Penponds ( kw, Pennpons) is a village west of

Camborne Camborne ( kw, Kammbronn) is a town in Cornwall, England. The population at the 2011 Census was 20,845. The northern edge of the parish includes a section of the South West Coast Path, Hell's Mouth and Deadman's Cove. Camborne was formerl ...

, in west

Cornwall Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic ...

, England, United Kingdom.

Geography

To the east is the former mining town of Camborne and to the north is the Penzance to Plymouth railway line. West of the village is the

Penponds Viaduct Penponds Viaduct is a railway viaduct which carries the Cornish Main Line west of Camborne in Cornwall, England. It crosses over a small valley containing the southern arm of the Red River, and a minor road known as Viaduct Lane. The Hayle Rail ...

which carries the railway over the Roseworthy valley and to the south is the village of Barripper.

History

Neolithic The Neolithic period, or New Stone Age, is an Old World archaeological period and the final division of the Stone Age. It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wide-ranging set of developments that appear to have arisen independently in several parts ...

flints were found at Penponds and are in the

museum. In June 1880 approximately 40 to 50

Bronze Age The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second pri ...

socketed axes were found in a pit at Viaduct Farm, Higher Roseworthy following the blasting of a large rock to level the ground for a pig-sty. The hoard is now distributed in private collections and between museums in Camborne and Truro. A

granite Granite () is a coarse-grained (phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies undergro ...

clapper bridge of unknown antiquity is south-west of the village in the Roseworthy valley, as is the site of a post-medieval corn mill which was named on a

tithe map The term tithe map is usually applied to a map of an English or Welsh parish or township, prepared following the Tithe Commutation Act 1836. This act allowed tithes to be paid in cash rather than goods. The map and its accompanying schedule gave the ...

from 1725. The most likely site for Penpons manor house and chapel is at Ivy Cottage in Higher Penponds which has "fragmentary door frame surrounds" of the front left window of the cottage, which appears to be the remnants of a 15th-century rectangular L-shaped building. An

inquisition The Inquisition was a group of institutions within the Catholic Church whose aim was to combat heresy, conducting trials of suspected heretics. Studies of the records have found that the overwhelming majority of sentences consisted of penances, ...

was held in the manor of Penpons and Baripper in 1421 at the Chapel of Blessed Marie of Penpons and in 1445 a licence for divine service was given to Richard and Amisia Penspons. It is likely they were living in the manor house at that time. Two teenage boys from the area were ordained to the priesthood by Bishop Lacey of Exeter in the early part of the sixteenth century. These two local priests where quite possibly the last Catholic clergy in the area at the time of the

Reformation The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and in ...

. North of the village is the extant remains of the Penponds incline, the original course of the first railway line in west Cornwall. The

Hayle Railway The Hayle Railway was an early railway in West Cornwall, constructed to convey copper and tin ore from the Redruth and Camborne areas to sea ports at Hayle and Portreath. It was opened in 1837, and carried passengers on its main line from 1843. ...

ran between the harbours of

Hayle Hayle ( kw, Heyl, "estuary") is a port town and civil parish in west Cornwall, England. It is situated at the mouth of the Hayle River (which discharges into St Ives Bay) and is approximately seven miles (11 km) northeast of Penzance. ...

and

Portreath Portreath ( kw, Porthtreth or ) is a civil parish, village and fishing port on the north coast of Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. The village is about three miles (5 km) northwest of Redruth. The village extends along both sides of a str ...

and the mining town of

Redruth Redruth ( , kw, Resrudh) is a town and civil parishes in Cornwall, civil parish in Cornwall, England. The population of Redruth was 14,018 at the 2011 census. In the same year the population of the Camborne-Redruth urban area, which also inc ...

. Following purchase by the

West Cornwall Railway The West Cornwall Railway was a railway company in Cornwall, Great Britain, formed in 1846 to construct a railway between Penzance and Truro. It purchased the existing Hayle Railway, and improved its main line, and built new sections between Pen ...

the incline was closed on 16 February 1852, the railway line realigned via the Penponds Viaduct and re-opened on 25 August 1852.

Notable residents

Higher Penponds Farm Cottage was the childhood home of the

mining engineer Mining in the engineering discipline is the extraction of minerals from underneath, open pit, above or on the ground. Mining engineering is associated with many other disciplines, such as mineral processing, exploration, excavation, geology, and ...

, Richard Trevithick (13 April 1771 – 22 April 1833). The 17th/18th-century cottage is now known as Trevithick Cottage ().

References

{{authority control Villages in Cornwall

Geography

History

Notable residents

See also

References