Porth is a seaside hamlet in the
civil parish
In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authorit ...
of
Newquay
Newquay ( ; kw, Tewynblustri) is a town on the north coast in Cornwall, in the south west of England. It is a civil parish, seaside resort, regional centre for aerospace industries, spaceport and a fishing port on the North Atlantic coast of ...
, Cornwall, United Kingdom.
Porth is near the village of
St Columb Minor
St Columb Minor ( kw, Sen Kolumm Vyghan) (Latin: ''Columba Minor Sancta'') is a village on the north coast of Cornwall, England, United Kingdom.
''St. Columb'' alone by default refers to the nearby St. Columb Major.The village of St Columb Minor ...
. It was known as St. Columb Porth, Originally a small port for the village and was known for importing coal, salt, lime and a multitude of general cargoes.
The village is to the east of a sandy inlet with the
Iron Age
The Iron Age is the final epoch of the three-age division of the prehistory and protohistory of humanity. It was preceded by the Stone Age ( Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic) and the Bronze Age ( Chalcolithic). The concept has been mostl ...
promontory fort of
Trevelgue Head
Trevelgue Head, also known as Porth Island, is a headland north-east of Newquay, Cornwall, England, next to Porth at the eastern end of Newquay Bay.
It is the site of an Iron Age promontory fort with defensive ramparts and two round barrows ...
, on the northern side.
History
Porth's full name is St Columb Porth (meaning the 'port of St Columb') and it was formerly in the civil parish of
St Columb Minor
St Columb Minor ( kw, Sen Kolumm Vyghan) (Latin: ''Columba Minor Sancta'') is a village on the north coast of Cornwall, England, United Kingdom.
''St. Columb'' alone by default refers to the nearby St. Columb Major.The village of St Columb Minor ...
. It has now been incorporated into Newquay civil parish but the ecclesiastical parish of St Columb Minor still exists.
St. Columb Porth was a small port and farm settlement before
Newquay
Newquay ( ; kw, Tewynblustri) is a town on the north coast in Cornwall, in the south west of England. It is a civil parish, seaside resort, regional centre for aerospace industries, spaceport and a fishing port on the North Atlantic coast of ...
existed.
The long sheltered bay is a drowned river mouth and in the 19th century the tide reached
Rialton almost two miles (3 km) inland. This was the port for the village of
St. Columb Minor. All the requirements of the village such as coal, salt, lime and a multitude of general cargoes were unloaded here. Grain and later
china clay
Kaolinite ( ) is a clay mineral, with the chemical composition Al2 Si2 O5( OH)4. It is an important industrial mineral. It is a layered silicate mineral, with one tetrahedral sheet of silica () linked through oxygen atoms to one octahedra ...
and stone were taken away from the port. When Newquay became a
china clay
Kaolinite ( ) is a clay mineral, with the chemical composition Al2 Si2 O5( OH)4. It is an important industrial mineral. It is a layered silicate mineral, with one tetrahedral sheet of silica () linked through oxygen atoms to one octahedra ...
port vessels discharged coal into carts on the beach at Porth and continued to Newquay to load china clay. Cavern Cottage on Alexandra Road was built with
stone rubble in the mid 19th century and is a listed building. The oldest remaining cottage at Porth is Gwenna, which was built in the early seventeenth century. The base of the walls is cob, which is a mixture of clay, stones and straw. The
farmhouse was Morvah, which was built in about 1660. Behind Morvah are the stables, now used as cottages, and beyond them is Concord Cottage. This building was used to store salt and the nets of the Concord Pilchard Sein Fishing Company. The fish cellar was built in 1804 and closed in 1846. The ruins are behind the cottage. The fishing vessels were built along the top of the sea wall behind the cellar.
Before the bridge was built in 1902 to carry Alexandra Road, all traffic crossed the beach and forded the river to Watergate Road.
Porth Valley has been used intensively. Slate has been quarried from the valley side and tin worked from the valley gravels in the 1830s. The Morganna Mine was worked there in the middle of the nineteenth century and the
adit
An adit (from Latin ''aditus'', entrance) is an entrance to an underground mine which is horizontal or nearly horizontal, by which the mine can be entered, drained of water, ventilated, and minerals extracted at the lowest convenient level. Adit ...
s can be seen by the steps to Whipsiderry Beach. Valley clays were made into bricks and many were used in the building of the
Atlantic Hotel in 1892. The first inlet on the Headland near the bottom of Watergate Road was the site of a shipyard where two schooners were built in 1857/8 and two smacks and a schooner between 1875 and 1880.
Glendorgal
On the southern side is the
Glendorgal Hotel, built in 1850 as a gentleman's residence.
