National Trust Archives - Explore Cornwall

Moonta Mine

Caitlin — Sun, 04 Jun 2023 02:57:59 +0000

At the center of the town of Moonta are the remains of a once great copper mine, the Moonta Mine, one that despite being on the other side of the planet was worked by a great number of Cornish men.

Copper was first discovered here in 1861 when local shepherd Patrick Ryan found copper in an old wombat hole. A race began between himself and local land owner Sir Walter Hughes to formally peg the lease. Hughes won the new mining lease and named his company Tipara Mining Association (later changed to Moonta Mining Co).

The pegging of this lease led to a huge influx of other hopefuls to the area, but none were as successful as Moonta which produced 5,000 tons (5,080,235 kg) of copper in its first year alone, totally £67,350 (worth $7,178,940 today).

In 1864 Henry Hancock took over the role of captain. He championed the expansion of the mine, purchasing a multitude of new machinery to replace either human or horse driven items like pumps and winders. Hancock also designed and patented his own air compressor drill to reduce the labour of drilling and hammering and a specialised jig to separate ore. By the following year 1,200 men and boys were employed at the mine, the number increasing to over 5,000 over the next five years.

1873 saw the introduction of a minimum wage for the mine workers, guaranteeing them £2 a week ($213 now). Hancock also enforced the miners being members of the medical club and compulsory evening classes for the employed boys.

The mine remained successful up until the 1880’s, being the first mine in Australia to pay £1 million in dividends in 1876 ($148,392,156 now). Copper prices began to dip in the 70’s and over the next ten years production decreased significantly. In 1890 it was amalgamated with neighbouring Wallaroo Mine.

From 1900 work below ground was limited to the 300 fathom level. The following year a leaching plant was set up on site to rework the tailings for more copper. World War I saw another drop in copper prices and despite the companies efforts to reduce costs, it was liquidated in 1923. For ten years between 1933 and 1943 leaching continued on the tailings, but this eventually came to an end.

All that’s left of Elder’s engine house, the mines first engine.

Engine Houses

Moonta Mine had a number of engine houses over its life, two of which stand complete today. The most prominent belongs to Hughes 60″ pumping engine house; build in 1865 on Elder’s Lode this contained an engine made by Harvey & Co of Hayle, Cornwall that worked until 1923. The other is Richmonds 32″ engine. Built in 1869 out of stone from nearby Port Hughes, the engine came second hand from Kurilla Mine and cost £2,100. Used for running crushing and dressing machinery, as the mine increased in size new boilers needed to be added; starting with just two, another five were added by 1901 and a further four six year later. The steam engine was replaced with a gas one in 1917.

Prankerds 30″ (22″ in other texts) whim was erected in 1867 and came from Tavistock along with a crusher and two boilers, costing £2,518. This engine house was later dismantled and replaced by Taylor’s horizontal whim engine. This was first built in 1901, but had to be rebuilt twice due to subsidence and later for a larger engine.

Hancock’s 35″ winding and crushing engine was a second hand beam rotative engine originally from Melbourne and was installed here in 1874 on Bower’s Lode. Ryan’s 32″ horizontal steam engine was erected in 1864 and started work the year after; it was demolished in 1906. On Truer’s shaft was an engine of the same name; this was a whim of unknown size that was built in 1906.

A view into Taylor’s shaft.

Elder’s 18″ pumping engine was installed in 1863 after a brief stint at the New Cornwall Mine in Kadina. Once Hughes engine started work, its only function was as a winder for six of the nearby shafts. From the 1870’s, Elder’s operated double decker man skips in Hughes shaft.

The last three engines have very little information associated with them, and minimal remains. Bedommes and Bower’s were both erected at some point in the 1870’s, with the former working as a whim. There may also have been an engine on Young’s shaft.

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Godolphin House & Gardens

Caitlin — Sun, 20 Sep 2020 18:57:41 +0000

On the eastern side of Godolphin Hill, sits the ancient Godolphin estate and gardens.

The first house was built here in the 13th century for Alexander Godolghan, a man made rich through land and mine ownership. This was then demolished in 1475 by then owner John Godolphin and a new house was erected; this had two courtyards and part of this build included the now mostly gone Great Hall. The entrance for this would have been on the western side of the house.

In 1537 under Sir William Godolphin building works continued, with the main entrance being moved onto the northern side of the house, a feature that can still be seen from one of the courtyards. Two new towers were erected with a gatehouse in between. Over the years, more was added bit by bit to the estate until 1785 when it passed to Thomas Osborne, the 4th Duke of Leeds, who married into the family. Running costs were high and significant parts of the house, including the Great Hall and Range, were demolished and the stone repurposed while parcels of land were sold off.

