A Virtual “Walk Around The St Just Area”.

By Sandra and George Pritchard

Part one

There are many roads that will take you westward to St Just and everyone requires a long, slow climb. From the sheltered rim of Mounts Bay the granite hills rise in soft folds, creating gentle valleys and soft river bottoms. Numerous pathways criss­cross the land created by the many packhorse trains that brought the hard won mineral wealth of the hills down to the shores to trade.

Trencrom, Castle an Dinas, Carn Galva & Carn Kenidjack act as sentinels to the hidden charms of the north coast, their surface dotted with the remains of the ancient ones.

Once their slopes are conquered, the road drops down to a flat tableland where the air is always stirring. Trees only grow in the sheltered hollows and plants are sometimes burnt brown by salt laden winds. The seas are whipped up until the peaks are snow white with flecks of foam that then get carried on the air to land on the unsuspecting flora.

The main road from Penzance through Morvah parish to St Just was not built until 1763. Before that each hamlet had a road leading up to the open moors to meet the old mule track which went across the high land. This track started at the Land's End [near the present day airport] and climbed the hill called Bound an Arth or High Lane which led on to Crows­an­Wra. At the summit it crossed the ancient track from Sennen to Penzance and on to St Ives. This is known as Vounder Go Glas or Little Green Lane. Parts of these track ways are still in evidence. With the construction of a road there was now a way for the mining industry to develop. However, when the Rev John Sweete, a native of Devon, undertook a tour of Cornwall on horseback in 1780 it was still relatively unspoilt.".. we reached an immense carn, the most craggy and extensive of any I had been near to. [Carn Kenidjack].From hence we had a fine view of St Just in Penwith, which arose with a few orchards and green fields ! in the midst of a barren uncultured scene. Today this approach is still only possible on horseback or foot as the main highway veers around the base of the hill but we can take a short walk to reach this compelling stretch of moorland and experience the stillness that has prevailed up here since time began.

This carn is bare of natural landmarks save for a work of nature ­ the weird pile of stones that crowns its summit and several works of man ­ stone circles, tumuli and round houses. Most are now reduced to vague shapes and outlines save for one complete circle on the southern flank. Some 150 years ago here were the ruins of a sacred metropolis, with highways leading to it from the coast, each marked by standing stones at intervals along the way. Truly this must have once been a seat of great power; a place were those with knowledge of the unseen and unknown worked their magic. The people of St Just in the 1850's believed this was the place where the the dark horseman rides after midnight: perhaps the devil himself in disguise. Beyond the craggy summit stretches a plain all the way to the ancient impressive Chun Cromlech and the nearby fortified Chun Castle. This is Goon Gumpus, known simply to locals as "The Gump". A place where people got "pixie led", saw faerie folk and mysterious lights. Near a track across the Gump was a well with the purest of water. This was best avoided after dark as then, sitting on the hedge nearby would appear an old women in a red shawl who would silently watch. No matter how many times the pitcher was plunged into the sweet water when lifted it would be empty. This was the ghost of “Old Moll “she had terrified the populace when alive and continued to do so after death

Imagine if you will it is again 1851 and it's a still, moonlit summer's night with scarce a breath of wind. The air begins to move, slowly at first, over the grassy mounds and the seed heads tinkle as they shake. The breeze rises and draws the warm air ever upward to the peaks and then, as it passes through the pinnacles and fissures of the rocks, there is a long low hum that reverberates and echoes in this primeval silence. "The Hooting Carn": feared and respected by generation after generation. The warm evening air now has a chill to it and as a cloud passes over the face of the moon, there is a faint hiss from behind you ; turning sharply to see what made it there follow pops and splutters and within seconds will o' the wisp lights dance across the ground, glowing yellow and blue, flicking on and off as they rise and fall in the dank air. Follow them at your peril as they lead to the deepest parts of the bog. A sip or two of Dutch courage [gin] was often taken if a journey across this moor was necessary after dark. A drop too much and who knows where you might find yourselves by morning.

There is a simple explanation due to natural inversion currents and marsh gas in the ever wet boggy ground on the heights etc. etc. but a night on the carn alone never was an inviting prospect. The tales were embellished and repeated by those who wished their nocturnal activities in the same area to have few witnesses. The pack­horse trains that left with their loads of ore for Penzance the smelter never returned empty handed. Another route over the hills was on the old pack road up through the Tregeseal Valley. Near the top is a farmhouse called Chyoone. In 1983 a Mrs Ethel Waters said she had heard maybe twenty times phantom hoof beats and the rumble of carriage wheels from inside the farmhouse. The approach of the unseen coach could be heard as it turned off the main road at the top of the hill and slowed down and halted at the farm. The theory is that the farmhouse was once a toll house on the turnpike. Research shows that the main road at the top of Tregeseal Hill was not cut until after 1888 and before that it was a green lane track on the OS map. Coaches were comparatively rare west of Penzance until 1851 and the horse buses went via Pendeen and Morvah. The toll house for this was at the Nancherrow Hill bridge on the main coastal road, so this apparition is a bit of a mystery.

From Carn Kenidjack today the view is pleasantly green and the mining scars have healed leaving only picturesque remnants. It was much like this before the great expansion of the 1840's when the Rev Sweet saw the town of St Just and continued on his journey " Having descended the hill we came onto a very excellent road to Penzance on the southern coast, formed for the conveyance of tin with which these parts abounded. We arrived at the town about 12 and, understanding that there was no sort of accommodation to be met with nearer than Lands End about six miles further on, we were under the necessity of resting here to dine” He probably ate at one of the inns in St Just of which there were only two at that time, 'The Star' or the " King's Arms". Whilst waiting for his meal he took a short walk to see the ancient Plen­ an­Gwary. We will join him again tomorrow for part two. Part two

In the last episode we left the Rev. Sweet as he booked into a St Just hotel for the night after which he decided to take a walk to see the ancient Plen­ an­Gwary.

"[the amphitheatre]... enclosed in by the houses of the town...... still retains its open and circular form.the diameter 135 ft and the height of the bank from without 10ft...there was to be seen in one part .. the appearance of six stone steps, which is the number that the amphitheatre consisted of. In these cirques, plays taken from scripture history were acted by the Britons and in them also were performed all their athletary exercises, for which the Cornish men were of old so remarkable and even to this day, here they celebrate their rural games. The town for the most part consists of little houses pleasantly ranged round a small open area on the eastern side of which stands a very decent moor stone church"

A report in West Briton of 28 October 1836 some 56 years later has a little less romantic view of the historical site: [and says so in what must be one of the longest sentences ever]

" Few are the persons in St Just who have any knowledge of the supposed religious character of the amphitheatre; the association rather which they have in connection with it, are, that it has been used from time immemorial, a goal for hurling, a prize ring for wrestling, a place where fowls were staked on Shrove Tuesdays (as a target for thrown sticks, a barbaric sport virtually extinct by 1800), and such like idle and unprofitable exhibitions."

Miners held drilling competitions on Feast Monday. Today you can still see the lumps of granite where 12 inch plus holes were drilled by hand with a time limit; one man held the iron drill, giving it a quarter turn at every blow and another wielded the hammer. Sometimes they worked “double­ handed" to increase the depth in the time allowed; two men striking alternately, now that's trust. There are a tales of young miners learning the technique, their aim slipping in their temerity and anxiety. The person holding the drill was more often than not a close relative of the apprentice. When the hammer came cracking down on their arm they barely flinched and assured the youngster......

