For important guidance on the use of this record, please click here.

If you have any comments or new information about this record, please email us.

Summary

Commenced in 1791 as a port to facilitate the shipment of copper ore, Charlestown is better known for its connection to the china clay industry. It is now a major tourist attraction.

Protected Status

• Conservation Area: CHARLESTOWN
• Listed Building (II*) 70674: Charlestown Harbour, comprising the inner dock and quays; outer basin and piers; eastern breakwater; and the eastern wall

Other References/Statuses

• Cornwall PROJECT ID: IN
• OS No. (OS Quarter-sheet and OS No.): SX05SW 15
• Primary Record No. (1985-2009): 20344
• SMR No. (OS Quarter-sheet and SMR No.): SX05SW 59-53

Monument Type(s):

• HARBOUR (18th Century to Unknown - 1791 AD)

Full description

Charlestown harbour was developed by Charles Rashleigh, a local landowner and mining adventurer. In 1791 he began excavations in the cove of West Polmear, where trading vessels took the beach to discharge and load cargoes, and in 1792 an artifical harbour was excavated (b11). The works were completed in 1801 to the plan of John Smeaton, and were specially designed to transport copper ore from nearby mines. By 1840 the outer harbour and pier were marked (b5) but soon china clay was to become the port's mainstay which ensured its survival well into the twentieth century.
The harbour was extended in 1871 and the revised layout is shown by the OS in 1882. In 1908 an underground railway and clay loader were built (b11) and an inner basin is marked on the 1907 OS map (b7). In 1971 the mitre dock gates were replaced, the first major change in years (b11). In 1986 the harbour was extant but not used, but has found a new role as part of a major tourist attraction, having served as the setting for many films including the Onedin Line.
The original extent of the inner basin at Charlestown is shown on late 18th and early 19th century maps. On the ground the inner basin can be seen to have been quarried back from the line of the beach. Much of the excavated rock appears to be of poor quality and it is likely that most was used as hard-core, some probably used as fill during the building of the harbour walls and the remainder perhaps used for construction of Charlestown Road, or dumped.
The inner basin is shown in 1825 to have had a long water-filled channel extending further inland on the western side. Its purpose is not clear; the access from the main part of the basin appears to have been too constricted for large ships. It is possible that this is a remnant of some feature that existed here before the harbour and the most likely explanation is that this represents the line of an adit portal which connected with a series of shafts running north west towards Church Road. It is even possible that the harbour basin was originally intended to be topped up, and flushed of silt, using adit water.
At the eastern end of the inner basin the mapped waterline suggests there were slipways and a dock associated with the adjoining shipwright’s yard.The line of the original inner basin is not immediately obvious from the site, but the extension is most likely to be represented by a change of alignment of the edges of the dock and quaysides, particularly on the eastern side at SX 0391 5162. There is also some variation in the building style on the western quayside but this side has also seen considerable rebuilding with concrete.There may be an adit mouth in the rear of the extended basin.
The Charlestown leat enters the harbour at the north west corner, perhaps echoing a former arrangement of an adit. Also at the north west corner a probable storm drain from the street above discharges into a concrete launder and is carried across the line of the leat. The quaysides are mostly built up of granite walling; in the lower parts of the harbour walls one can still see the excavated rock.
At the inner end the basin is divided into two bays separated by a central pier. The bays are well finished with granite kerb stones along the tops of the quays and a flight of granite steps down the end of the pier. At the inner ends of the bays the granite kerbs are curved around in a decorative fashion towards pairs of sluicing points. Within the ends of the bays are two water channels with wooden sluice gates, used to maintain the level of the water in the dock and for flushing away silt.
Paving on the quays is mainly squared pieces of granite, now quite worn with use. Some stones have drill marks visible on them. The eastern side of the harbour generally seems to have retained its granite paving (the western quay has been rebuilt with concrete). Many bollards fitted round the edge of the quay are re-used sections of iron rising mains from mines or clayworks. Four bays or cellars for china clay, built against the eastern side of the inner basin and rising to road level above the harbour. These are very substantially built of granite walling, needed to hold the weight of china clay. Dressed granite is also used for quoins, and in the jambs and lintels of the openings. At the top, at road level, each cellar has a trapdoor where clay could be unloaded from horse drawn wagons. China clay was poured through the chute into the bottom of the cellar. Presumably when they were filled the doors and also openings part way up must have been shuttered. At the bottom of each cellar there is a plank covered space where a tram truck could be brought in and loaded by successively removing the planks and allowing the clay to drop into the truck. The clay could then taken to be unloaded in the holds of waiting ships. Two of the cellars still retain their tramrails.

Cambridge University Centre for Aerial Photography, 4/7/53, CUC MF 88 (Aerial Photograph). SCO22558.

Cambridge University Centre for Aerial Photography, 4/7/53, CUC MF 89 (Aerial Photograph). SCO22557.

<1> UNKNOWN, 1808, UNKNOWN TITLE, II, 637 (Unedited Source). SCO5759.

<2> Gilbert, CS, 1820, An Historical and Topographical Survey of the County of Cornwall, VOL 2, 687 (Bibliographic reference). SCO3360.

<3> Hitchins, F & Drew, S (Eds), 1824, The History of Cornwall, VOL II, II, M 50-52 (Bibliographic reference). SCO3595.

<4> UNKNOWN, 1838, PAROCHIAL HISTORY OF CORNWALL, VOL I, 48 (Unedited Source). SCO5904.

<5> Tithe Award, 1840s, St Austell (Bibliographic reference). SCO4861.

<6> Polsue, J (Editor), 1867-72, Lake's Parochial History of Cornwall, VOL 1, 53 (Bibliographic reference). SCO4139.

<7> Ordnance Survey, 1900s, 2nd Edition 6 Inch Map (Cartographic materials). SCO4051.

<8> Lewis, MJT, 1981, The Pentewan Railway 1829-1918, 13 (Bibliographic reference). SCO3865.

<9> Sheppard, PA, 1972, St Austell Checklist, VOL 11, 79 (Article in Journal). SCO4410.

<10> STENGELHOFEN, J, 1974, UNTITLED (Unedited Source). SCO8256.

<11> Falconer, K, 1980, Guide to England's Industrial Heritage, 63 (Bibliographic reference). SCO3316.

<12> EDITOR, 1---, UNKNOWN TITLE, VOL VI, 10, 14-19 (Unedited Source). SCO5218.

Sources / Further Reading

Associated Finds: none recorded

Associated Events: none recorded

Related records: none recorded

Search results generated by the HBSMR Gateway from exeGesIS SDM Ltd.