November 2019

1 FROM YOUR OWN CORRESPONDENTS AN UPDATE FROM CORNWALL ARCHAEOLOGICAL SOCIETY’S AREA REPRESENTATIVES Any opinions or errors in these articles are those of the authors and must not be assumed to be those of Cornwall Archaeological Society. NOVEMBER 2019 Issue 36 THIS MONTH’S FEATURES GWITHIAN SURPRISE! ROW IN THE FAR EAST AQUEDUCT INVESTIGATIONS HELP SAVE THIS HISTORIC BOUNDARY MARKER ALL’S WELL IN BODMIN GWITHIAN SURPRISE! We begin this month with explosive revelations from Adrian Rodda. The explosives works at Upton Towans, which operated from 1889 to 1920, has been scheduled. https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1463206 . Few visitors walking the coast path between Gwithian and Hayle across the dunes realise that they are not in a natural landscape. The sand dunes had been shaped and piled to accommodate storage houses for dynamite, gun cotton or nitro-glycerine. People who walk away or parallel to the coast path discover level paths, sometimes with traces of cinders on them. These were the tram tracks laid to connect the store houses with the factory further inland. Just follow the tracks to discover the isolated magazines and remains of the nitric acid works and the sulphuric acid factory. It is difficult to imagine now that dangerous acids were carried by gravity down overhead launders to mix together to make dynamite. The sticks were made of a special clay soaked in the explosive mixture and cut and wrapped by women working in threes in houses which had been surrounded by high sand piles so that if there were an explosion the force would go upwards. Sources and texts are referenced in the listing website above. Well worth a read before you visit. 2 The sand truck from the cliff top Photo: Adrian Rodda The sand truck from the beach below Photo: Adrian Rodda Not included in the schedule are the remains of another industry located very close to the car park at Gwithian. When South Crofty mine operated the Red River which flowed through it and along the valley from Tuckingmill to Godrevy was red with mineral bearing silt. Several tin streams along the valley took out as much tin as they could, but much escaped 3 their round frames and buddles and was spread by the tides across the beach. A tin stream works was built at the mouth of the river, commemorated in the name of the pub which replaced it, “The Sandsifter”, now renamed “The Rockpool”. The Cornish Gold Centre in the Portreath valley has preserved the tin stream machinery there in its own museum. King Edward Mine Museum at Troon near Camborne has working buddles and round frames too. An isolated dynamite storage magazine with sand piled around it Photo: Adrian Rodda The site of the series of wooden huts where the dynamite was rolled, wrapped and boxed Photo: Adrian Rodda 4 The beach was so polluted that no-one would sit there or surf in its shallows until about 1985 after the river had been cleaned up. Different attempts were made to get tin out of the beach sand. The remains of one attempt is barely 150 m from the car park. There is the concrete stub of a tower which hoisted buckets of sand to be “flown” across the beach on wires supported by regular pylons to be deposited in a great silo at the mouth of the river at Godrevy. If you walk below the cliff and look up you will have the surprising view of a mine truck on a set of rails projecting precariously from the cliff. It is in the second “bay” after the lifeguard hut walking towards Hayle. How much longer it can remain suspended in the eroding cliff is anyone’s guess, so get there soon! Text and photographs: Adrian Rodda. ROW IN THE FAR EAST No, this isn’t about tensions in the Korean peninsula but is to do with a stone-row close to the border with Devon. Area Rep Peter Crispin has been investigating stones possibly surviving from a stone-row in Lezant parish. The red dot in the following map extract from Cornwall Council’s superb mapping website (https://www.cornwall.gov.uk/community-and- living/mapping/) shows a record of a stone-row on the edge of Greystone Quarry. The names Greystone Farm, Greystone Cottage and Longstone Plantation may offer further clues about stones with archaeological significance. 