"Get on wid'n. I 'ardly felt a thing. Slipped off me arm like sweat"

The skill needed to be learnt and it required nerves of steel and bodies tough as iron.The Playing Place site deteriorated somewhat and over the next forty years the stone walls had lost some of their height and the whole area was treated as the town dump. About this time also the area know as Bank Square was laid out;

According to the West Briton 31 Oct 1878:

"Mr Chenalls stated that within the last two or three weeks thirteen or fourteen men had been engaged in St Just, with the object of restoring the old Amphitheatre [the mediaeval playing place or Plen­an­guar] there to its original shape, and that it had taken off those who had been hanging about the corners of the town seeking employment." The town of St Just is still dominated by the Wesleyan Methodist Chapel whose builders' sole aim was to glorify their God in a house of prayer to rival that of the 15th century parish Church. They succeeded. The greater part of the town was built between 1770 and 1870 mostly by miners under laws and conditions that were nothing short of iniquitous. Not being built on freehold land, it was almost a wasted effort. After 3 lives or a 99 years lease, the landlord could demand a greater rent, due to any improvements made by the sitting tenant. For many the death of the last life was to mean the end of the family home, coming as it did around the time of the depression of mining when they could ill afford to pay the increases in rents demanded by the landowners.

A K Hamilton Jenkin 1800's gives a description of these homes in the early 19th century in his book, The Story of Cornwall

" Most of the cottages of this date, especially in the mining districts, are built by the people themselves. The walls were generally of clay and chopped straw beaten hard; whilst the roofs were thatched. Stone of course was sometimes used but only when this could be got free of cost...... Such cottages were dumped down anywhere and anyhow, wherever a bit of land could be obtained. Some of them still remain in odd corners by the roadsides photo or on rocky ledges above the fishing coves. Hundreds more were built by the miners amidst the shafts, burrows and engine houses of the mines which gave them work. It is said that in certain cases cottages of this sort have actually been built in one night. This was to gain the advantage of an old customary right which is supposed to have entitled the owners of such buildings to have claimed the freehold of the ground on which they stood for ever afterwards"

An example of a 3 lives lease appeared in the West Briton 31 July 1812

"Rights of Turbury: St Just in Penwith Sundry estates in the tenement of Gorland to be leased, in lots, for terms of 99 years, determined by the deaths of three lives of the purchaser's nomination. The Town Place, cliff and moors containing about 33 acres, are in common. The premises are capable of great improvement, lying close to Whitsands bay, whence sand and ore­weed may be procured. Each lot will be entitled to cut and carry home from Bartinney Forest, in the same parish, upward of 3,100 turves annually.This farm holding was in the area close to the Sennen ­St Just Parish boundary south of the road from St Just to Lands End. The land would have required a great deal of sand and seaweed over several lifetimes to make it productive. The name "Bartinney Forest" is very ancient, At the time of the sale there wasn't a stick of timber on the downs but furze and turf for fuel was in abundance."

If we turn our back on the ancient playing place and cross the square we can take a closer look at the two main gateways of the church, in particular the great iron gates outside the south porch, the last surviving example of a local iron founders art.

In 1834 a branch of the Holman family settled in St Just and set up his foundry at Tregeseal [of which more later] Nicholas Holman made his living chiefly from producing boilers, headwork and winding gear for the many mines of the St Just district but the casting shops also produced profitable sidelines such as the Cornish Range, lamp posts and gates and railings.

In 1863 the design for the heads of the railings that were to enclose the forecourt of the St John's Hall, Penzance were submitted to various manufacturers. Each in turn refused the order saying it was "impossible" to make a pattern in wood that could then be drawn out of the mould. The design was far too complicated. Working for Holman's in those days was a very skilful pattern maker that took great pride in his work. His name was 'Ould Mathy Eddy'. After carefully studying the design he made a pattern of the head in mahogany. It was then cut into about forty pieces in such a way at to enable the moulder to draw them out of the sand, one by one, and to leave the cavity into which the molten metal could be poured. This made an exact replica of the original design. The trial pieces were used to make the corner­heads of the St Just churchyard gates. Until the last war the wooden patterns were still in the possession of the Holman family but part of the foundry at Tregaseal received a direct hit and sadly they were lost. The majestic railings at St Johns Hall were cut down and went towards the war effort. Some were later sold back to Holmans at 30 shillings a hundredweight [£1.50p for 56 lbs] They ended up being melted down and cast into gratings, manhole covers and plough shares. So the gates at St Just are truly UNIQUE.

Before continuing our rambles it needs to be said that St Just Town was more than the cluster of buildings around the church, pubs and Market Square. Each area fanned out and each has its own local name. The churchtown itself was formerly referred to by its old name of Lafrowda from the ancient manor of that name. This was before the formation of the ecclesiastical parishes and sadly its history is mostly lost in the mists of time. All these local names for the various hamlets and districts were well known in the days of my youth but many are now long forgotten and have gone unrecorded in present day street or place names. The areas tended to be named after the mine workings or the original old names. Places like Nineveh and Wheal Zandra exist no more. Most of the original St Just family names arose from these area names and nearly all of these have also passed into history. We will look more closely at this in the next episode. Part Three

Leaving the church gates we enter the building. The original church building was commissioned by Richard de Beaupre in 1334 and was cruciform in shape. This Richard was the son of John de Beaupre who was sheriff of Cornwall in 1262 and held the office of steward to Richard, Duke of Cornwall for much, if not all, of the period 1267­72. John was granted land by the Duke which included the Manor of Bray. The arms of this family plus the Fitz Ive and Bray families who intermarried with them appear on the arch by the organ. However, there is very little else within the church to remind us of the other early families which were recorded in the St Just Easter Book of 1593. The book tells us that the population of St Just and Pendeen was about 536. Landed family names common then were: ­ Bray [Brea]: Bosaverne [Bosavern]; Bosseghan [Boscean] Bosshorn [Bosorne]; Bosvargus; Dowran; Grenfil [Grenfell], Nanquynowe [Nanquidno]; Nanpean; & Ustick, . Of these Bray and Grenfell are the sole survivors in Cornwall today. Bosaverne was the residence of a family of that name in 1625 : Busvargus in Tregeseal became the property of the family of Lethen and in c1560 they assumed the name of the estate. The Usticke family opened Botallack Manor in 1663, but most of these original St Just family names have nearly all passed into history.

There are no memorials on the walls to them and no gravestones to mark their passing. However, whilst in the church we can take a look at the baptism records for the years 1612 to 1875. These tell us that whilst Bussaverne appeared twice, once in 1615 and the other in 1874, Boscean, Bosshorn, Dowran and Namquynowe did not appear at all and had either died out or the families had left the parish before the registers began. Busvargus on the other hand seems to have returned to the parish in 1651 after an absence and appeared twenty times before again disappearing in 1717. The original name of this family was Lethen and it reappeared in 1636 and continued with ninety three baptisms between then and 1861.Finally the name Ustick having appeared seventy four times in the register, disappeared in 1745.

Some of the group asked about names which were linked to their families and a quick look showed that: ­ STEVENS appeared 68 times between 1689 and 1850, NANKERVIS, 111, between 1612 and 1875, GRENFEL, 429 between 1636 and 1866, HICKS, 262 between 1636 and 1875 , Pascoe 40 between 1631 and 1874 , Eddy 582 between 1647 and 1875 , Arundel 14 between 1742 and 1843, Rowe 395 between 1630 and 1875 , Hosken 175 between 1688 and 1875 , Wallis 322 between 1615 and 1875, Oats 531 between 1612 and 1875 , Gibson 10 between 1827 and 1861, Maddern 78 between 1615 and 1875. But the two most popular names in St Just are WILLIAMS with 1,112 entries in the baptism records between 1612 and 1875 and the second most popular surname is THOMAS with 951 entries in the baptisms records for the period 1612 to 1875.

