681 



CORNWALL. 



CORNWALL. 



683 



Dranna Point, Nare Point, Roscmullion Head, and Pendennis Point, 

 which last two form the extremities of Falmouth Bay. Between 

 Nare Point and Rosemullion Head ia the wide actuary of the Helford 

 River. Between Pendennia Point and Zone or St. Anne's Point (the 

 next important headland) is the wide testuary of the Fal, known by 

 the name of Carrick Road, of which Falmouth harbour and St. Mawes 

 harbour are branches. From Zone Point the coast still runs north- 

 east to Greber Head, forming Gerrans, Verryan, Mevagissey, St. 

 Austell, and St. Blazey bays, with the intervening headlands Pennare 

 Point, Dodman or Deadman Point (379 feet high), Chapel Point, and 

 the Black Head. From Greber Head the coast runs east to the Rauie 

 Head and Penlee Point (which is the entrance of Plymouth Sound), 

 forming Looe and Whitesand bays. The rocks and islets along this 

 coast are too unimportant to require notice. 



Lauuceston, which has commonly been considered as the county 

 town, is on the eastern border of the county ; but Bodmin, which has a 

 better title, is more central : it is about 210 miles W.S. W. from London 

 in a direct line, or 234 miles by the road through Salisbury and Exeter. 

 'ace, JJydro'jraphy, Communica' ions, <kc. From the central 

 part of Cornwall, which is the highest, the land slopes towards the 

 sea on each side. The whole surface of the county is irregular. The 

 great post-roads pass over the central high ground, from which, being 

 for the most part waste moorland, travellers are led to form a mere 

 unfavourable opinion of the soil than, taken altogether, it deserves ; 

 for in many parts it is pleasingly diversified by hill and dale ; some 

 of the valleys are beautifully picturesque, presenting corn and mea- 

 dow land, wood, and water. On the north coast the land is generally 

 high with short narrow valleys ; on the south coast the valleys are 

 wider. The central ridge approaches, on the border of Devonshire, 

 the north-western coast ; the streams that flow from its south-east 

 side have consequently a longer course, and are the most considerable 

 in the county. The height of some of the hills is considerable, but 

 they have not generally striking or picturesque forms, except where 

 they extend down to the coast and form abrupt headlands, as at 

 Tintagel, Cape Cornwall, and the Land's End. The elevations which 

 rise above 800 feet are : Brown Willy, at the source of the river 

 Fowey, 1368 feet; Rough Tor, near Camelford, 1296 feet; Sharp- 

 point Tor, 1200 feet; Trewartha Tor, 1050 feet ; Mennaclew Down, 

 1124 feet; Temple Tor, near Temple, 900 feet; Tober Tor, near the 

 Jamaica Inn, 1127 feet, and several others of nearly equal height 

 belong to the range of which Brown Willy is the highest point; 

 Caradon Hill, north of Liskeard, 1208 feet; Kit Hill, on Kingston 

 Down, near Callington, 1067 feet; Hensbarrow Down, north-west of 

 St. Austell, 1034 feet; Cadon Barrow, near Tintagel, 1011 feet; 

 Carnmarth, south-east of Redruth, 849 feet; Carnmenelez, Cam- 

 Menelis, or CarnboneUis, south of Redruth, 822 feet ; and Carnminnis, 

 south-west of St. Ives, 805 feet. 



The principal rivers of Cornwall are the Tamer, with its tributaries ; 

 the Fawey, or Fowey ; the Fal ; the Alan ; the Seaton ; the Looe ; the 

 Hel, or Helford ; and the Heyl. The Tamer rises by Moorwinstow, 

 in the moors which form the north-east point of the county and ex- 

 tend into Devonshire, and flows south-south-east into Plymouth Sound, 

 forming almost throughout its entire course the boundary between 

 Cornwall and Devonshire. It has some small tributaries called the 

 Deer, the Claw, the Werington, the Attery, the Lyd, and the Inny. 

