A HISTORY OF CORNWALL 



Anglesey mines, which were reopened in 

 The competition of the two districts, eagerly 

 fanned by the Welsh smelters, sent the price of 

 copper down to a point 20 per cent, below the 

 cost of production, 1 and was stopped after seven 

 years of rivalry, only by a combination formed 

 among the mine owners to regulate the supply, 2 

 which lasted until the speedy exhaustion of the 

 Anglesey deposits removed all danger of com- 

 petition. In 1800, the Cornish mines produced 

 55,000 tons of copper ore, yielding about 5,000 

 tons of metal. In 1810 the latter figures had 



increased to 5, 680, in 1820 to 7,500, in 

 1850 to 10,700, and in 1856 to 13, 274.' 

 This last figure proved to be the maximum. 

 Directly following upon it came the growing 

 competition of the American and Australian 

 districts. As the price of copper fell lower and 

 lower, mine after mine in Cornwall was forced 

 to the wall, production fell off from year to 

 year, and to-day, although a few large mines 

 still earn good dividends, the Cornish copper 

 industry, like that of tin, represents but a small 

 fraction of its former importance. 



FOUNDRIES AND ENGINEERING WORKS 



The origin, progress, and decline of the 

 foundry industry of Cornwall, and the important 

 services it has rendered in the development of 

 the mines are closely connected with the mining 

 industry. 



The first attempt to use steam in Cornish 

 mines was made by Captain Thomas Savery at the 

 end of the I7th century, though his engine 

 was of little practical utility. Thomas New- 

 comen's 'Atmospheric' engine, which quickly 

 followed, was the first piece of machinery 

 in which steam was used with any measure of 

 practical success. But notwithstanding the various 

 improvements by Smeaton and the Cornish en- 

 gineers the Newcomen engine was slow working, 

 cumbrous, and excessively wasteful of fuel, and 

 the limits of its utility were soon reached. As a 

 consequence, at the end of the i8th century 

 mining was very much hampered, and in many 

 instances suspended. 



There were no iron foundries in Cornwall 

 until the i8th century was well advanced. The 

 art of iron founding was in a backward state up 

 to the time of the introduction of Watt's engine, 

 in 1770. The castings for Trevithick's steam- 

 carriage, about the year 1800-1, were made at 

 the Hayle Foundry, and there was much trouble 

 in getting the parts to fit together. The high- 

 pressure whim-engine erected at Wheal Crenver 

 and Abraham by Trevithick in 1806 was made 

 at Neath Abbey, South Wales. Writing to 

 Mr. Pengilly of that place as late as 22 May, 1813, 

 relative to the engines for the Peruvian mines, 

 Richard Trevithick says : ' All these castings 

 (for the engines and pitwork) must be delivered 

 in Cornwall in four months ' ; he also says, ' A 

 great part of the wrought-iron work and the 

 boilers I have arranged for in Cornwall.' 



The cylinder of Trevithick's 76-inch Dolcoath 

 engine, erected in 1 8 16 (ceased working in 1869), 



1 Thomas Williams, Letter to Lord Uxbridge ; 

 printed in Hunt, British Mining, 105. 



1 Geo. Unwin, Letters and Remarks, 37. Thomas 

 Williams, Letter to Lord Uxbridge ; printed in 

 Hunt, British Mining, 105. 



was cast in South Wales (very probably at Neath 

 Abbey) ; the beam (still working in the new 

 engine of 1869) was cast at Perran Foundry. 



At Tarrandean, Perranarworthal, there was a 

 small foundry in existence before the Perran 

 Foundry ; and as that was originated in 1791, it 

 is evident that the old Tarrandean Foundry, 

 established by a Mr. Read, ranks as one of the 

 earliest in Cornwall. 



The little maritime town of Hayle owes what- 

 ever of importance it has possessed to the exist- 

 ence of the two large foundries, the Hayle 

 Foundry and the Copperhouse Foundry, which 

 for many years were engaged in the manufacture 

 of mining and other machinery. 



The Hayle Foundry was situated in the 

 parish of St. Erth, and had the advantage of 

 commodious waterside premises. It appears to 

 have been founded between 1765 and 1775, and 

 became ultimately the largest and most important 

 of the engineering works of the county, though 

 at first it probably comprised only a forge and 

 a fitting shop. The founder was Mr. John 

 Harvey, who lived at Carnhell, in the parish of 

 Gwinear. He was evidently an enterprising and 

 a somewhat remarkable man, who, finding no 

 scope for his energies in his native village, re- 

 moved to Hayle, the nearest seaport, and there- 

 fore the most likely place for developing his 

 business. 



The first authentic reference to John Harvey 

 occurs in the account-book of Richard Trevi- 

 thick, sen. In the items of ' Dolcoath New 

 Engine Cost Account,' 1775, is the following: 

 'John Harvey and partners for putting in the 

 boiler and building the shed- wall, &c., 33 is. <)d.' 

 The following further reference in the same 

 work, Francis Trevithick's Life of Richard 

 Trevithick, is of interest : ' The John Harvey 

 who worked to fix the improved boiler in its 

 house was then a country smith at Carnhell 

 Green, a small village a few miles from Dolcoath. 

 He established the now famous Harvey & Co.'s 

 engineering foundry at Hayle.' 



3 Hunt, British Mining, 830. 



57 