No one who enters the church can fail to be impressed by the wall paintings which date back to 1336. Originally the whole church would have been decorated like this but at the time of the reformation in 1547 they were painted over by the King's Degree. Over the years more coats of whitewash were added and everyone forgot they were there. In 1865 repairs and alterations were being undertaken by Mr Piers St Aubyn which included the removal of the whitewash and plaster. He discovered a total of six paintings but only two were saved. In a recess in the north wall of the chancel is a curious old incised slab bearing on one side the inscription "SILVS HC JACET," and on the upper side an incised "labarum," or sacred monogram, of very ancient date: built into the wall of the north aisle is an ancient cross found in the old chapel at Cape Cornwall, about a mile and a half west: the large chandeliers were given by John Edwards, of Truthwall, in 1746: there are memorials to the families of Millett, Chenhalls and others, and memorial windows to Owen Boyle, light keeper of Longship lighthouse, who lost his life on the 25th Oct. 1877, to Stephen Harvey James, sen. d. 1870, and to Stephen Harvey James, jun. d. 1887: The churchyard was the domain of the Church sexton and after our supper in the Kings Arms Mr Rick Parsons has very kindly provided us all with a copy of the Diary of the St Just Sexton E.S. Millet from 1891 to 1893. It is sometimes sad but also sometimes amusing. So lets go and see what's for supper and after it we can light the candle, put our feet up and enjoy a good read.

As we enter the Kings Arms the smell of hot food comes drifting through from the kitchen. The year is 1893 and Thomas Williams is the Landlord, he is also a farmer and is said to produce the finest meat around. Tonight is to be special as Mrs Williams has agreed to cook our meal in the old fashioned way over the open fire rather than on the new fangled Cornish Stove. We enter the kitchen and find the big crock lifted off the brandes (trivet) on to the hearth. In the large vessel are a boiled rump of beef, a couple of fowls, and a nice piece of streaky pork to eat with them; as well as turnips, carrots, and other vegetables, all in kipps (net­bags) to keep, them separate and for convenience in taking up. The vegetables are placed to drain on bars called "kip sticks," placed across the crock the beef is dished up on a round pewter platter; and the fowls have melted butter and parsley­some of the butter poured on them, the rest will be served in a boat. A rabbit­pie is steaming on the chimney stool; and a baked figgy (plum) pudding is on the dresser, having been turned out of the baker on to another pewter platter, and powdered over with white sugar. On one end of the hearth, over a few embers, stands a little pot, the very model of the larger vessel but not more than a tenth of its size, containing choice red­apply potatoes, steaming under a cloth, all the water having been poured off'.

The female guests are advised that their dresses should be pinned up, that they mightn't be faust (soiled or rumpled) and that dinner will now be served. Mary, the serving girl, takes from the dresser pewter flagons, which shine like silver and are only used on grand occasions, to serve the ale. If we don't make a good dinner it will be no fault of our hosts, for it is “cut and come again" till we all declare we are "choke full and ready to relax." Then we can enjoy a nip of brandy all round, to settle our stomachs. Jugs of hot toddy will next be placed on the board, (table) with a little tray of shag tobacco and long pipes. Crocks and pans put away, the fire will be gathered to one end of the hearth; fresh turves put on; and the chimney stool put back to its place on the other end of the roomy hearth that those who liked best to smoke in the chimney corner might sit there. We all being made comfortable as our hearts could desire, Mrs Williams and Mary will leave us to read the Diary under the guttering gas light. Part four

To Tregeseal and down the Nancherrow Valley:

One of the oldest families in the district was that of Lethen: John Lethen lived at Busvargus in the Tregeseal valley and c1560 assumed the name of the estate This area is a short walk across the fields to the north of St Just Church where the path passes alongside the new graveyard and down to the bottom of the valley

The family arms of Bosvargus were, argent, on a fess azure, between two chevronels, gules, three bezants; Crest, a Cornish chough, proper. Roughly translated : A silver shield with a thick blue bar across the middle which has three gold disks or bezants on it (the same as the 15 that surround the shield of Cornwall) Above and below the thick bar is one upside down lance corporals stripe which is red (like this ^ but it reaches both sides of the shield so is a bit flatter) The Cornish Chough is in its proper colours.

The crest of a Cornish Chough would have been associated with their former name of Lethen. The place name Bosvargus translates from Cornish Bos Bargos = home of the buzzard and they are at home there still. The last male Bosvargus died in 1755 and the estate passed into the female line of Nicholas.

There is a record of the Bosvargus family granting a lease to build a stamping mill in the Nancherrow valley at Tregaseal in 1728, at a cost of £27:12s: 6p. The water that flushed down the stream to the sea at Porth Ledden under Castle Kenidjack was red for miles out into the bay. A tale is told that many years ago a ship was quite lost in the fog and the master, calling a Cornishman on deck, asked him if he had any idea where they were. He took one look at the water and said, "In all this red water there is only one place we can be, go astern at once" The Nancherrow valley leads up through Tregeseal to Balleswidden Mine. Here by turns they mined for tin, china clay; tin and then clay again The water was also by turns red, white, red, then white again. Today the Tregeseal valley is silent, it's industrial past forgotten. The hammer of the stamping mills; the gushing of the various water courses passing over leats and through wooden launders as it turned the machinery; all is hushed. A huge beam engine worked the first power hammers and the earth tremors could be felt in the neighbouring houses as each blow fell. There followed a steam hammer and then one worked by hydraulics, none of which were of silent operation. There were seven water wheels and 21 stamp heads in a village of springs, streams, rivers, chutes and wells. Foundry Row was described as having 'a river at the back and a river at the front' Further down from the Croft, Dick Nicholas worked Blackberry Stamps and later at the foot of Tregeseal Hill, Mr George Rowe built a flour mill in 1920 and used the original wheel pit. The millstreams continued under the road and then over the main river in an iron launder which ran behind the houses at the bottom of Bosvargus Hill. Here it joined a stream from Bosvargus and continued behind Tregeseal Square and went on to work Bosvargus Mill, mentioned in the Easter book 1590. [Now a B&B] This was all the property of the Bosvargus family. Their old home still stands on the hill above. Here the roads from St Just and Botallack meet the old early Toll Road across the moor An idiosyncratic sign­post by Foss points the way. A fine home, Alma Villa, was built at this junction in the early Victorian period for the family of Stephen Harvey James. It would have been very convenient for their mining interests in Botallack although the fine entrance onto the main road is no longer in use, the granite retaining wall that surrounds the garden and grounds is surmounted by railings which bear the Holman trademark. Today it is occupied by one of the more recent generations of the Holman family and called Penrose House.

Here within site of the bridge was the meeting point for the village. The men and youngsters would gather here and sit on stones against the walls. They would smoke, spin yarns and sometimes make music. Two boys would turn a clothes line whilst the girls skipped over, accompanied by a tune on the old melodeon. These were the days when people made their own amusements and where news from men working abroad was swapped. Today there is still a seat under the wall of Alma Villa / Penrose House where walkers sometimes may sit to eat their lunch or maybe watch the last rays of the evening sun.