 Below the junction of the Inny the course of the Tamer, hitherto 

 tolerably straight, becomes more sinuous, especially where it skirts 

 the base of Kingston Down. The bed of the river then widens and 

 it becomes an xstuary, or tide-water. Near its mouth it receives the 

 Tavy from Dartmoor forest, and the Lynher or St. German's River 

 from the downs between Launceston and Bodmin. The whole course 

 of the Tamer is about 59 miles ; it is tidal for about 19 miles. The 

 Pawey, or Fowey, rises on the east side of Brown Willy, to the right 

 of the high road from Launceston to Bodmin. It flows south-south- 

 east for several miles, and then turning westward receives on the 

 right the rivers St. Neot's and Warleggan, besides a number of 

 brooks : it then turns south, and passing Lostwithiel falls into the 

 Ma at the borough of Fowey. It is not navigable above the point to 

 where the tide flows. Ita whole length is about 30 miles ; the tide 

 flows about 6 miles up formerly it flowed higher. The Alan, or 

 Camel (that is, the Crooked River) rises near Davidstow, about 3 miles 

 N.N.E. from Camelford, and flows south by west past Camelford, after- 

 wards to the south-west, then north-west to Padstow, a little below 

 which it falls into the Bristol Channel between Pentire Point and 

 Trevose Head, on the north-west coast. Ita whole course is about 29 

 miles, of which about 8 miles are navigable. The mouth of the Camel 

 forms a harbour for ships of 200 tons. The Fal rises in Tregoss Moor, 

 near the high road from Bodmin to Truro, and flows south or south by 

 west t i ad and Tregony, receiving in its course the water of 



a number of brooks. From Tregony it flows south-west 5 or 6 miles 

 into the Hopus Road, formed by the waters of St. Clement's Creek, 

 which rises near St. Michael or St. Mitchell and flows south by west, 

 and of the rivers St. Allen, K. nwin, and another, which meet at 

 Truro just before they join St. Clement's Creek. From its junction 

 with the Mopus Road the Fal flows southward into Carrick or Carreg 

 Koad, where it i.-i joined by a river from the neighbourhood of 

 Uedrutli. Falmouth Harlmur is an inlet of Carrick Road on the 

 west tide ; St. Mawes Harbour is another inlet on the east Road. The 



whole course of the Fal is about 20 miles, of which nearly half is 

 tide water. Carrick Road, with its inlets, is reckoned one of the finest 

 harbours "in Great Britain. The Seaton and the Looe are two small 

 rivers rising not far from Liskeard and flowing south into the sea ; 

 the Seaton on the east and the Looe on the west of the town of 

 Liskeard. The Seaton, which is the longer of the two, is rather more 

 than 10 miles long. The Looe, which falls into the sea between the 

 towns of East Looe and West Looe, ia joined near its outfall by the 

 Black Looe. The tide flows for a short distance up both these streams. 

 Another river of nearly similar name (the Loo) which runs by Helaton, 

 forms a lake or pool immediately below that town. The lid, or 

 Helford, is a small river, remarkable only for its large sestuary, which 

 penetrates about 4 or 5 miles inland, nearly half the length of the 

 river. The mouth of the Hel is between Nare Point and Rosemullion 

 Point, near Falmouth. The river Heyl, which falls into St. Ives' Bay, 

 is about as long as the Hel, and has also a large sostuary. The 

 fcstuary of the Hel forms a haven for vessels of 200 tons ; that of the 

 Heyl, owing to a bar at the mouth, is accessible only to sloops of 

 not more than 100 tons burden. 



Cornwall has three navigable canals. The Bude and Holsworthy 

 Canal, part of the course of which is in this county, runs eastward 

 from Bude Haven to near the channel of the Tamer, from which point 

 the Bude and Launceston Canal branches ofl' to the south-south-east 

 to Launceston. The chief object of these canals is to facilitate the 

 introduction of Welsh coal, and the carrying of shelly sand from the 

 coast to the interior to be used as manure. The Liskeard and Looe 

 Canal runs south from Liskeard to the iestuary of the river Looe, 

 and is designed to facilitate the transport of timber, coal, manure, 

 and the mineral products of the district. 



