Kennall Valley
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The Kennall Valley, which is situated
to the south of the Area, has historical links with the port of
Devoran. It is steep-sided and wooded and contains two
concentrations of exceptional mining-related industrial monuments.
It also contains the remains of one of Cornwall’s former great
houses, Carclew.
Perran
Foundry
The
Perran Foundry and Wharf stand on the level valley floor at the
navigable limit of an inlet leading to the River Fal. The foundry
was one of the three largest in Cornwall and is considered one of
the most important surviving industrial monuments of its period in
southern Britain.
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Perran Foundry was established by the
Fox family in 1791, trading under the name Foxes & Perran Foundry Co, and between 1858 and 1879 under the
name Williams & Perran Foundry Co after the Williams family became
major shareholders. It manufactured a wide range of mining
implements and steam engines. During this period a complex of
leats, foundry buildings, stores, facilities for transport and
other services, offices and worker's houses was developed. By
1860, the works covered six acres and employed 400 men. It
continued in operation until a decline in the fortunes of the
local mining industry forced it to close in 1879. The machinery
and patterns were auctioned in 1882.
The site passed to the firm of Edwards Brothers in 1890, who
adapted it for the milling of feedstuffs, erecting new machinery
and constructing a canal and quay. They are also recorded as
having established a small works for cloth within the foundry
site. In 1969 the mill was sold to Bibby's and was subsequently
used as a store and distribution centre for animal feed, entailing
further adaptation of the buildings. Many of the foundry and mill
buildings are well-preserved, although the actual machinery of the
foundry was been removed after closure.
The site is of prime significance as the manufacturer of a range
of industrial machinery including some of the largest and most
powerful Cornish beam engines of their day, and as a major
exporter to mining sites around the world.
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Kennall Vale
Gunpowder Works
Extensive remains are set in the wooded River Kennall valley. It
is one of the best-preserved gunpowder works in southwest Britain.
The development of the works can be divided into three basic
periods, from its establishment in 1812 to 1820; from expansion in
1820 to 1844; and from the effective doubling of the works by
construction of the Roches Wood section in 1844 to closure c1910.
The Kennall
Vale Co. was set up in competition with the Cosawes Wood gunpowder
works following the acquisition of the required licences for
manufacture by Benjamin Sampson in 1811. Sampson was the Agent of
the Foxes & Perran Iron Founders and the company appears to have
been very successful from the outset, acquiring the Cosawes Wood
works in 1813. The main elements of the Kennall Vale site are its leat systems,
supplying water power to its various processing buildings and some
of the secondary industrial plants; a network of roadways, with
bridges over the river, servicing the mills which were required to
be well spaced along the valley; stores and powder magazines; and
the change houses and offices for the workers, with the manager's
house.
Almost all the buildings were of granite masonry, with very few
brick or timber structures, though some wood was used in the
potentially more dangerous mills; stone was also used for
revetting trackways, leats and bridges. For greater safety, the
site was kept wooded. |
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