The famous Holman's Foundry opened in Tregeseal valley in 1834 on the north bank of the stream. The first boiler manufactured was sent off to the Portsmouth and Farrington Water Works that same year. It cost £129:7s: 6p; was twenty foot long and weighed ten tons. Some weighed over ten tons and were transported up the hills surrounding the works on a specially constructed cart base, pulled by up to twenty or thirty horses, the teamsters shouting and cracking their whips to keep up the momentum. To provide lighting at the Foundry they ran a coal­ gas plant on the site. St Just benefited from the produced gas lighting when the town was connected to the supply, the first town west of Penzance to have gas lighting [I know St Just is THE only town west of Penzance but Newlyn, Mousehole, St Buryan and Sennen considered they were towns equal to St Just]

The firm diversified further into bicycles and velocipedes, the first one seen in St Just made by a Holman employee, Edwin Trembath. He had competition in the form of one Mr Tippet. Tippet being a carpenter made the woodwork while a Mr James, a blacksmith from Kelynack, made the ironwork. Holmans later also made motor cars and had several garages one in the centre of Penzance. The foundry in St Just continued until 1967 still owned and run by Holman family members. Today modern houses have been built on the site and little evidence remains of a once thriving heavy industry although here and there are traces of wrought ironwork and metal mill wheel parts.

Earlier this century at the end of Foundry Row lived Mary Jane Harvey also known as Mary Jane Moonlight. She worked for various local farmers and "wore a man's poke cap; a towser [rough sacking apron] and hob nailed boots and dearly loved a bit of a smoke on the quiet". She was a bit deaf and had a dog called Pop who would bark when anyone came to the door. Mary would put out her pipe for dear life before she would answer. When she came home from the fields tired after a hard days work she found that it was" best to lie down 'pon the planchen'" [floor] rather than get into bed. On Sundays she "went Army". An elderly resident in 1970's remembered Mary Jane telling her a tale of how she always went " lancin' at Gwenver Sunday evenings" [catching sand eels with a hook at Gwenver beach, Sennen] Once the whole cliff lit up with a bright light and she took it as a warning of her wrongdoing. From then on she attended the Salvation Army services on a Sunday. At the top end of the village on a piece of ground given by Henry Hattam of Tregeseal Lodge was the Wesleyan Sunday School built in 1864. The Sunday School tea treat was held on the Sunday after Midsummer Day. Led by the band they walked all the way to St Just by the church path mentioned above. They joined up with the Dowran Sunday School and a united service was held in the Plen an Gwary. In the early days there was an outing in August to Carn Kenidjack Later the scholars and parents travelled to Sennen in farm wagons with Willie Harry's pony and cart bringing up the rear loaded with saffron buns, and the tea urn.

If we retrace our footsteps back via the church path we pass the new church yard with its dry stone wall. This is quite a novelty in this district where the usual construction method was to build two facing walls and fill the internal cavity with earth as in the fashion of a Cornish hedge. Opposite the ancient walls of the church Lan are probably the oldest houses in St Just, Church Square In one of these little cottages, each with their outside privy, lived Stephen Harvey ancestor of the Stephen Harvey James of Tregeseal. He was a friend of John Wesley, who often stayed with him on his early visits to St Just. Stephen Harvey died in 1792 and his tombstone reads "Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his Saints".

These cottages are tucked away in behind the Kings Arms and visitors rarely take time to pass by, Walking has it's own rewards. This time we will take a turn through Market Square and on to Bank Square where Edwin Trembath had his photographic studios. He was often called upon to take photos of the relatives of miners working overseas. Printed on postcards they found their way with good wishes and words of love to the minefields of the Upper Peninsula, the factories of Detroit and all points west. The photos were impressed on the face with the name of Lafrowda Studios. If anyone ever finds one of these I would appreciate a copy. His daughter Adeline married one of my Vingoes and they left for Australia c1903 never to return.

His other daughter Harriet, an accomplished photographer in her own right, continued the business but she died in the 1950's with no one to carry on. Reportedly many glass negatives went down the mineshafts with the rest of St Just's rubbish.

We will continue on down Nancherrow Road passing "The Miner" whose pub landlord in 1881 was Samuel Guy. Opposite today is a derelict miners home of the 1850's fast crumbling into decay. This is in a row of 3 dwellings, back to back. Sometime soon it will go for re­development. Who can guess the price ?

There are several mine stacks around and on the right is what looks like an engine house. It was in fact a barn which has been used in turns as a blacksmiths shop and as a school. On the left a wall surrounds the Nancherrow Farmhouse land. Reputedly this was once the site of an old graveyard. There is a lovely old arched doorway. However this is not original to this wall but came from the very earliest church at St Just built prior to 1450. As in later renovations it was 'cast out' and as so much else was, taken to be used elsewhere. Part Five

As the road starts down the slope we look out over the Tregeseal Valley. The river passes under the main road and down into what now becomes the Nancherrow Valley. The first part of the walk is level until we come to Kenidjack Farmhouse. This was always a very productive farm and in 1881 was worked by the Mitchell family: Thomas age 39 a farmer of 21 acres b St Just; his wife Rebecca age 41 Sons: John 9, George 7, William 6: daughters: Edith 4 Helen 2 and Mary E 1. Living with them is Rebecca's father, George Hicks Vingoe age 72, a retired farmer from Sennen.

Facing Kenidjack Farm across the narrow divide at the head of the ravine is the hamlet of Boscean. An old footpath links the two. Boscean lies in a dip in the land and offers some slight protection from the fiercest of the south­westerlies. An interesting advert appeared in Sept 1825 announcing the forthcoming sale at Penzance of part of a tenement of "Bossean" These included ..

"a dwelling house, outhouses, five acres of meadow land and three and a half acres of croft called the Golding Tenement, held on a seven year lease from Michaelmas 1823 at a rent of £19." Also:" Two stamping mills. known by the name of 'Here Stamps' and the streams and water­courses belonging thereto­ tenant, John Tregear held by a lease for 99 years: determinable on the deaths of Jaketh James age 56, John Tregear age 40 and Rachael Tregear age 44 " [Jaketh James was the father of Stephen Harvey James, purser of Botallack, living at Alma Villa, Tregeseal] ": a Dwelling­House, Tenement and about 12 acres of Arable, Pasture and Furze Land called Taylor's Tenement. Held by a lease for 99years...... also a moiety [share] of a waste plot of land containing about two acres, held in common amongst all the Tenements. One full moiety or half part of the underground profits of the aforesaid premises will be sold therewith and also the like moiety or half­part of the underground profits, to which the proprietors are entitled, in and throughout the other parts of the Tenement of Bossean belonging to the other freeholders"

The value of these tenements it is impossible correctly to estimate as the greater part contains Tin Lodes and Veins of the richest quality: indeed so rich has the Tin been that to divide it equally between the Miners it has been found necessary to do so by Weights and Scales and from these circumstances the Golden Tenement took its name. Setts [grants] for working these lodes were applied for by James Halse Esquire: [MP for St Ives] and Mr Millett Thomas: but the owner has refused as he was about to sell the land. Anyone wanting to purchase should apply to Capt Grenfell of St just and the tenants for permission to view"

The old workings of Goldings Mine are close by as are those of Wheal Cunning and Wheal Drea [part of Wheal Owles]. The narrow Southern lode from Bottalack Crowns ran to here and was known as the Guide Lode. At least 5 other lodes cross here:: Poole: Rowes: Great Boscean, South and Goldings. Between 1837 ­ 1839 and again from 1852­1867. a total of 2,400 tons of black tin was produced here

The mining Gazette of 1837 had the purser as Samuel York of Penzance :Manager R Berryman Agents J. Trezise :& J. Row In 1867 miners broke into the old workings of Wheal Owles. Goldings were held responsible and the adventurers were fined £600 for trespass on the mineral ground they had "stolen" The Boscean Purser was obliged to cede the whole of Goldings mine to Wheal Owles, including all its equipment as compensation for the trespass which totaled in value in excess of £1200. Subsequently the accident in Wheal Owles some 25 years later proved that the purser of Wheal Owles had been at fault all along. He had failed to take account in the variations of a magnetic compass when drawing underground plans of their mine. The owner of Wheal Owles in 1855 was John Boyns. Richard Boyns his nephew, had previously been an Agent in the mine since 1834 and then a Capt and in 1855 he was made purser. He retained command until 1893 At at the acquisition of Goldings in 1867 a Henry Boyns was the mine captain This is the family that was involved in the alleged fraud perpetrated in the story "Tin" [of which more later].

