Tin & Copper Mining
The mining area around Charlestown was opened after the Napoleonic Wars, proving to be an added bonus to Charles Rashleighs port and village. In 1813 3792 tons of copper were shipped in the space of 4 months on 49 separate ships from the Crinnis mine alone. Miners moved from West Cornwall as their own stocks were depleted and with the discovery of ores proving to be rich in the vicinity of the village, dividends were high.
A smelting house was built in Charlestown in 1834 and was successful under the Bolitho family.
Production was at its highest between 1873 and 1880 with ore from the St Agnes area, the Tamar Valley, Peru and Australia. The smelter was closed in 1884.
With the ore running at greater depths and the advent of cheaper ores from abroad, eventually all but a few Cornish mines remained open. Antiquated machinery and inefficient production methods all contributed to the slump in the mining industry resulting in hundreds of people losing their jobs and having to find alternative employment or emigrate.
China Clay
Unknown to the English potters at the beginning of the 18th century, china clay and china stone were to be found in Cornwall. Both elements were needed to manufacture porcelain and the abundance of both created full time employment for many out of work miners. Derelict tin workings were re-opened as clay-pits and production began in earnest. Early methods relied on the fact that kaolin is produced by the decomposition of granite, rendering it from a hard rock to a friable one. Streams were diverted over the face of the granite loosening it and allowing the men to break it down with hand held hoes. The mixture of sand, grit, mica and water ran off to a series of filters where the clay was separated from the coarser waste products. These waste products have formed the white pyramids that can be seen in the St Austell area today.
Once the clay was ready for marketing, it had to be shipped out of the county. The roads were inadequate and the railways non-existent until the latter half of the 19th century so with the construction of the harbour by Charles Rashleigh, Charlestown became the only shipping outlet for the St Austell area. In 1876, Charlestown shipped over 34,000 tons of clay and china stone to both foreign and domestic ports.
As production methods were refined, other industries found a use for china clay such as paper and cloth and by the 20th century, there were over 70 companies operating in the St Austell area. Only one working clay-dry survives today although 2-3 million tons of clay are produced a year. Cornwall and Devon maintain a 14% share of the world market today.
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