The town of Redruth consists of one principal street, of considerable length, situated on an eminence, in the midst of the mining district, surrounded by a bleak and unsheltered country. It is supposed to be the most ancient inhabited spot in the kingdom, and was originally called Dedruith: the discovery, however, of the copper mines has been the source of the late prosperity and increase of the population of the town more than sixfold during the last century. The number of inhabitants is 5903, and the houses 844.

The church is a handsome modern building, about a mile from the town, almost at the foot of Carnbreb, consisting of a nave only; the ceiling is flat, supported by pillars.

The Gwennap mines are considered as the most valuable in this neighbourhood. These are situated ou the east side of Redruth, in a part of the county where the tin and copper lodes are particularly rich.

The road from Redruth to St. Agnes is over the most dreary country imaginable, a distance of about six miles.

Carnbreh, supposed by Dr. Borlase to have been the "grand centre of druidical worship in this county," where are to be found "bold, stupendous, and multifarious druid monuments of every species; rock basons, circles, stones erect, remains of cromlechs, karns, a grove of oaks, a cave, a religious inclosure, and a gorsed-dau, or place of elevation, whence the Druids pronounced their decrees.

At the eastern end of Carnbreh Hill are the remains of a castle, apparently erected on a ledge of vast rocks, connected by arches turned over the spaces between them. What remains of this ancient fortress appears to have been the work of different ages : one part of it being most probably British, the other of comparatively modern construction.

The views from Carnbreh Castle are very extensive and interesting, comprehending a great portion of the mining country and the Irish Sea.

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REDRUTH is a market and union town and parish, anciently called Dredruith, or Druid’s town, with a station on the West Cornwall section of the Great Western railway, 9 miles west-south-west from Truro, 10 north-west from Falmouth, 10 north from Helston, 18 north-east from Penzance and 311 ½ from London, and is head of a county court district, in the North Western division of the county, hundred of Penwith, petty sessional division of Penwith East, rural deanery of Carnmarth, archdeaconry of Cornwall and diocese of Truro.

The town is not incorporated, but under the provisions of the “Local Government Act, 1894” (56 and 57 Viet, c. 73), is governed by an Urban District Council of 15 members, formed 1895, replacing the Local Board, established 1853. It is lighted with gas from works at Treruffe, belonging to the Redruth Gas Co. The drainage of the town was carried out in 1885, when land was purchased, on which the sewage is collected and deodorized and afterwards discharged on to a farm. A scheme of water supply has been carried out by Mr. H. B. Nichols C.E. at a cost of about £10,000; the water is conveyed from Gordon and Penstruthal storage reservoir at Sandy lane, about half a mile from the town, holding between 4 and 5 million gallons, and from this it is supplied to the town by gravitation.

The parish church of St. Uny, erected in 1768, and standing about half a mile from the town, is chiefly a modern building of stone with portions in the Perpendicular style, consisting of chancel, nave, aisles and an embattled western tower with pinnacles of Henry VII.'s reign, containing 6 bells: the east window is a memorial to the Rev. J. W. Hawkesley M.A. for more than 40 years rector here: the west window is to George Harris and Jane, his wife, and was erected in 1879: the organ was placed in 1882, and in 1878 the interior of the church was renovated throughout at a cost of £1,000, the west gallery removed, the church refloored and reseated, the east end raised to form a chancel, the tower arch opened, the bells rehung and a heating apparatus erected at a cost of £100; a new pulpit, reading desk and lectern were also provided: the church plate is interesting, and consists of a chalice and paten of uncertain date, two flagons (one of which weighs 80 ounces), the gifts of Thomas Haweis and Anthony Cocke esqrs. and a large paten presented by the Rev. Arthur Spry, a former rector: there are 450 sittings. In 1881 an addition was made to the churchyard of 1 acre of land, given from the glebe by the late rector, and consecrated in April, 1881: a further and similar addition was made and consecrated in 1894. The register of baptisms dates from the year 1560; marriages, 1652; burials, 1562. The first volume, which contains many interesting entries, was published in 1894, under the editorship of Thurstan C. Peter esq. of Redruth. The living is a rectory, net yearly value £636, including 87 acres of glebe, in the gift of the representatives of the late Gustavus Lambert Basset esq. and held since 1877 by the Rev. James William Lane M.A. of Emmanuel College, Cambridge, who is non-resident; the Rev. Richard Dickson Purves M.A. of Emmanuel College, Cambridge is curate in charge.

The chapel of ease, in Chapel street, was erected in 1828 at a cost of £2,367, chiefly defrayed by the Basset family; it consists of chancel, nave and organ chamber, with south and west galleries: in 1868 a new organ was introduced; and in 1882 the chapel was restored throughout, a chancel constructed and the organ renovated, the whole expense, amounting to £200, being defrayed by subscription: there are 600 sittings.

The Mission Room at the East end, built in 1880 at a cost of £100, has been removed to the precincts of St. Andrew’s church and re-erected as an Institute for men.