This tract of land was obviously productive both above and below ground. Below is a poem published in the Old Cornwall journal V 4 Oct 1938 and written by a John Penrose of St Just.

This refers to another such sale but with the price of two acres for £10 compared to above price of eight and half acres at £19 leaves one wondering if sale in the poem was before or after that of 1825

On the Produce of Two Acres of Land, Called The "Goldings," in St. Just

Pray see what a plenty the "GOLDINGS" afford, You are not at a loss to furnish your board; There are Turnips and Cabbage, fat Mutton and Lamb, Legs of Pork for your pot, and the Shoulders for Ham.

Fat Fowls at your service, and plenty of Eggs, And "Farmer" Potatoes for feeding of Pigs Raw milk you may sell, there are buyers enough, And that will provide you Tobacco and Snuff.

"Apple" Potatoes to find you, besides what are sold, And Butter almost like the Angel of gold For rearing of Calves no healthier land, And Cream on the Milk like the heel of your hand.

It is well worth their notice who through it do pass, To look at the floor of the three­leaved grass.­ Always lewth for your cattle to eat hay or straw, Let the wind from the north, south­west, or west blow.

Quite handy for Watering of Cattle beside, For through it a river doth gently glide; And on unhealthy ground where Bullocks grow weak, Turn them into the "Goldings," how hearty they eat.

Their coat very soon flys from them in' flakes, As they round the fields scout with their tails on their back, Those creatures appear as if risen from dead, And their eyes almost seem to fly out of their head.

What a transport and harmony is here in the spring, When the thrush and the blackbird on each spray 'do sing; . And as soon as the Cuckoo her appearance do make, Away to the " Goldings" with swift wing she'll take.

Here is Furze to make faggots to stop up your gaps, And good Wheaten­reed for to make your Straw Hats; Here is Wool to make Stockings, Fowls' Feathers, for tyes, Rabbit' skins for your muffs, and their flesh to make pies.

And this Estate so extensive to view who that please, >From Nancherrow river to the foot of Noongrease; And from the old mansion house what a prospect it yields, Kenidjack and Truthwall, and the Wheal Boys Fields.

The prospect is pleasant, I shan't add much more, But only Nancherrow and the Farmer's long Moor And here is all this Estate for Ten Pounds per year, And yet you will say that the "GOLDINGS" is dear.

As we leave the flat coastal tableland we make our way down the now steep sides of the valley we can see the evidence of the many old tin workings that once were carried on here. This is where they first steamed to reach the exposed tin deposits. It has left depressions in the ground referred to as Coffens/Goffens. There is much written evidence of the ways these mining rights were granted and how the work was carried out and by whom. It proves that Kenidjack was once a thriving tenement long before St Just rose to prominence. On 9 August 1776 " Elisabeth Usticke of Penzance, widow, sole owner for life of one pair of tin bound called Wheal Edward Bounds in the tenement of Kanidjack" granted a sett to "Richard Oats, tinner St Just and partner at one fifteenth toll". Again on 6 Jan 1783 the owners of Porthglaze bounds granted Henry Oliver & partners a "pair of bounds within the cliff lands of the tenement of Kenidgack with liberty to search for tin on Crackegodna lode from the sea westward and to their eastern limits " : 3 men were to work : dues payable one fifteenth: Crackegodna was most likely Cargodna in West Wheal Owles. Other workings in the surrounding areas were similarly let. On 22 July 1785 a mine lease was granted to "August Thomas of St Just, Tinner" by the proprietors of Truthwall Moor with authority "to search and stream for tin, tin ore and tin stuff with liberty of making any pools dams or leats for conducting water for the purposes of streaming":The dues in this case were one seventh. Similarly on 12 Dec 1786, John Tregear, Tinner of St Just was granted "authority to mine throughout all that part of the said part of the tenement of Kenidjack.....five fathoms on each side of the Grouse and Wheal Boys tin lodes...... from the little driving lane thereon or towards the west called the Grouse Lane to within three fathoms of the lane called Nackaby on the road leading from St Just Churchtown" :Dues were one sixth reflecting the richness of the ground. This was granted by the Lords of Kenidjack who were:­ ...... Mrs Ellis 6/9th: Mrs Usticke 1/9: Mr Robyn 1/9 : Mr Borlase 1/9 [To discover more you need to find a copy of The St Just Mining District by Cyril Noall pub 1971 Bradford Barton , Truro]

The stream meets the sea under the watchful eye of Castle Kenidjack and will spill over the ¼ mile wide beach of Porth Ledden [Ledden = wide] Here the sea has always accepted what the river brings down from the hills and occasionally offered up a bounty in return. Looking north towards Pendeen Watch or south towards Cape Cornwall on a fine day it's God's Own Country but when the wind threatens to lift you off your feet it puts the fear of God into you. Castle Kenidjack was an another of the many fortified headlands that are scattered along the coast here. It is believed they were fortified as a place of retreat when the local population was threatened.

Below its fallen walls and filled in ditches lie the ancient quarry workings. Cutting into the cliff­side beneath is Zawn Buzz & Gen. This extraordinary name was Zawn Mug & Can on the tithe map of 1840 which does nothing to solve the puzzle. However, the Usticke map of 1778 has Zawn Muyglen which betrays its origin in mengleth = quarry. We have to make a choice of direction now and with the wind at our backs we ascend the cliff and turn inland slightly away from the coastguard path. We take a long last look up the valley and turn towards the north. Before us is the land where great wealth was dug out of the coastal hinterland; where the forces of nature forced up the land between the killas and the granite. laying down in the narrow spaces in between the seams of tin, copper. Sometimes the veins were so narrow but of so rich a quality the miners had to be of the thinnest build to work it. So cramped was the space at times they were only able to work single handed with their picks and gads. The effort required was enormous and they could only remain at their pitch for short spaces of time.

Another feature of these coastal strips was that the veins ran at angles down towards the sea and often to follow the glittering prize they were required to burrow for a great distance under the sea itself. Men working in these tunnels have said...... "We have been in...... Wheal Castle, Wheal Edward, Botallack, Wheal Cock, and Levant, and heard the roll of the waves over­head."

The ruins of these citadels of former days lie scattered over a very wide area. The shafts and tunnels, where eager miners once dug like so many rabbits in their burrows, were for years left open to the elements. To walk here was to put yourself in mortal danger with unstable ground and open pits waiting to claim you. Most are now capped but never wander into a clump of furze. Today nature has reclaimed much from the devastation but stay awhile and stand silent and you too will hear again the tramp of hob nail boots upon the paths of rab; hear again the constant whoosh and thump of the great beam as the piston turns; hear across the way the whistle from the pressure safety valve as steam escapes through and then perhaps will come the faint sweet scent of tobacco smoke and the unmistakable smell of wet warm earth as a group of miners tramps past us on their way up the lane to home. Part Six

The blisters have had time to heal so lets be off again walking around St Just.

