Cliffscapes at Cligga

The high and frequently sheer cliffs between St Agnes and Perranporth have been extensively worked by small, and in many cases, ancient mines. The finest example of cliff-side tin-tungsten sheeted-vein workings to be seen anywhere is at Cligga Head. Its in situ mineralogy is of international significance.

The British and Colonial Explosives Factory was established in 1889 and covered an area of 110 acres at Cligga Head. Work commenced in 1891 and an application for extra magazines is recorded in 1901. But by 1905 declining local demand for explosives and increased competition resulted in the plant being put on a care and maintenance basis in 1905. In 1915 it returned to production manufacturing munitions. It closed after the war and the plant was scrapped in the 1920s. The site became an airfield in WWII.