life. This is an excellent exhibition and well worth a visit.

In July members of the Constantine History Group met Will Hazel of Falmouth Discovered on a beautiful sunny evening close to the Arwenack monument. This was to be a humorous and informative evening exploring some of the less-visited parts of the town.

Will explained how Falmouth developed from the Killigrew estate in Arwenack in the 16th century into the current town. The development of a postal service to Spain using the packet ships increased the importance of the port and placed Falmouth during the late 17th century firmly on the map. Houses of the packet captains and Custom house quay serves as reminders.

At the gates to the Arwenack estate is the building that housed the first art school. Quakers, such as the Fox’s were leaders in the town but the Friends Meeting House is now accommodation. The 18th century Jewish synagogue and Primitive Chapel also indicated the range of cultures and religions that once were common in the town. Here there were magnificent views of the port.

Descent to Church Street via an ope passed buildings that were once considered to be of ill repute. The walk ended on the Prince of Wales Pier with a mention of Joseph Antonio Emidy from Guinea who was brought from Portugal to Falmouth by Admiral Pellew and became a successful musician in Truro.

May 2022

Members of Constantine History Group joined local historian, Lyndon Allen, on 19 May to learn about the history of the Georgian harbour of Charlestown developed by local solicitor Charles Rashleigh.

Rashleigh had interests in the nearby tin and copper mines and wanted a safe harbour to export the ore and import timber and coal. Polmear Cove prior to 1879 was a cove which was used by some vessels that beached to unload, but in south easterly gales they were at the mercy of the elements and several foundered.

May 2022

Members of Constantine History Group joined local historian, Lyndon Allen, on 19 May to learn about the history of the Georgian harbour of Charlestown developed by local solicitor Charles Rashleigh.

Rashleigh had interests in the nearby tin and copper mines and wanted a safe harbour to export the ore and import timber and coal. Polmear Cove prior to 1879 was a cove which was used by some vessels that beached to unload, but in south easterly gales they were at the mercy of the elements and several foundered.

Rashleigh employed Smeaton to develop the harbour in 1791 and an intriguing water supply was provided to maintain a floating harbour. This involved constructing a leat and reservoirs which ran for several miles from Luxulyan. Regular maintenance was required from an engineer. Today the system no longer works and sea water is pumped into the harbour to maintain a level. Not only did the leat provide water for the harbour but it also powered several waterwheels and factories on its journey. Today, the harbour is poorly maintained and the tidal gate needs replacing.

Lyndon made a point of saying that every observed feature had a purpose. The wide road down to the harbour enabled clay carts drawn by six horses to pass each other whilst a wide section of pavement was the site of the weighbridge for carts both loaded and empty. Another widened area with troughs (now used as planters) was the feed station for the horses on their way back to the clay pits. The cobbled area in front of the Rashleigh Arms was made from the ballast carried by empty ships arriving to load and formed the floors for storing copper and tin ore of which there were several.

A hive of industry, the population of 3000 was housed in the small cottages cheek by jowl with the places of work. There was a foundry, blacksmith’s and wheelwrights workshops and a rope walk. It would have been noisy, dusty and no doubt a pall of smoke hung over the village as the largest clay dryer in the world was built close to the harbour. The dried clay was transported a short distance underground to the waiting ships. Despite being a World Heritage Site much of the dry has unfortu- nately been demolished for housing.

Many of the homes housed seamen, some of them ships’ captains and famous for their exploits. The estate manager was at one time Noel Coward’s uncle.

Changes in ownership took place when Charles Rashleigh was declared a bank- rupt owing to unfortunate circumstances. A firm of lawyers and bankers to whom he was in debt, became the owners in 1825 until the Crowder family sold in 1986 after 163 years of ownership. This sale led to significant changes as most of the ten- anted properties were sold and the community destroyed. The export of clay ended and later in 2012 the fishermen were banned from using the harbour. A further change of ownership of the harbour took place recently and many of the tall ships seem to have left.

Lyndon’s knowledge and stories were fascinating and enjoyed by all.

Don Garman

February 2022

Several intrepid Constantine History Group members braved the gale force winds to attend the February meeting of the Constantine History Group. Roger Ratcliffe, Chair of St Agnes Museum, took the group on a virtual tour of Goonglaze Downs, introducing the mining history enroute. Records show there were 800 mines operating over a long period. By 1733 tin bounds were being amalgamated and families such as the Donithornes were able to generate considerable wealth. Tin streaming was also a feature of the area. Today, the Blue Hills Stream works is still functioning

One of the most successful mines on the Downs was Wheal Kitty, named after Kitty Stevens, and  opened in the 1830s, but closing in 1918 owing to a drop in the price of tin. The mine was reopened in 1925 with the introduction of modern techniques, but closed again in 1930. Recycling of equipment had been a feature for several years with the transfer of beam engines to other mines, locally and further afield. The process was repeated when Wheal Kitty closed for the last time and  equipment was moved across the valley.

The Wheal Kitty site now provides places of work and a café whilst Goonglaze Downs has largely returned to nature, making it difficult to imagine the industrial landscape of the past.

Contact Don Garman 01326250604