The church of St. Andrew, in Clinton road, consecrated on St. Andrew’s day, 1884, is a buliding in the Gothic style, with dressings of granite and Elvan stone, erected in 1883 at a cost of £5,500; £500 each being given by the late G. L. Basset esq. of Tehidy (patron of the living), the Rev. J. W. Lane M.A. and F. W. Mitehell esq. ; the site, valued at £500, was presented by Lord Clinton. The church consists of nave, vestry and a basement used as a school room.

The Meeting House of the Society of Friends, in Church lane, built in 1833, will seat 250 persons, and has a graveyard attached.

The Baptist chapel, in Penryn street, was built in 1877 at a cost of £1,500, and will seat 500 persons.

The Primitive Methodist chapel, in Plain-an-gwarry, built in 1884, at a cost of £3,000, is an edifice in a Classic style, and will seat 800 persons.

The Wesleyan chapel, in Fore street, was erected in 1826 at a cost of £5,000, and has sittings for 1,600 persons.

The Bible Christian chapel, in Treruffe hill, erected in 1864 at a cost of £900, will seat 700 persons.

The Free Methodist chapel, in Fore street, is a spacious building in the Lombardo-Venetian style, erected in 1864—5.

A Cemetery of four acres, on the St. Day road, was formed in 1878 at a cost of £1,500, and has one mortuary chapel; it is maintained by a rate on the parish, and is under the control of a Burial Board of nine members.

The Town Hall, Penryn street, erected in 1850 by Robert Blee, is a building of granite in a Classic style, and consists of court room, judge’s room, high bailiff’s and registrar's clerks’ offices, receiving, paying and waiting rooms and the offices of the Registrar of the County Court, the sittings of which are held here.

The Masonic Hall, in Green lane, erected in 1876, is a building of stone in the Gothic style, and will hold 150 persons: it is also let to various other societies for meetings as well as for public entertainments.

The Radical Hall, in Green lane, is a building of stone, erected in 1886 at a cost of £500.

The Mining Exchange, in Alma, place, is an edifice of stone in the Gothic style, built by the Redruth Mining Exchange Co. Limited, in 1880, at a cost of £500.

The Market House was built by the late Lord de Dunstanville and Basset, for the sale of corn, meat, butter, poultry and eggs: a flight of steps leads from it into the cattle market, which holds 500 head of cattle, and is commonly called the Fair Meadow. The butcher’s market was rebuilt, enlarged and improved in 1878 by the late Gustavus Lambart Basset esq. at a cost of £2,500.

The New Hall and Public Rooms in Penryn street, called also the “Druid’s Hall,” is a building in the Elizabethan style, erected by a limited company in 1860: it contains the library of the Redruth Literary and Scientific Institution, with a billiard room and news rooms; on the second floor is a spacious hall used for concerts and lectures.

The Redruth Public Free Library, in Clinton road, is a building of granite, and was erected in 1895 at a cost of £2,000, given by J. Passmore Edwards esq. of London and a native of Blackwater: it contains two reading rooms and a library of 2,300 volumes, including 200 volumes in special type for the blind and a small collection of Cornish books.

The Science and Art School, in Clinton road, is a building of stone, erected in 1883, at a cost of £1,500 raised by subscription and a grant from the Science and Art Department, South Kensington. A museum was added in 1889 as a memorial to the late Professor Robert Hunt, a native of Cornwall.

In Fore street is a clock tower of granite, with illuminated dials, built in 1828.

William Murdock, the inventor of the application of gas to lighting purposes, lived in Cross street, at the back of Druid’s Hall in this town; the first house in England that was lit with gas may still be seen, and bears a memorial stone with this inscription:-“Wm. Muirdock lived in this house 1782—98. Made the first locomotive here, and tested it in 1784. Invented gas lighting, and used it in this house in 1792.”

The Police Station at West End consists of a court room, two cells, and houses for one sergeant and four constables.

A newspaper, the “Cornubian and Redruth Times,” is published here on Fridays by T. N. Jenkin, Tolgus hill.

The West Cornwall Miners’ Hospital, West End, is a building of stone with granite dressings in the Gothic style, and has accident and convalescent wards, the former established in 1871 and the latter in 1863; there are 32 beds for patients, besides bedroom for nurses, convalescent rooms &c.: the site was given and the hospital built by the late Thomas Charles, 2nd Lord Robartes, and the institution is chiefly supported by the present peer, but patients sent by subscribers are partially paid for. Here is also a Women’s Hospital.

