FIRST CHINA CLAY PIPED TO CHARLESTOWN.

Decline of Metaliferous Mining and the Rise of China Clay

As mining declined sharply in the 1850s, Charlestown needed a new export to replace falling copper and tin cargoes. China clay and china stone filled that gap. At first, dried clay was brought to the port in wooden carts from pits at Carloggas, Trelavour and Hendra Downs, with each cart carrying between three and four tons in block form. As demand increased, more pits were opened, including Lower Ninestones, Lantern and Carbean.

Transport Pressures on the Road to Charlestown

As copper and tin exports continued to decline, china clay became Charlestown’s main cargo and transformed traffic on the road to the port. Hundreds of wagon loads arrived each week for shipment. The clay was loaded at the pits, usually three tons at a time, and each wagon was pulled through the narrow streets of St Austell to Charlestown by either three stout horses or four smaller ones. As traffic grew, the road had to be widened to handle the volume.

The scale of this system was considerable. In effect, each ton of clay delivered to the port required the effort of one stout horse. On busy days, hundreds of tons reached Charlestown. When the docks were full, there could be as many as 15 schooners in port, each carrying an average cargo of 100 tons, although loading all 15 usually took several days.

A team of horses ascending East Hill on its way to Charlestown.

Road Damage and Early Remedies

The road, still little more than an earth track, soon suffered severe damage from the constant flow of heavy wagons. Deep wheel ruts became so notorious that the route was known locally as “the ploughed field” and “the rutted lane”. Wheelwrights such as Edward John Breen and Sons of Charlestown were asked to fit wider rims to wagon wheels in an attempt to reduce the damage, but this often created even broader ruts. In some places, carts sank so deeply that their axles grounded.

To reduce wear, new regulations were introduced. From 1892, china clay wagons had to have a minimum wheel tread width of 4 inches, regardless of load. In 1911, the minimum was increased to 6 inches for wagons carrying more than 5 tons. Even so, maintaining the road in good condition still cost around £400 a year.

Another remedy was to roll hardcore into the ruts with a steamroller. By 1900, a Burrell steamroller, driven by a man named Andrews, was operating in the village. The hardcore, made from waste stone from the china clay industry, was regularly pressed into the cart furrows. Although this helped, it also gradually raised the level of the road, creating a new problem and highlighting the need for a more permanent solution.

The original Charlestown "Burrell" steam roller is still in use today.

The Slurry Pipeline and Carbean Dry

A more permanent solution emerged in 1898, when plans were made to dig a three-mile trench from Charlestown to Carbean Pit near Stenalees. In 1899, an earthenware collared pipe was laid in 10-foot lengths and then backfilled. At the eastern end of the Charlestown Foundry and Ironworks site, the Lovering Company Ltd built a purpose-made clay drying shed with a tall flue. It became known as Carbean Dry, after the pit served by the pipeline.

The Charlestown proprietors allowed the foundry site to be excavated so the new dry could be connected to the slurry pipe. The arrangement proved highly successful: the “liquid white gold” ran downhill for 750 feet to Charlestown, allowing gravity to replace much of the work previously done by horses.

·         Carbean Dryer measured 230 feet long by 60 feet wide.

·         The furnace room at the west end measured 25 feet by 40 feet.

·         At the rear were four rectangular settling tanks, each about 130 feet by 60 feet; a fifth was added later.

·         A flue 71 feet high stood at the eastern end of the building.

These structures were built in 1900 by John Lovering. At a monthly meeting of the Charlestown Iron Foundry, chaired by Mr Martin, the land agent, Mr Bulteel, sought permission on behalf of the Charlestown proprietors and Messrs Lovering & Company to lease land at the foundry site. By August 1900, Lovering had asked to deal directly with the proprietors rather than through the foundry office. In September, the lease was agreed at £100, on condition that the building stood more than 200 feet from the road and rose no higher than 72 feet. By January 1901, the parties were meeting on site to discuss the plans while pipes were already being laid. Carbean Dryer eventually opened in September 1901.

How the Upper Dry Worked

The “upper dry”, as it later became known, had its fireboxes at the Charlestown Road, or west, end and its large chimney at the eastern end. Slurried clay first entered the settling tanks through the pipe. There, the clay sank and settled under its own weight, while the water above it was later drained away.

The thickened clay from each tank was then shovelled into small rail carts and taken into the dryer through the dogshole, a wide doorway leading onto the drying floor. Each cart was pushed onto a travelling bridge that ran on rails along both sides of the floor. As the bridge moved, the clay was spread evenly across the drying surface.

Beneath the porous drying floor was a void through which bellows forced hot air from the furnace. The heat passed under the clay, drying it from below before escaping through the flue at the far end of the building.

Carbean Dry to the left of the photo.

Preparing the Clay for Transport

When the clay was nearly dry, it was cut into blocks with a long-handled blade. The dried clay was then broken up and thrown into the linhay for onward transport to the port.

The Carbean Dry building was demolished in 1965.

Expanded Capacity in the 20th Century

In 1932, when E.C.C. purchased Charlestown Foundry and expanded the workshop area, the two Charlestown clay works were each capable of drying 450 tons a week. Together, they could process about 900 tons weekly, reducing the number of horse-drawn wagons passing through Fore Street, St Austell, by an estimated 250 to 300.

Carbean flue being demolished in 1965.

The building of Carbean Dry and Lovering’s clay dryer, in 1901 and 1907 respectively, marked the beginning of the end for the china clay waggoners and the horse teams serving Charlestown. During the opening weekend of production at Lovering’s Dry in 1908, 100 tons of clay were dried in just two days, removing the need for 90 clay horses. From this point, clay slurry flowed to the village through earthenware pipes, gravity-fed from pits in the higher ground some 700 feet above Charlestown. The large volumes of clay dried on site greatly reduced the need for horse teams and drovers.

Around the same time, motorised transport began to emerge. The Heavy Transport Company was founded in 1919 by Hodge and Neesham and was based in Charlestown, in the yard that now adjoins the Longstore restaurant. In November 1919, long before the company moved to Par Moor, it bought its first vehicle: a second-hand 6-ton Sentinel steam wagon from Penzance for the substantial sum of £1,350.

I will write about The Heavy Transport Company on another occasion.