5 Peter was alerted by a group of local residents to the existence of stones that they thought might be survivals of a stone-row. A quick check with the Heritage Gateway entry on Historic Environment Record established this information about the row: A stone row at Longstone consisting of three surviving … in fields named as 'Longstone Field' on the Tithe Map … The stones were destroyed in 1981 when the area was bulldozed …They are visible on air photographs … and were plotted as part of the NMP [National Mapping Programme]. https://www.heritagegateway.org.uk/Gateway/Results_Single.aspx?uid=MCO18495&resourceID=1020 Peter then visited the site to meet the locals and see the evidence himself, which he did from outside the perimeter fence. They explained that this was not an enquiry solely to satisfy their curiosity. Greystone Quarry has submitted plans for expansion which might mean that the stones would be lost. Lezant Parish Council shares these concerns and has made efforts to contact the quarry. It was necessary to assess if the surviving stones are part of the original row and if so, what could be done to protect them. Stopping the expansion of the quarry would be unlikely but removing the stones and re-erecting them in a safer place locally could be an alternative. Peter has explained that the situation became even more intriguing when local residents ‘spotted further stones in the lane hedgerow close to the entrance to Greystone Farm that they felt may possibly also be part of the former stone alignment.’ It was not clear if the stones found on the quarry edge had been moved from their original position or if they were indeed from the row. Peter’s next move was to make contact with local professional archaeologists and to notify the Historic Environment Team, now based at Kresen Kernow. Luckily Hannah Curnow (Historic Environment Record Assistant) was able to find evidence, including aerial photos, and Ann Reynolds (Cornwall Council Senior Archaeologist, Countryside Advice) gave further advice on the complex matter of re-siting. One of the stones near Greystones Quarry Photo: Peter Crispin 6 The stones are largely quartz – is that significant? Photo: Peter Crispin One of the stones near Greystones Farm Photo: Peter Crispin Another stone near Greystones Farm Photo: Peter Crispin 7 This stone has seen use as a gatepost Photo: Peter Crispin It rather looks as if all of the stones, including those in a hedge near Greystones Farm have been moved from their original position. For the moment, the matter is with local residents and the parish council. However, it is an excellent example of the value of having the CAS network of Area Representatives. Peter’s persistence has helped enormously in providing concerned locals with the evidence and advice that they will need. But will the stones be re- sited? How will this fascinating story end? We will have to see. AQUEDUCT INVESTIGATIONS Cornwall Heritage Trust has recently begun to investigate the inner structure of the Treffry viaduct and aqueduct in Luxulyan Valley (actually it is partly in Lanlivery parish). Historic England has greatly assisted through the provision of a grant. Not only is the structure a Scheduled Monument but it lies within the Cornwall and West Devon Mining Landscape World Heritage Site. It was opened in 1842 not only to carry J.T. Treffry’s horse-drawn tramway, but also has an aqueduct channel through which the Carmears leat flowed until recently, when leaks meant that it had to be stopped. Originally this leat provided the power needed to haul trucks up and down an incline plane which was linked to the Par Canal. The tramway was made largely redundant by the Cornwall Minerals Railway in 1874. The water was used for a while in a china stone mill and subsequently to help power a hydro-electricity turbine at Ponts Mill. Although the structure is remarkable, it was only one 8 component of a complex transport and water-power system (tramway, incline plane, canal and Par harbour, plus the leat). Lifting the stones Photo: Ann Preston-Jones John Smith, Vice-President of Cornwall Heritage Trust, and the expert on the archaeology of the Valley, was on hand to see the work (John’s 1988 report on the Valley can be obtained free from: http://map.cornwall.gov.uk/reports_event_record/1988/1988R005.pdf)). John Smith inspects the aqueduct Photo: Ann Preston-Jones 9 Although the leat has been shut down recent heavy rainfall has allowed water to get into the chamber. The inspection team had to bale much of this out with buckets. Photo: Ann Preston-Jones Massive granite blocks were used to construct the structure. The teams will assess their condition and position. Photo: Ann Preston-Jones 10 Investigations in 2012 suggested some base-stones may have slumped. The accumulation of silt and the historic use of cement by the clay industry will need to be dealt with. Photo: Ann Preston-Jones The whole enterprise is being supervised by an informed local resident Photo: Ann Preston-Jones 11 Earlier in the year a team of volunteers led by Dick Cole and Belinda Body of Cornwall Heritage Trust cleared vegetation from the crib hut near the south-eastern end of the viaduct.

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