St Austell
St Austell has the largest
population in Cornwall, at around 23,000 people higher even than the
county town of Truro. The discovery of China clay, in the hills to the
north of the town, saw the new clay mining industry take over from tin
and copper mining as the main industry, contributing greatly to the
growth of the town and making St Austell one of the main commercial
centres in the south west. The clay industry still thrives but, due to
technological advances in mining methods, employs only a fraction of
workers of the early twentieth century. Other important industries
include brewing and, increasingly, tourism. Good road and rail links
bring good numbers of visitors in the summer, popular attractions being
the Eden Project, the Lost Gardens of Heligan and the China Clay Country
Park. The town's notable buildings
include the Quaker Meeting House, the town hall and the eighteenth
century White Hart hotel. The map below shows the town
as it was in the mid twentieth century. Click on a selected area of the
map to see an enlargement.
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