Having passed the miners who were tramping their way home, we must shake off our reverie and continue along the ancient path now covered in soft whisker grass and dotted with the odd tuft of sea­pink and white campion. We can hear the soft swish of the sea as it runs back and forth upon the strand and then through the summer haze the ruins of Wheal Owles come into view. Here on the morning of 10 January 1893 the miners descended the cliff path to Corgodna shaft. On the 65 level 5 miners were working in what they believed to be a safe location. They broke through into the flooded old workings of Botallack and they and 15 of their fellow workmates were drowned. This mistake, by those whose job it was to calculate safe runs of exploration, was to lead to the closure of the mine itself and the shaft mouth above the sea was walled around. It also proved that the earlier break­in at Wheal Golding had in fact been the fault of the purser of Wheal Owles. He had not allowed for the margin of error of a magnetic compass and had failed to kept accurate underground maps, very necessary when two mine companies are working in close proximity to one another. This had led to miners at Goldings, with their accurate maps, being too close to the Wheal Owles workings. They had NOT in fact "trespassed" on what was not theirs.

This realisation was all too late for the men of both mines. Many had lost their livelihoods with the closure of Goldings and now 20 men had lost their lives, leaving their families without sustenance and comfort. On top of that, Wheal Owles never worked again leaving more miners without work at a time when work was getting hard to come by. The well­known St Just family of Boyns were somewhat of a mining dynasty. John Boyns had first set Wheal Owles to work and a succession of his family were to be connected with the running of it over the next three generations. One of them was his grandson, Richard Boyns. He had first been employed as an agent in 1834. He was sometimes referred to as cap'n but this was due to him being in charge of a local military militia. He was later appointed manager and purser in 1855. He retained full command until the mine closed in 1893. Around St Just he was called 'Purser' Boyns to distinguish him from another Richard Boyns known as 'Banker' Boynes .He was a familiar figure around St Just and was never without a thick black walking stick with which he struck the ground when wanting to emphasise his remarks. This was the gentleman responsible for the mathematical error. There was no form of legal redress open to workers in those days!

We leave the ghosts of Wheal Owles to their whispering, echoing tunnels and shafts and wander on a little past what little remains of Wheal Edward. Rising up in the distance, spectacularly perched upon the cliff face, are the Botallack Engine Houses known as" The Crowns" They take the name from the rock formation on the edge of the sea below. Here was the steep incline entrance to the diagonal shaft known as "Boscawen". A closer look will reveal the entrance hole, now closed off, a little way up from sea level. A wooden structure was once slung out across the cliff face at an angle of 33 degrees. This carried a metal track way and miners travelled up and down in a skip that carried about eight. As a chain payed out from above they would descend to their days work. There was a brake to assist in slowing down the skip if necessary. The whole effort worked in reverse on the homeward journey. One day, when nearing the very top of the track, one of the links in the chain broke. As men watched helpless from the cliff top, the skip careered back down the track and into the blackness below. The onlookers were certain that the brake would prevent a fatal crash within the tunnel. They were wrong; all eight men lost their lives. Yet another set of statistics for this highly dangerous occupation but family research brings a personal awareness to the consequences for those concerned.

It was not only in the course of a days work that danger sometimes was met. The whole place was a warren of old workings, pit heaps, open shafts, stamps machinery and danger! Not only men but women and children walked freely over the area by day and by night. The holding ponds of water, pumped up from the bottom of the mines were re­cycled to use as a coolant for the engines. This water was warm and was put to good use by the women. The West Briton of 11 March 1836 has this to say:

"Rather a striking peculiarity of the St Just Tin Mines, which are worked in granite, is that the water drawn by the engines is used for domestic purposes. We have seen 50 women washing the linen of their families in the warm water from the steam engine at one time. Standing around the engine house at Boscean, and Boscaswell Downs, and Wheal Owls, and we have also long since seen it at Wheal Cunning. It is a rather singular sight of a Monday morning to see the females hastening to the mines, bearing on their heads their washing trays, and the linen of their respective families".

It was later found that these ponds contained very high levels of toxins including arsenic and uranium. What one wonders were the effects on persons wearing the clothing? It must have contained particles of the many dangerous substances that are encountered in mineral mining. This habit of washing the whole families clothes in contaminated water must have been partially responsible for the many cases of chest disease and pulmonary ailments suffered by the local population. Those in positions of power and authority readily blamed the ill health of the poorer classes on the twin vices of drinking and smoking, the later also frequently indulged in by women and young children. They decried the way the poor lived in overcrowded and unsanitary dwellings, but did little to improve property they themselves owned or reduce the high rents they demanded. Neither did mine owners ever recommend any increase in any payments to their lowest paid workers or look to improve their working hours or conditions. Those in higher authority, who were in a position to contribute to the changes that were needed, were loath to reduce their own share of the wealth to do so. Instead their manor houses were improved or they built anew and they bought up or married into other landed families, ever increasing their own land holdings and self­ importance. Their increased social status was to make them further removed from the local populace whereas in the past they had led the life of a country Squire rather than that of a landed gent. These fine old buildings still stand as testimony to the craftsmanship and wealth the land round about produced. Those that had them built are no more and in the main their names have gone with them. Those that struggled to scratch out a bitter living, either on the surface or under it, have similarly left this place for a better one. Their names too might have disappeared from here but can still be found scattered all across the world. Close by are two manors that of the mineral Lords of Kenidjack, the Usticke at Bottalack and at Pendeen Manor that of the Borlase mineral lords of Boscaswell and Pendeen. Today these buildings partially cater for tourists and in "Poldark", the TV series set in the early 1800's. the rear elevation of one and the front elevation of the other made up Ross and Demelza Poldark's home, Nampara.

The life of women 150 years ago usually revolved around fetching water from the shute or pump, the bake house or long hours at the wash ponds. This was where they socialised with one another whether married or single, young or old. The men were often hard working, hard living and hard drinking. Their social meetings were, more often than not, tribal encounters with a nearby rival town or village, sometimes under the guise of a hurling match, sometimes not.

St Just Versus Buryan. James Woolcock, 25, John Woolcock, 23, James Maddern, 28, William Trembath, 25, Mathew Thomas, 18, John Bennetts, 20, all miners were indicted at the Cornwall Epiphany Sessions, for that they, on the 27th of November, in the parish of Buryan, did unlawfully assemble and commit a great disturbance, to the terror of her Majesty's subjects. West Briton 13 January 1854,

Alcohol was the curse of the poor. It took what little spare cash was earned and most men with troubles enough spent a few hours forgetting. There were great efforts to wean them from the beer shops, kiddly winks and inns, as there was little enough money if they had families to support. The various establishments and landlords in St Just in 1852 were:

Commercial Inn: Wm Williams. Kings Arms: William Eddy, The Star: William Hill. Wellington Inn: Thomas Bury Burton.

Many of the churches were against strong drink but even some of the non­conformist chapels were not against it entirely. This led to the schisms and the many breakaway movements within the chapel movement. The Primitive Methodists and others believed in a much stricter regime when it came to personal enjoyment and sometimes resorted to some rather far ­fetched tales to warn of the dangers of imbibing in strong drink.

The West Briton of 27 April 1838 has this report, which, in view of the frequency of male drunkenness, appears to be aimed at the female of the species!

"On Friday, the 13th being Good Friday the Teetotallers of St Just, held their first public meeting in the Wesleyan Methodist Chapel in that village, where they had a crowded audience.