The mail road from London to Falmouth passes over a considerable 

 part of the county, entering it by Poulstou bridge, over the Tamer, 

 not far from Launceston, and running south-west by Launceston, 

 Bodmin, and Truro. Here, and farther south, several branch roads 

 strike otf and afterwards re-unite with the main road, which proceeds 

 to the Land's End. Another road from London by Exeter and 

 Taviatock crosses the Tamer at New bridge, and runs south-west by 

 Callington, Liskeard, and Lostwithiel, St. Austell, and Grampound, to 

 Truro. The mail-coach roads are very good. 



Geology, Mineralogy, t&c. The rocks which predominate in Cornwall 

 are among the lowest in the arrangement of the strata of our island, 

 and belong to the primitive and transition classes. The high land 

 which occupies the centre of this peninsular county, and extends 

 from between Lauucestou and Bodmin on the north-east to the Laud's 

 End on the south-west, is composed of granite, which in several 

 extensive districts rises to the surface. Occasional veins or "shoots 

 from this granite fornaatiou penetrate northward and southward into 

 the superincumbent strata ; but they do not generally extend far 

 from the principal masses of granite ; they are frequently insulated. 

 The granite of Cornwall contains numerous metallic veins, both of 

 copper and tin. It is liable to decomposition, to which cause is 

 ascribed the existence of a tract of loose white kaolin or porcelain 

 earth, some miles in extent, near St. Stephen's, between Bodmin and 

 Grampound, and on the south side of the granite range : this kaolin 

 is sent to Worcestershire for use in the porcelain manufacture. The 

 decomposition of granite has probably formed those singular pheno- 

 mena which were once generally regarded as Druidical relics, the 

 Logan Stone, Cheese- wring, &c. St. Michael's Mount, in Mount's Bay, 

 is chiefly composed of granite split into irregular masses. Granite is 

 termed by the Cornish miners ' grouan." 



The rock commonly reposing on the granite is the ' killas ' of the 

 miner, the grauwacke of the geologists. (De la Beche.) Grauwacke, 

 indeed, forms the principal rock of Cornwall. On the south or south- 

 east Side of the granite formation, the strata dip south-east at an 

 angle of about 70 degrees : on the opposite side of the granite forma- 

 tion the dip is nearly north-east. The killas is traversed by veins or 

 dykes of granitic and felspar porphyry, termed by the miners 'Elvan.' 

 These dykes (or channels in the language of the miners) are rarely 

 found in the granite; their general direction on the surface is, 

 according to Mr. Greenough's Geological Map, and the Geological Map 

 of the Ordnance Survey, north-east and south-west ; they vary from a 

 few fathoms to 50 and even 80 fathoms in thickness; and in some 

 cases are continuous through a long tract of country. The metallic 

 veins, both of tin and copper, commonly pass through them, but are 

 for the most part narrower when in the Elvan than when in the 

 superincumbent and subjacent rocks. Roofing-slate is quarried in 

 the killas formation near Tiutagel Head. The metallic veins 

 which contain copper or tin, or both, run usually east and west, and 

 penetrate both the granite and clay-slate ; those which contain 

 lead, silver, cobalt, or antimony, run north and south, with little 

 exception, and are believed to be always in the clay slate. 



The Lizard Head is composed of mica-slate, which however 

 occupies a very limited area ; the neighbouring country is composed 

 of hornblende and diallage rocks, but chiefly of serpentine. Nenr the 

 Lizard are veins of soap-stone, which, when first raised, is so soft that 

 it may be kneaded like dough, but becomes friable after being exposed 

 to the air ; it is used in the manufacture of porcelain. The serpentine 

 incloses and passes into asbestos, and small quantities of native 

 copper have been found in it. 



