02 Port of Hayle
Taking its name from heyl, the Cornish word for estuary, this Area is dominated by water: rivers, pools, sluicing ponds, quays, wharves, and, of course, the sea. Huge sand dunes lie between the town and the beautiful St Ives Bay, with the dark hills of the West Penwith Moors looming to the west. In the early 19th century, Hayle was the most important mining port and steam engine manufacturing centre in the world. Despite its decline, today’s lively communities buzz with the prospect of imminent regeneration. Here you’ll find plenty of signs of the town’s great past, along with beautiful beaches stretching out under vast skies.
Mining Heritage H
Port of Hayle Click here to jump to more info about the global mining port with natural wonders.
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ayle’s proximity to the major copper and tin mines of Redruth and Camborne gave this area an important
role. As a key sea port, Hayle not only had vital links with South Wales and the Swansea copper smelters it also reached out to the far corners of the world – Cornish beam engines built here were exported for use elsewhere in Britain and overseas. Hayle’s harbour quays cover a large area and give an idea of the scale of industrial activity in the 19th century. Two of the most important iron foundries within the World Heritage Site were based here, as were the largest copper smelter, a shipyard, flour and grist mills, a gasworks, and a brewery. A fierce and long running rivalry grew between the competing foundries (Harvey’s and the Cornish Copper Company), as they argued over access to the sea. This contributed to the development of Foundry and Copperhouse as individual settlements, surrounding the sites of these two companies. The copper smelting process generated large amounts of waste slag, which was cast into blocks and used as buliding material. Many bulidings in the town display these characteristic dark-coloured blocks, known locally as Scoria.
Highlights
• Walking across the railway swing bridge (1877) and following the estuary, through the old harbour and wharfside, and on past the dunes to the huge sandy expanse of Gwithian Beach beyond.
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Spotting many different types of birds to be found around Carnsew Pool, a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI).
• Walking the King George V Memorial Walk from Phillack, taking in the pretty gardens around Copperhouse Pool, and looking out for Black Bridge (built from Scoria Blocks made from the waste slag produced by copper ore smelting at nearby Copperhouse).
• Watching the sunset over the old harbour, with the towering dunes and St Ives in the background.
• Exploring the area around Foundry Barn, and imagining it in its booming, busy heyday.
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Did you know? Parts of Holland were drained by the largest Cornish pumping engines ever built.
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