A book of the west. Volume 2, Cornwall : $b being an introduction to Devon and Cornwall — John Shaqi
A book of the west. Volume 2, Cornwall : $b being an introduction to Devon and CornwallBaring-Gould, S. (Sabine)
History
A book of the west. Volume 2, Cornwall : $b being an introduction to Devon and Cornwall
Baring-Gould, S. (Sabine)
Cornwall (England : County)
The whole of the hillside is cut up into paddocks, and a conduit of
water was brought from the little stream at Rushleford Gate to supply
the settlers with pure drinking water. No traces of burnt slag were
found, and consequently the ovens cannot be pronounced to have been
made to smelt the ore, but it is strange that there should be several
of these ovens. The whole settlement is so curious that I subjoin a
general plan, as well as plans of the hovels. The doorways are in
several instances perfect. Against the wind and rain the hovels were
protected by a high bank to the west. From the Cheesewring, about two
and a half miles distant, a line of rails was carried to just above
this singular village, and there abandoned. The visitor may well wonder
_why_ a railway was carried into the heart of this desolate region; it
was apparently an excuse for wasting the money of investors. The bulk
of their deposits have disappeared, and no profits have been realised.
Trewartha Marsh occupies the bed of a lake that decants over a granite
lip into the valley of the Lynher. At some remote period the miners
cut down the lip and let off the water, and then turned over the lake
bed. A former owner of Trebartha Hall gave to his daughters on their
marriage heavy gold rings from the precious ore washed out of the
gravel of Trewartha. A stroll among the refuse-heaps that occupy the
lake-bed among lanes of water and stretches of morass will show the
visitor how great was the industry of the ancient streamers. There are
several cairns and barrows on the heights, but none that have been
explored have given other results than small stone cists containing
bone and wood ash.
On the north side of the marsh were some old cottages, that have been
destroyed, and their materials employed for building purposes, in which
coins of Elizabeth and Queen Mary were found. A vague tradition exists
that a town existed at Tresillern, one of the reaches of the lake,
which was submerged for the iniquity of the inhabitants.
A basin of bog--also once a lake--exists at Redmire, and near it is a
small circle of upright stones. I was as near lost as might be in this
bog in 1891. The Ordnance Survey Office had sent down an official to
go over and correct the map of this district, and I was with him. When
dusk set in we started for Five Lanes, and lost our way. We both got
into Redmire, and had to trip along warily from one apparently firm
spot to another. The winter and summer had been unusually wet, and the
marsh was brimming with water. Six bullocks had already been lost in it
that year.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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