The family seldom visited the estate, but kept it as it featured promising mining land, and in the meantime it was used primarily by farming tenants. In May 1909 the 10th Duke of Leeds came to visit, making this only the second time a member of the family had stopped here since their ownership. The tenants pooled their money to buy a Silver Greyhound to present to him, however when the main Duke of Leeds seat Hornby Castle was sold to help pay off substantial debts, it went missing and was never seen again.

The substantial north range with its imposing columns.

In 1920 the estate was put up for sale, and the current tenant Mr Treloar, a mining engineer, bought it. However, he died two years later and his wife put it all up for sale the following year. A family of farmers named Penna, who then sold it again in 1935.

The Undercroft and Kings Room.

Again, this ownership didn’t last long and by 1937 it was now in the hands of Sydney Schofield. It was under his care that significant restoration began on the house and gardens, with the family working hard for 70 years. Following his death, his widow Mary (nee Lanyon), sold the estate to the National Trust in 1999, and then in 2007 at age 91 sold the house and garden as well.

The Kings Garden with the former house door blocked out on the right.

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Trerice House & Gardens

Caitlin — Wed, 03 Jun 2020 15:29:56 +0000

At the end of last year Scott and I headed down the narrow country lanes to Trerice House, a National Trust location on the outskirts of Newquay. Although it’s one of the smaller NT outfits, its still definitely worth the visit.
As we went at the end of the year, there wasn’t much in the way of flowers that we normally associate with NT gardens, but with Trerice you get the added bonus of their beautiful apple orchards which were in full swing.

Not much is known about Trerice’s history or the family that lived here. Through marriage the land was inherited by the Arundell family of St Columb Minor in the 1570’s, with John Arundell V having the original much smaller house built between 1572-3. This house changed a lot over its years, with extensions being added on until you’re left with the finished product today; a dutch style Elizabethan house which was primarily built from St Columb elvan and granite.

The last Arundell died in 1768 and the land went to the Acland family who’s primary residence was in Devon so didn’t visit all that often. Little of significance happened until WWII, when the house and grounds became a base for the home guard, namely the 11th Cornwall Batallion. They were nicknamed the ‘Choughs’ due to the birds gallantry and furtiveness, hence the number of chough images seen throughout the house.
The National Trust bought the house from Somerset de Chair in 1953 for £12,000 and after undergoing significant renovations was opened to the public.

We started off our little self guided tour on the south-east side of the house, in the Elizabethan knot garden and orchard just past the visits entrance. The paths here lead up to the front of the house and the front court and we took the short flight of steps onto the Kayling lawn. Kayling was the Cornish name for skittles and Trerice holds a unique set of 16th century oak pins (although these aren’t the ones you can play on the green!). There are several sets of games on the green that anyone can play.

After Scott had had a couple of games of skittles we pottered across the grass towards the parade ground and down to the potager garden.

The potager garden was a beautiful little allotment with a variety of flowers and vegetables growing.

We then retraced our steps to the entrance to the house and began a tour of the inside. The tour begins in the Great Hall; this dates from the original construction of the house and its size and grandeur would have reflected the wealth of the owners. It was used to host all manner of events and banquets, but also would have served as a sleeping space for servants.
The stunning windows are made up of 576 panels and is one of a kind, the largest and oldest of its type in Cornwall. The glass for this was brought into the country in the 16th century, a true show of wealth at this time. Many of the panels have been changed over its life, with some dating from each century since it was first installed. The large wood table in the centre dates from the 19th century and was made from wood from the Acland’s Holnicotes Estate in Somerset.

The rest of the tour takes you through a large living room, which had multiple functions from a food store room to a room for servants. Other sections of the house include the master bedroom, a long hall filled with paintings and artefacts and a more modern bar. Each room features information cards about the rooms history and key parts.

The tour ends in at the gift shop and after a quick browse headed straight across to the converted barn for lunch.

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St Michael’s Mount Castle and Garden

Caitlin — Tue, 05 Nov 2019 17:47:03 +0000

A picturesque castle on an island in the middle of a bay? What more could you want?
St Michael’s Mount with its hilltop castle and surrounding gardens is delicately perched in the bay parallel with the village of Marazion, near Penzance.

The castle and the island around it has existed in many forms, originating as a priory for a group of monks who came over from Mont St Michel. This is a similar affair, with a monastery built on an island off the coast of Normandy, France. These fellows came over in the early 12th century and built a church in 1135. Said church still exists today, although I image it looks rather different from the original as it was largely rebuilt in the 14th century and further renovations have occurred since then.

From the time of the monks, the island with its remarkable castle has changed hands several times, but now belongs to the St Aubyn family who took over the property in 1659.

Around 30 people currently live on the island, with the majority of their lives revolving around the weather and tides.
The harbour has been in use for maybe over 2000 years, primarily being used for trade and fishing. The pier originally dates from the 15th century, being enlarged in 1823. The harbour remains full of boats, and there’s even an amphibious vehicle tucked around the corner.

