St Agnes and the heritage trail

Imagine

Cornwall's history cannot be told without reference to its geology and minerals. This craggy peninsula about 80 miles long, which reaches away from England towards the beautiful Isles of Scilly has a character and geology that sets it apart as a county of unparalleled beauty.

It's unspoilt beaches backed by high cliff tops are a result of those hard igneous and metamorphic rocks that lie beneath the surface and it is the great mines of our grandfathers that leave the land scattered with mining chimneys, engine houses, and other beautiful rugged reminders of Cornwall's mining past. Can you believe that in the early 1900s approximately half of the world's tin came from Cornwall?

One of the finest and most striking examples of a historical mine can be found at Wheal Coates - which - is about a 15 - 20 minute walk from our door here at The 19th Acre.  Wheal Coates is a former tin mine situated on the north coast of Cornwall, England, on the cliff tops between Porthtowan and St Agnes. It is preserved and maintained by the National Trust.

‘Wheal’ is Cornish for ‘place of work’, not 'mine' as is often stated. The term for 'mine' is 'bal', as in 'bal maidens', the women who worked on the surface. The site was worked for centuries but the surviving buildings date from the 1870s when deep underground mining began at the site and were stabilised and preserved in 1986.

Wheal Coates is just one of a number of mines that are on the St Agnes Heritage trail, The trail itself is marked as an area of outstanding natural beauty. 

Explore

If you're interested in taking a walking tour, interspersed with locally sourced and home cooked culinary delights such as those served at the Driftwood Spar in St Agnes or the National Trust Cafe at Chapel Porth then this is the place for you.  If your furry friend wants to visit us we'll set up a doggy kennel just for you .  To plan your adventure and for more information on the St Agnes heritage trail look here .

Discover

Breathtaking views, Stippy Stappy (look for it ;-),  cornish yarg, goats cheese and the Blue Hills.