Roseland has given place to Clayland, with St. Austell for the capital. This town is not far from the sea. Its narrow crooked thoroughfares radiate in all directions from the old church, over the porch of which is a Cornish inscription, "Ry Du," the meaning of which is unknown. The well-known tower is sculptured and of Pentewan stone. Within is good woodwork, a weirdly carved font, and a series of shields which, if not beautiful as art, are interesting for their symbolism. At St. Austell was born Colenso, the fighting bishop, who having set Christendom by the ears and been excommunicated for heresy was afterwards confirmed in the possession of his see.
The town is of modern origin, owing its existence to the various mines and clayworks in the neighbourhood. The clayman drives his team in single file, and an endless procession of heavy waggons rumbles through the narrow streets, waggons laden with powdered clay in barrels or with the white glistening lumps uncovered. This clay is found in large quantities at Hensbarrow, Burngullow (where the first sod of the Cornwall Railway was cut in 1847), St. Stephen's, and the Bodmin Moors, and is exported from Par, Fowey, and Charlestown. About 1763 Wedgwood leased a mine near St. Austell, using the clay for the manufacture of his well-known porcelain. About 60,000 tons of this material are exported annually to the Potteries and into Lancashire.
The Menagew, a famous old stone said to have been a boundary at the junction of three manors, has been removed from its ancient site—the pity o't!—and fixed in the pavement at the corner of Menacuddle Street, the spot being marked by a brass plate. Lake says: "On this stone all declarations of war and proclamations of peace were read ... all cattle for whom no owner could be found were brought here and exposed for a certain number of market days, after which, if unclaimed, their sale became legal," and there is a hint that in yet earlier days the criminal was brought to this stone for execution and that by the shedding of blood it became set apart and sacred.
Cock's and Hen's Barrow
To the north of St. Austell, and on the highest land in the neighbourhood is the "Hen's Barrow." The latter, which is 1034 ft. above the sea level, is also known as the Archbeacon of Cornwall. From here the whole county can be seen stretched out below, and here are the chief china pits. On its northern slope is a vast mass of schorl, the celebrated Roche Rock. On its summit are the fourteenth-century ruins of a chapel to St. Michael, locally said to have been built by the last male heir of Tregarrick manor, who, weary of the world, lived here in solitude. A little north of Roche and beyond the old half-forgotten holy well is a pool, the water of which may easily be made to flow in different directions—either to Par, Falmouth, or Padstow!
Carglaze Mine
West of Roche is St. Dennis, the church of which stands on a conical hill of granite in the middle of a prehistoric entrenchment. In the churchyard is a fine cross and round it earthworks and tumuli. A great part of the surface in this neighbourhood has been opened for china clay and china stone, but by far the most important mine is that of Carglaze, once worked for tin. The pit of this mine presents a remarkable appearance, for though nearly a mile in circumference it is only 150 ft. deep. It resembles indeed nothing as much as a gigantic crater!
Luxulyan
South of St. Austell and near Porthpean is a granite longstone known as Tregeagle's Stick, another instance of some older story being attached to a recent hero, for the pillar must have been there many hundreds of years before Tregeagle was born. On Gwallen Downs are several earthworks, cairns, holy wells, &c., while Menacuddle boasts a very pretty cascade. This cannot be compared with the one at Luxulyan, which has a fall of 200 ft. That "valley of rocks," a beautiful, picturesque spot, is crossed by the Treffry aqueduct, and lies in a parish of wild land strewn with blocks of granite and porphyry. One of the latter was worked into a sarcophagus for the celebrated Duke of Wellington, while the Giant Block of Luxulyanite is said to be the largest in Europe.