The walk up from the little village takes you through some of the gardens on the south side of the island and up the old cobbled path to the castles front door.

Legend has it that at one point a giant named Cormoran lived on the island, stealing livestock from the local farmers to eat. He continued to terrorise the locals, until a young lad named Jack decided to dig a big pit, lure the giant down the hill until he fell in it. Jack then filled in the pit with Cormoran at the bottom. The giants heart can still be found amongst the cobbles of the path.
The ‘pit’, or well, that exists today was really the source of water for the islanders until about 100 years ago.

The walk up to the castle offers some pretty spectacular views of the bay, Marazion and down to Penzance.

There is an underground railway that comes up to the castle from the harbour; built around 1900 by local miners, this is still used to transport goods. The gun batteries along the rim of the mount was installed in the 18th century.

The garden on the Mount is pretty spectacular and were actually designed to be viewed from above as well as on ground level. It’s maintained by a team of four gardeners, who do an amazing job at keeping the garden is good condition. This even involves some abseiling down from the castle battlements to the higher garden tiers. During WWII a number of pillboxes were built on the Mount to serve as look out posts in case of German invasion.

The inside of the house is as beautifully decorated as is expected. The crest of the St Aubyn family can be found on the wall on entry to the property and there are wonderful views of the church from all sides, complete with extravagant stained glass windows. Other rooms include St John’s room, the library, smoking room, blue drawing room, map room, garrison room, museum room and the east wing were the family still live.

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Lanhydrock House & Gardens

Caitlin — Sat, 26 Oct 2019 16:55:44 +0000

Smuggled away in the Fowey Valley near Cardinham is the Grade I listed house of Lanhydrock. Surrounded by over 800 acres of green land, this is a beautiful mix of architecture, gardens and woodland walks.

The name Lanhydrock was first used in 1201, but the area that the estate currently sits on was once a monastic farming community that was part of the Bodmin Priory in the 15th century. When the monasteries were dissolved in 1543 the land went to the local Glynn family and then to the Lyttelton family. Between 1577 and 1620, the estate was given to Thomas Trenance through marriage, but was sold to Richard Robartes of Truro in 1620, starting the Robartes legacy in this area.

Following Richard’s death, his son John took over in 1634 and attempted to build the grandest mansion in Cornwall, with formal gardens, a sporting park as well as developing the rich agricultural and mineral parts of the estate. The gatehouse with its wonderful octagonal walls was built in 1651.

After John died, the estate passed onto several different family members, however as they often had land and estates in other parts of the country, Lanhydrock was left neglected. It wasn’t until 1758 when George Hunt inherited the estate from his mother when more work occurred. He removed some of the east wing and added decorations, furniture and carpets; however he also accumulated several debts.

His successor was Anna Maria Hunt (later Agar from 1804), who along with the land and house, also inherited this debt. With help from the steward William Jenkin, she was able to restore the fortunes of this grand estate.

Her second child Thomas James Agar-Robartes had much of the parkland remodelled during his time in charge, adding new formal gardens and the ornamental drive that still exists today.

In 1881, a large fire started in the house, destroying a great deal of it and leaving only the north wing standing. Local architect Richard Coad was commissioned to reburbish the house, creating a mix of Jacobean and Victorian design. The impact of this fire was great and both Lord and Lady Robartes died in the following years. Their eldest son, Tommy Agar-Robartes took over the estate, but disaster struct again with the outbreak of WWI. During this time, mining in Cornwall was at breaking point, and Tommy was killed during the war.

Tommy’s younger brother Gerald inherited the estate next, but the family never really recovered and he handed it over to the National Trust in 1953.

Lanhydrock estate has quite a large garden, made up of smaller gardens dotted around the house. The higher garden behind the house and church was planted just before WWI, as was the southern half of the circular flower patch (the northern semi-circle was planted by the National Trust in 1972).
The formal gardens to the front of the house are surrounded by a mid-Victorian wall and also include 29 flat topped Irish yews.

The church that sits gracefully behind the house is dedicated to St Hydroc and is still used as a functioning chapel, with services on Sundays. Built in the 15th century, this church was often neglected and renovated alongside the main house.
The Robartes family crypt is still in situ under the pews on the southern side of the church.
The rather wonky cross that sits inline with the front entrance of the church is dated from the 9-11th century.

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West Pentire Poppies in Bloom

Caitlin — Thu, 18 Jul 2019 14:19:24 +0000

This isn’t really a walk as such, but the poppies at West Pentire are now such a popular sight in late spring/ early summer that I couldn’t resist popping up to see them myself. These poppies are on the route between Polly Joke and Crantock which I wrote about here.

The fields of poppies are specially cultivated along with marigold to allow a safe haven for wild flowers, birds and even hares.

If you get the chance to head up and see them, please stick to the paths so the plants and any critters amongst them aren’t squashed and trodden on.

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