Luxulyan Valley
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[location map]
[historic landscapes]
[WHS GIS mapping] |
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This Area contains an extraordinary concentration
of early nineteenth-century industrial remains. They are unique in
south-west Britain, in that they represent the physical
manifestation of one man’s enterprise – that of Joseph Treffry
(1782 - 1850). Copper mining was booming in the St Austell area during
the early 1800s, one of the deepest, richest and most important
mines in Cornwall being Fowey Consols (1813-1868), which was
worked by six steam engines and 17 waterwheels. Treffry linked his
mine to his new port at Par in the late 1820s by a canal. |
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The construction of a tramway from the
canal head through the valley to
Luxulyan, via an inclined plane and his magnificent viaduct
enabled Treffry to develop granite quarries in the valley. The
tramway was subsequently extended to a second new port at Newquay.
The original tramway was extended to Par, replacing the canal, and
was replaced by the Cornwall Minerals Railway in 1874, enabling
the development of china-clay and china-stone works at the foot of
the valley, the last of these works operating until the mid 1990s |
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The Luxulyan Valley has steep boulder-strewn slopes surrounding
the fast-flowing River Par. The thickly-wooded terrain was once an
important resource for making the charcoal that was needed in
large quantities for smelting tin from rich alluvial deposits on
the moors to the northwest. Charcoal-burning platforms are to be
found at nearby Prideaux. Treffry was one of the greatest single
mines adventurer in Cornwall at the time. He used the profits from
Fowey Consols (Cornwall’s fourth largest copper mine), together
with financial backing from a fellow investor, to realise his
industrial empire.
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The Luxulyan Valley is a place of breathtaking natural beauty,
with thickly wooded terrain and steep granite slopes surrounding
the fast-flowing River Par and contains an extraordinary
concentration of early 19th century industrial remains, unique in
South West Britain. It is also unusual within Cornwall in that it
represents the landscape realisation of one man's vision. Although Fowey Consols has suffered considerably from dump removal and
buildings demolition, the site still includes significant remains
and cannot be separated from the Luxulyan Valley and the canal
which linked them both to Par.
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Places to Visit
Wheal Martyn China Clay
Museum - china clay museum situated near St Austell. |