To show the destructive effects of alcohol, the principal speaker stated that a female having retired to bed in a state of intoxication, her breath came in contact with a lighted candle that was placed by the bedside, when it immediately ignited, and a stream of fire continued to issue from her mouth until the arrival of a medical gentleman who extinguished it." Tales were recounted of the dangers of being under the influence and wandering over the ground at night. The Cornish Telegraph recounts this sorry tale below in its edition of 26 March 1873

"Late on Saturday night the engine man at Wheal Owles was startled at hearing cries for mercy and proceeded at once to stop the stamps, fearing someone had got entangled among the rods. Upon further search a miner, named Henry Bottrell, was found up to his neck in the water of the engine pool, into which he had strayed in a state of intoxication. When discovered he sank down, either through exhaustion or fright, and was, with some difficulty, rescued from his perilous position"

Tales of ghosts and strange apparitions were also told, I suspect mainly to keep people from seeing things they shouldn't. With open pits arsenic calcifiers and hot water ponds there were dangers enough without the supernatural. Robert Hunt interviewed the gent in question in the following account to verify the TRUTH for himself.

"John Thomas, of St. Just, in Cornwall. is about sixty­two years of age, and has been a notorious drunkard the greatest part of his life. He told me that on Sunday, 21st December 1783, about 7 o'clock in the evening, he left San Crete (now spelt Sancreed) in order to go to St. Just. As it was dark he missed his way, and about midnight fell into a pit about five fathoms deep. On being missing his friends made diligent search for him, but to no purpose.

The next Sabbath day, as one of his neighbours was going to seek his sheep; he saw, at some distance, the appearance of a man sitting on the bank. On drawing near he saw the apparition go round to the other side of the bank. When he came to the place he could see no one; but heard a human voice in the bottom of the pit. Thinking that some smugglers had got down to hide their liquors, he went on; but coming back the same way again he heard the voice. He now listened more attentively, and as he could hear one voice he concluded it was John Thomas who was missing, and on calling to him, he found that he was not mistaken in this. He went and got help, and soon got him out of the pit. But as he had been there near eight days he was very low when he was got out; but is now in a fair way to do well. In the bottom of the pit he found a small current of water; which he drank freely of. This, in all likelihood, was the means of keeping him alive.

It is said that several other persons saw the apparition, but took no notice of it As I am not fond of crediting stories of this kind on common report, I resolved to get the account from his own mouth." " Popular Romances of the West of England"

All the way north to Trewellard, Boscaswell and Pendeen can be seen the scars and ruins of a once great industry which took its toll on both the miners and their families. Some had lucky escapes: In May 1863 a miner by the name of John Casley was trapped by a run of ground. He was freed unhurt after eleven hours with hardly a scratch after over a hundred wagons of dirt had been removed in order to get to him.

Some did not.

"A young man called Ellis of the North [general area north of St Just ] was so much frightened by some ground falling away at Balleswidden last week that he has been very ill ever since and died this evening [Henry Grylls Thomas in his 'Shopkeeper's Diary] A little further on the numerous relics of Levant still dot the landscape. Here the sea broke in and drowned men but in 1919 came the greatest tragedy of all when the man engine collapsed with a loss of life that effected every family in the district. With so many men working abroad, or killed or injured ­ first in the war and now in the mine­ St Just was now reduced to a place solely populated by women wearing black. Its days of wealth and glory passed. Geevor was to carry on absorbing part of the old Levant workings but it too eventually closed in 1990 We will pass on along the old track that will take us to Pendeen. St Just as Reported in The West Briton Newspaper

Rights of Turbury. St Just in Penwith. Sundry estates (in the tenement of Gorland) to be leased, in lots, for terms of 99 years, determined by the deaths of three lives of the purchaser’s nomination. The Town Place, Cliff and moors containing about 33 acres, are in common. The premises are capable of great improvement, lying close to Whitsands bay, whence sand and ore­weed may be procured. Each lot will be entitled to cut and carry home from Bartinney Forest, in the same parish, upward of 3,100 turves annually. West Brition 31 July 1812.

Contraband in a St Just Mine. The men on the preventative service at St Just, near the Lands End, aided by a party from the Dove revenue cutter, last week seized 173 tubs of spirits and 20 tubs of tobacco, which had been landed from a cutter, and hidden in a shaft of a mine at that place. During the search, one of the preventative men named White, fell from a plank into a shaft of the mine and was killed on the spot. The deceased was a native of St Just, and led the party to the place where the seizure was effected. West Briton 19 February 1830

Under Sea Mines at St Just. We have been in Little Bounds, Wheal Castle, Wheal Edward, Botallack, Wheal Cock, and Levant, and heard the roll of the waves over­head. In Little Bounds and Wheal Cock, the excavations have been made up­wards to the sea; in the first place, it being on the beach , and dry at low water, it was secured with well chaulked planks; in the second, the hole made by a borer, being bur small, it was stopped with a plug. West Briton 11 March 1836.

Washing Linen In Mines Rather a striking peculiarity of the St Just Tin Mines, which are worked in granite, is that the water drawn by the engines is used for domestic purposes. We have seen 50 women washing the linen of their families in the warm water from the steam engine at one time. Standing around the engine house at Boscean, and Boscaswell Downs, and Wheal Owls, and we have also long since seen it at Wheal Cunning. It is a rather singular sight of a Monday morning to see the females hastening to the mines, bearing on their heads their washing trays, and the linen of their respective families. West Briton 11 March 1836

Plen An Gwarry, St Just Few are the persons in St Just who have any knowledge of the supposed religious character of the Amphitheatre; the association rather which they have in connection with it, are, that it has been used from time immemorial, a goal for hurling, a prize ring for wrestling, a place where fowls were staked on Shrove Tuesdays (as a target for thrown sticks, a barbaric sport virtually extinct by 1800), and such like idle and unprofitable exhibitions. West Briton 28 October 1836.

Wreckers On The Coast Of St Just Michaelmus Quarter Sessions. Thomas Ellis, sen. 28, and Thomas Ellis Jun. 24, were indicted for stealing a quantity of staves, from the wreck of a French ship, called “Le Landais” which was wrecked on the coast of St Just… Richard Pearce (agent of Llyods) went to St just; arrived there about half past twelve at noon; he went to a place called Boscriggan. He found a vessel on the shore in pieces, and things coming a shore, consisting of wine, bales of cotton, many thousands of staves, cases of wine, and other articles. There were probably a couple of thousand persons present, and the number was afterwards increased to about four thousand… On seeing the younger prisoner with the staves, prosecuter (Pearce, on behalf of the French government) told him immediately to restore the staves, but he refused to do it. /when he was carrying off the staves there were a great many persons about him, and prosecutor told them that he had been obliged to have the assistance of the Rev. Mr Buller to read the riot act, and he was determined to make an example of some one of them, he then seized the younger prisoner by the collor and dragged him some distance… turning round (he) saw the elder prisoner make a blow at him, which he received on his hat and hand. The staves which the younger prisoner dropped when he was taken into custody were carried off, and witness never saw anything more of them. West Briton 20 October 1837 (The vessel was totally stripped by the wreckers of whom Ellis Jun was by no means the worst offender. In consequence he was given only six months’ hard labour, with a recommendation to mercy. Ellis Sen.was acquitted.

A Teetotalers Tale. On Friday, the 13 th inst., being Good Friday the Teetotallers of St Just, held their first public meeting in the Wesleyan Methodist Chapel in that village, where they had a crowded audience. .. To show the destructive effects of alcohol, the (principal) speaker stated that a female having retired to bed in a state of intoxication, her breath came in contact with a lighted candle that was placed by the bedside, when it immediately ignited, and a stream of fire continued to issue from her mouth until the arrival of a medical gentleman who extinguished it West Briton 27 April 1838.

