St Breward Granite Quarries - Cornwall in History Part 3 | Mother Cornwall's Legacy buildings lighthouses photos, china clay

St Breward, Cornwall,Granite Quarries, granite and the history of St Breward Church in the village of St Breward A history of a Cornish village, Jackie Freeman, photography St Breward, Cornwall ,

	St. Breward in History PART III Mother Cornwall's Legacy Written & adapted by David Freeman for Secret Britain
Mother Cornwall's Legacy
Photograph & Images of St Breward - Cornwall.© Jackie Freeman Photography - St. Breward – Cornwall
CORNWALL & GRANITE QUARRYING - BODMIN MOOR

aint Breward sits upon the history strewn shoulder of the ancient moor near Bodmin in North Cornwall, nestling amongst staggering scenery which is both desolate and wonderful, all bound together as one.

Her legacy is at her very heart. The mighty granite. Great stones which remember the Bronze age men who toiled and stacked the moorland field stone and bear witness to the beginning of an incredible industry which was to change the face of a nation.

St Breward's finest men methodically hewed the giant stone slabs and dragged them to the cutting sheds before hauling them to the rail head. Fortunes were to be won an lost here in St Breward as the crash of hammer on steel was carried on the wind.

Over the centuries there have been over 25 different quarries in the area around St Breward. But only the De Lank Quarry still remains.
The others, from which the village, its parish church and countless architectural treasures emerged, now lie derelict and forboding, slowly returning back to nature. They are now a still and silent testament to the industry which supported the area and built a nation.

Above : St Breward quarry men work of the granite face. C 1900		Relic of Tordown Quarry in St Breward
The St Breward Quarry: Tordown Granite in St Breward was first quarried by local men as the St Breward Granite Quarry and then took the name of its new local owner as Nankivell's Quarry. Long closed now and derelict, its flooded pit mirrors the great swathes of stone it supplied the nation. The granite quarry at St Breward's primary function was to supply the building blocks for the re build of Bodmin's notorious Gaol back in the mid 1800's. But granite blocks from this St Breward source have built great bridges and cobbled our roads far and wide, giving rise to some of the most prominent architectural structures in the land. The great Naval College at Dartmouth owes its character to St Breward stone and in Britain's capital, so does, London's County Hall, Transport House, the Esso Tower, the Shipping Office and most of the buildings in Paternoster Row. All owe their existence to St Breward stone, cut from here, dressed and shipped by transport provided by the rail head at Wenford Bridge. Now ironically, the start of the Camel trail, one of the most popular and picturesque nature trails used by cyclists and walkers in the country.	St Breward Quarry - Tor Down Quarry, St Breward, Cornwall Photograph © Jackie Freeman Photography - St. Breward – Cornwall
Royal Naval College Dartmouth	Other perhaps more impressive architectural structures are St Breward born too and are laid claim to by the Hantergantick Quarry and St Brewards oldest and perhaps most famous commercial granite quarry, the De Lank quarry, the most famous granite quarry in Cornwall. Seen here below at the turn of the century. The fist quarry here, known as the Eddystone is now unused but forms a part of the whole quarry complex. It was used for the construction of the lighthouse of the same name back in 1750's
Bodmin Gaol (Bodmin Jail) Click photo to go to more images of Bodmin Gaol. Photograph © Jackie Freeman Photography - St. Breward – Cornwall	De Lank Quarry St Breward 1905
emarkable St Breward has many a claim to fame, most of which which she can put down to its granite quarrying including the structures of ; Tower Bridge, Putney Bridge the Thames Embankment and Blackfriars bridge. All built with St Breward granite. Eddystone lighthouse built by James Douglas and Bishops Rock lighthouse too owe there existence to St Breward as thousands of seamen owe St Breward their lives because of what she delivered up. Then there's Beachy head and the Needles lighthouses, each monumental structure reliant upon St Breward stone and its men. There are the great dockyards upon which Britain relied built of St Breward stone from as far afield as Tilbury, Newcastle and Cardiff to the Pool of London. Bombay to Gibraltar, which all have huge structures which began here quarried in St Breward. Huge blocks of granite blasted from out of the arms of the moor, chisled and cut by St Brewards best and traveled by the old tramway down the hill to Wenford Bridge station and on to Bradford's quay at Wadebridge on the Wenford Railway.

Tower Bridge London - St Breward Stone
	Eddystone Lighthouse Bishops Rock Lighthouse Beachy Head
	St Breward is responsible for providing its fair share of stone for many famous monuments too. Winston Churchill sands his ground on St Breward stone hewn from the quarry here. The Princess of Wales Memorial Fountain in Hyde Park and Karl Marx's statue too and perhaps the most respected of all monuments, the Cenotaph stands here and it's all because of St Breward.
Winston Churchill - St Breward Stone	The London Cenotaph photographed July 2010. Photo courtsesy Allan Hillery.