In 1878 it was the residence of
Arthur Pendarves Vivian, the member of parliament for the constituency of
West Cornwall, who carried out extensive alterations in that year. In 1882 it was bought by
Sir Richard Trevithick Tangye, a
Cornishman
The Cornish people or Cornish ( kw, Kernowyon, ang, Cornƿīelisċ) are an ethnic group native to, or associated with Cornwall: and a recognised national minority in the United Kingdom, which can trace its roots to the ancient Britons w ...
born in
Illogan
Illogan (pronounced ''il'luggan'', kw, Egloshalow) is a village and civil parish in west Cornwall, UK, two miles (3 km) northwest of Redruth. The population of Illogan was 5,404 at the 2011 census. In the same year the population of the Ca ...
who became a mechanical engineer, and along with his brothers started an engineering firm in
Birmingham
Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1. ...
. The house became the residence of the
Tangye Baronetcy created on 10 July 1912 for the industrialist
Harold Tangye, the son of Sir Richard. Three generations of the Tangye family lived in Glendorgal including Sir Richard's grandson
Derek Tangye; the author of the Minack Chronicles, nineteen novels based on a
smallholding
A smallholding or smallholder is a small farm operating under a small-scale agriculture model. Definitions vary widely for what constitutes a smallholder or small-scale farm, including factors such as size, food production technique or technology ...
near
Lamorna
Lamorna ( kw, Nansmornow) is a village, valley and cove in west Cornwall, England, UK. It is on the Penwith peninsula approximately south of Penzance. Lamorna became popular with the artists of the Newlyn School, including Alfred Munnings, La ...
Cove in
West Cornwall.
In 1950 the house was opened as a hotel by
Nigel Tangye
Nigel Trevithick Tangye (24 April 1909 – 2 June 1988) was a British airman, novelist, journalist and the writer of various books about Cornwall. He worked for MI5, and later claimed to have been an MI5 agent during the Spanish Civil War.
...
, brother of Derek.
Porth Veor Manor
Porth Veor Manor Hotel was originally designed by Cornish architect
Silvanus Trevail
Silvanus Trevail (11 November 1851 – 7 November 1903) was a British architect, and the most prominent Cornish architect of the 19th century.
Early life
Trevail was born at Carne Farm, Trethurgy in the parish of Luxulyan, Cornwall on 11 Nove ...
and was built in 1879.
Porth Veor manor was first owned by Mr. William Stephens.
Located overlooking the Porth beach, it eventually became Porth Veor Manor hotel was owned and run in the 1920s by author
Charlotte Mary Matheson and her husband Stanley Threlkeld.
A prominent woman farmer, Charlotte wrote several novels including ''
The Generation Between'', still available in print.
Notable residents
(Past or present) have included:
*
Charlotte Mary Matheson, English novelist (1892 to 1937)
*
James Morrison (singer)
James Morrison Catchpole (born 13 August 1984) is an English singer, songwriter and guitarist. In 2006, his debut single " You Give Me Something" became a hit in Europe, Australia, Japan and Iran, peaking in the top five in the UK and claiming ...
* Sir , 2nd Baronet (1912–1969)
*
Derek Tangye, author, grandson of Sir Richard
*
Nigel Tangye
Nigel Trevithick Tangye (24 April 1909 – 2 June 1988) was a British airman, novelist, journalist and the writer of various books about Cornwall. He worked for MI5, and later claimed to have been an MI5 agent during the Spanish Civil War.
...
, brother of Derek Tangye and husband of actress
Ann Todd
* Sir
Richard Tangye
Sir Richard Trevithick Tangye (24 November 183314 October 1906) was a British manufacturer of engines and other heavy equipment.
Biography
Richard Tangye was born at Illogan, near Redruth, Cornwall, the fifth son in a family of six sons and thr ...
, engineer
See also
*
Newquay
Newquay ( ; kw, Tewynblustri) is a town on the north coast in Cornwall, in the south west of England. It is a civil parish, seaside resort, regional centre for aerospace industries, spaceport and a fishing port on the North Atlantic coast of ...
*
St Columb Major
St Columb Major is a town and civil parish in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. Often referred to locally as ''St Columb'', it is approximately southwest of Wadebridge and east of Newquay
Ordnance Survey: Landranger map sheet 200 ''Newqua ...
*
St Columb Minor
St Columb Minor ( kw, Sen Kolumm Vyghan) (Latin: ''Columba Minor Sancta'') is a village on the north coast of Cornwall, England, United Kingdom.
''St. Columb'' alone by default refers to the nearby St. Columb Major.The village of St Columb Minor ...
References
External links
{{authority control
Villages in Cornwall
Surfing locations in Cornwall
Seaside resorts in Cornwall
Newquay