Wherrytown
Encyclopedia
Wherrytown is a small settlement in west Cornwall
, United Kingdom
, situated between Newlyn
and Penzance
on the east side of the Larigan River. The village bore the brunt of the Ash Wednesday storm on 7 March 1962 with most of the buildings destroyed along with nearly one mile of the seafront from the Battery Rocks
to Tolcarne
heavily damaged. The only Wherrytown building to survive was the Mounts Bay Inn, currently an Indian Restaurant. At low spring tides fossilised trees are exposed.
sunk a shaft on the Werrytown rocks below the high tide mark. The shaft was protected by a stone breakwater and a wooden turret to keep the sea out. On the death of Curtis in 1791 the mine was acquired by Thomas Gundry along with unnamed partners, and a steam engine was built onshore to drain the mine. The operations came to a halt when an American ship broke its moorings and drifted on to the shafthead demolishing it. £70,000 worth of tin ore was sold in total.
In 1823 a proposal to reopen came to nothing and in 1836 a new company was formed building a new pier and installing a 40 in engine onshore. Operations ceased in 1840 and the engine sold. The last attempt was in 1967 when a temporary quay was built to the end of the nearby Larigan rocks .
Bodilly & Co. build a large flour mill near to the site of the Wheal Wherry Mine engine house in 1874. The mill was disused by 1906 and in 1920 demolished. The site was taken over and used as a bus depot by Western National
and is now a Lidls supermarket.
Cornwall
Cornwall is a unitary authority and ceremonial county of England, within the United Kingdom. It is bordered to the north and west by the Celtic Sea, to the south by the English Channel, and to the east by the county of Devon, over the River Tamar. Cornwall has a population of , and covers an area of...
, United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, situated between Newlyn
Newlyn
Newlyn is a town and fishing port in southwest Cornwall, England, United Kingdom.Newlyn forms a conurbation with the neighbouring town of Penzance and is part of Penzance civil parish...
and Penzance
Penzance
Penzance is a town, civil parish, and port in Cornwall, England, in the United Kingdom. It is the most westerly major town in Cornwall and is approximately 75 miles west of Plymouth and 300 miles west-southwest of London...
on the east side of the Larigan River. The village bore the brunt of the Ash Wednesday storm on 7 March 1962 with most of the buildings destroyed along with nearly one mile of the seafront from the Battery Rocks
Battery Rocks
Battery Rocks are a rocky headland situated to the west of the harbour of Penzance, Cornwall, UK. The rocks take their name from a gun battery that was situated there from 1739, following a petition by Penzance Borough council for protection from French naval attacks.-History:Of the Battery, Craig...
to Tolcarne
Newlyn
Newlyn is a town and fishing port in southwest Cornwall, England, United Kingdom.Newlyn forms a conurbation with the neighbouring town of Penzance and is part of Penzance civil parish...
heavily damaged. The only Wherrytown building to survive was the Mounts Bay Inn, currently an Indian Restaurant. At low spring tides fossilised trees are exposed.
Past Industries
In 1778 Thomas Curtis of BreageBreage
Breage, also known as Breaca, Briac, etc., is a saint venerated in Cornwall and southwestern Britain. According to her late hagiography, she was an Irish nun of the 5th or 6th century who founded a church in Cornwall...
sunk a shaft on the Werrytown rocks below the high tide mark. The shaft was protected by a stone breakwater and a wooden turret to keep the sea out. On the death of Curtis in 1791 the mine was acquired by Thomas Gundry along with unnamed partners, and a steam engine was built onshore to drain the mine. The operations came to a halt when an American ship broke its moorings and drifted on to the shafthead demolishing it. £70,000 worth of tin ore was sold in total.
In 1823 a proposal to reopen came to nothing and in 1836 a new company was formed building a new pier and installing a 40 in engine onshore. Operations ceased in 1840 and the engine sold. The last attempt was in 1967 when a temporary quay was built to the end of the nearby Larigan rocks .
Bodilly & Co. build a large flour mill near to the site of the Wheal Wherry Mine engine house in 1874. The mill was disused by 1906 and in 1920 demolished. The site was taken over and used as a bus depot by Western National
Western National
Western National was a bus operating company in South West England from 1929 to the 1990s.-Early history:Western National Omnibus Company Ltd started in 1929 as a joint venture between the Great Western Railway and the National Omnibus & Transport Company...
and is now a Lidls supermarket.
See also
- Ash Wednesday Storm of 1962 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ash_Wednesday_Storm_of_1962
- Russell, Arthur (June 1949). "The Wherry mine, Penzance, its history and its mineral productions" (PDF). The Mineralogical Magazine and Journal of the Mineralogical Society (The Mineralogical Society) XXVIII: pp.517–533. doi:10.1180/minmag.1949.028.205.01. Retrieved 2007-12-09.[dead link)