Belief In Magic. On Thursday, some person or persons entered the house of Mr N James of St Just in Penwith, and took from the chest of one of the lodgers the sum of £11 3s 6d… To discover the thief or thieves, recourse was had to a “Cunning Man”, who called himself a conjurer, and who said the money should be returned on Sunday, the 9 th inst; but it has not yet made its appearance. West Briton 14 January 1842.

St Just Versus Buryan. James Woolcock, 25, John Woolcock, 23, James Maddern, 28, William Trembath, 25, Mathew Thomas, 18, John Bennetts, 20, all miners were indicted (at the Cornwall Epiphany Sessions) for that they, on the 27 th of November, in the parish of Buryan, did unlawfully assemble and commit a great disturbance, to the terror of her Majesty’s subjects. West Briton 13 January 1854

Home From Australia. A very heavy mail from Melbourne, Geelong, and Port Phillip, consisting of fifty four bags or two wagon loads of letters newspapers, &c., was landed at Penzance, on Thursday morning last, from the ship “ESSEX”, one hundred and fourteen days out from Melbourne, by the Scilly pilot cutter “A.Z.” The mail was immediately forwarded to the metropolis. Twenty passengers were also landed, belonging to St Just, Morvah, Ludgvan, Penryn, Liskeard and Bere nr. Plymouth. All of them were well supplied with the needful – one lucky fellow in particular having about one cwt. of pure gold in his possession. About one hundred and twenty passengers have arrived in the ESSEX. West Briton 8 September 1854

At We’ll Do Em Mine St Just For sale at We’ll Do Em Mine, in the parish of St Just, a 24inch cylinder pumping engine, with 8 tons boiler, nearly new, all in good working order, with brasses complete. For price and further particulars apply to Mr Richard Quick, Trewellard, St Just. West Briton 3 October 1862.

A Miner Stopped In. A Miner by the name of John Casley was trapped by a run of ground. He was freed unhurt after eleven hours with hardly a scratch after over a hundred wagons of dirt had been removed in order to get to him. West Briton 15 May 1863.

An Auction In St Just Church. The Church in St Just is about to be renovated, and for that purpose it was necessary that all the inside fittings, such as pulpit, communion table, and pews should be sold. The inhabitants were not pleased that the church was used for the sale rather than an auction room. West Briton 17 March 1865.

Exodus During the last twelve months, Cornish miners to the number of 7,380 have left the county, 1,155 of whom settled in America, 670 in Australia and New Zealand, 450 in California, while the iron mines of Scotland and the coal and iron mines of the North of England have absorbed 1,090; 1,390 have left Gwennap, Stithians, Illogan and Phillack; 1,590 the district of Lelant, St Ives and St Just; 80 Wendron and Sithney; 205 the district of St Agnes and Perran; 220 the district of St Austell; and 1,200 the district the districts of Liskeard and Callington, The returns from other districts are not so correctlyascertained, but must fall little short of 2,000. West Briton 17 May 1867.

On Their Way to the Workhouse. At Wheal Owles meeting on Friday last, Mr R Boyns ha beheld a sight a day or two ago he had never seen before, and one he hoped he would never see again in St Just. On his way to Hayle, this side of Penzance, he had overtaken 15 women – all on their way to the workhouse. He knew the faces of many and believed that genuine penury had driven them to seek parish relief. West Briton 23 August 1867

The curious effect of severs frost At St Just early in the week, almost all the surface works were brought to a standstill. In most instances nothing but the pumping engine were working, all being frozen up, and the various hands employed in the surface and dressing floors were compelled to return home. Some cast iron pipes over an inch thick broke apart just like glass. West Briton 17 February 1870.

A Serious Shortage of miners About forty miners left St just on Monday last, and more than that number left the week previously. The effect of a drop in tin is much felt in the parish. Not a single mine was paying dividends before, so they are not likely to do so now. West Briton 26 May 1873

For Lancashire Wanted large and industrious families for the Lancashire Cotton Factories – For particulars apply Mr Thomas Fetcher, Wellington Hotel, St Just. West Briton 31 July 1873

Mining in St Just The present depression has probably been felt more heavily at St Just than anywhere else. At the last census it had a population of over 9,000 souls; but that this has now very much decreased is shown by the fact that at the last poor­rate assessment no less than 280 houses were struck off the list as unoccupied. By the way, if anyone wants a decent house at a cheap rent he had better go to St Just. A good house, such as in an ordinary town could cost from £20 to £25, per year, is let at £5, and for a very tolerable abode one occupant has agreed to pay the sum total of 30s. per annum. It is terrible to imagine what St Just would be were it not for faithful husbands abroad. It is calculated that some £800 or £900 a month arrives in the town through the post­ office. West Briton 19 November 1877.

The Plan An Guare, St Just. Mr Chenalls stated that within the last two or three weeks thirteen or fourteen man had been enh=gaged in St Just, with the object of restoring the old Amphitheatre (the mediaeval playing place or Plan­an­guare) there to its original shape, and that it had taken off those who had been hanging about the corners of the town seeking employment. West Briton 31 October 1878

A House for Ten Pounds In consequence of the falling off in the mining population at St Just, freehold dwelling houses in that town are being sold for a song. Some short time since we heard of six freehold dwelling houses being sold for £100. For two freehold houses at St Just on Thursday, £20 only was bid. The reserve price was stated to be £38 ­ £19 a house – but even at this low price no buyer could be found. West Briton 6 September 1886

Sandra and George Pritchard are the authors of original work on this site. They give permission to copy and use this information on the following conditions. 1 It will not be used for profit. 2. The source will be credited. arranged at 4­30pm. a brick grave just enough to contain the Coffin. Mr Taylor officiated. Fees £3.18.6 to be paid tomorrow. Grave built by Henry Marks.

Nov 10th 3­30pm George called to arrange for Joe to remove the dead body of his prematurely born child Richard George. Unbaptised. and only lived 11 hours not quite 7 months child. Arranged for child to be buried with his sister Bessie grave 30. C Section. I hold Registration Certificate.

Nov 11th A dreadful day of wind and rain, Joe went down, removed the little baby and buried it as required.

Nov. 24th. 9­am Mr Trevorrow, Tregeseal called to arrange for a grave for boy Thomas Percy Trevorrow, age 2 days. To be buried in Grave No 25. 2nd Row funeral for this afternoon at 4pm. same grave as the childs grandfather.

Nov 28th 9­50am John Gibson, undertaker called to arrange to re open his Mothers “Mrs Pikes” grave. No 44. B Section 11th row. 3rd grave from the South wall. Grave originally sunk 9ft 6 ins. to contain the three survivors of the family. Funeral for Sunday next 30th 3­15pm Same day a grave was ordered for Jane Penrose of Little Kelynack who died this morning. Grave No 17 A Section 4th Row. Funeral for Tuesday 2­30pm age 63.

Nov 30th William Merrifield Church clerk was buried as desired with his mother as above, large funeral.

Dec 2nd Jane Penrose was buried as arranged.

Separate letter loose inside above book from Pascoe and Co. North St Penzance dated 12­7­1902 to Mr Millett Sexton, St Just. Stating that they have received instructions to erect marble cross and granite kerb in St Just Cemetery on the grave of John B Trembath. Enclosed inscription for Vicars approval.

“In Loving Memory of My dear Husband John B Trembath who died 9th Nov 1901 aged 33 yrs. Yesterday, today, for ever Jesus is the same All things change, but Jesus never, Glory to his name.”