Redruth is the mining capital of Cornwall, the Mining Exchange being held here, and public sales-by-auction of tin, known as “tin-ticketings,” are held at Tabb’s hotel; at these auctions about 200 tons of tin are competed for, and purchased fortnightly by the smelting firms of Cornwall, of whom there are six: some of the mines, and amongst these “Dolcoath,” which is the largest tin mine in the world, sell their tin partly by private contract. The bulk of the population in Redruth and the adjoining districts of Illogan, Cam Brea and Camborne are employed in tin mining and at the numerous tin streaming works: it is estimated that about 5,000 to 6,000 persons, including women and children, are so engaged. The tin streams, which run into what is known as the “Red River,” carrying from Dolcoath and other large mines sufficient refuse tin to make their working profitable, are also a source of employment to about 1,200 persons, mostly women and children. The earnings of the tin miners are low in proportion to the other mining industries of the country, the average wage of a working miner not exceeding £4 per month, which is, since the passing of the Stannaries Act of 1887, paid fortnightly instead of, as before, monthly; but the pay of the women, boys and girls employed on the dressing floors and tin streams does not exceed on an average 6s. per week. In addition to the tin mining there are five or six factories in Redruth and neighbourhood for the manufacture of safety fuses, the British and Foreign Safety Fuse Co. established in 1848 and Mr. E. Tangye’a works being in the town; with the exception of two factories in North and South Wales this industry is entirely confined to Cornwall, and employs about 450 people. The town also contains the extensive brewing establishment of the Redruth Brewery Co. Limited; the iron foundries of Messrs. Sara Brothers and Messrs. W. Sara and Sons; and the Redruth Foundry Co. Limited; there are besides two factories belonging to Smith’s Boot Manufacturing Co. Limited and Messrs. Beer and Son and the establishment of the West of England Bacon Curing Co. Limited.

The market days are Tuesday and Friday. Fairs are held in the town on Easter Tuesday, May 2nd, August 3rd and October 12th yearly, and a holiday fair on Whit Monday.

The H Company 1st Volunteer Battalion (Duke of Cornwall’s) Light Infantry has an armoury in East End; the force consists of a commanding officer, 1 surgeon-captain, 2 lieutenants, 1 drill instructor, 5 sergeants, 5 corporals and 86 rank and file.

In the King’s Head tavern, in 1655, George Fox, the founder of the Society of Friends, was imprisoned, and from the balcony of Bank House John Wesley preached, towards the end of the 18th century. Both these houses belong to the family of Harris, who have held property and resided in Redruth for a long period.

About a mile south-west of Redruth and within the boundaries of Illogan parish stands Carn Brea, a granite hill of great picturesque beauty, and containing many remains of supposed Druidical circles. Dr. Borlase, the well-known antiquary, considered this hill to have been one of the principal resorts of the Druids for the celebration of their mysterious rites, and in his “Antiquities of Cornwall” gives a very interesting account of the remains still traceable in his time: many of these have disappeared, but enough still remains to invite the visits of the antiquary. A magnificent view is obtained from the summit of the hill, extending from St. Michael’s Mount in the west to Devonshire in the east, and to the north and south as far as St. George’s and the British Channels. From Carnmarth, a still higher hill than Carn Brea and within Gwennap parish, Falmouth castle and harbour are very distinctly seen.

The principal landowners are Gen. The Rt. Hon. Sir Redvers Henry Buller P.C., G.C.B., K.C.M.G., V.C., Lord Clinton, Rev. St. Aubyn Hender Molesworth-St. Aubyn M.A. of Clowance, Crowan, Lord Robartes, Arthur Francis Basset esq. the representatives of Mrs. Hartley, the representatives of George Aunger Michell esq. Thomas Pryor esq. and David Wise Bain esq. of Portreath. The rateable value is £29,187; the acreage is 4,006; the population of the parish in 1891 was 10,324.

REDRUTH UNION

Board day, alternate Fridays at 11.15 a.m. at the Workhouse, Illogan. The union comprises the following parishes:-Camborne, Gwennap, Gwinear, Gwithian, Illogan, Phillack East, Phillack West, Redruth & Stithians. The population of the union in 1891 was 49,213; area, 40,426 acres; rateable value, 1896, £129,494.

PLACES OF WORSHIP, with times of service.

St. Uny (Parish Church), Rev. James William Lane M.A. rector; Rev. Richard Dickson Purves M.A. curate in charge; Revs. Alexander Allen Clement Neale Vawdrey M.A. & William Alfred Norton B.A. curates; 11 a.m. & 6.30 p.m.; daily 8 a.m.

Chapel of Ease, Chapel street; clergy same as St. Uny parish church; 6.30 p.m.

St. Andrew’s, clergy same as St. Uny parish church; 8 & 11 a.m. & 6.30 p.m.; Wed. 7 p.m.

Society of Friends, Church lane; 10.30 a.m. & 6 p.m.

Baptist, Penryn street, Rev. Frederick W. Reynolds; 11 a.m. & 6 p.m.; Wed. & Sat. 7.30 p.m.

Bible Christian, Treruffe hill, Rev. Samuel Adlin; 10.45 a.m. & 6 p.m.; Tues. 7 p.m.

Primitive Methodist, Plain-an-Gwarry, Rev. Joseph Reavley; 10.45 a.m. & 6 p.m. ; Tues. 7 p.m.

United Methodist Free Church, Fore street, Rev. John F. Lawis & Rev. W. J. Christophers; 10.30 a.m. & 6 p.m.; Thur. 7 p.m.

Wesleyan, Fore street, Rev. Francis Hewitt, Rev. Joseph Newton & Rev. Albert Richard Edgerley; 10.30 a.m. & 6 p.m.; Wed. 7 p.m.

SCHOOLS

School of Science & Art, Clinton road, John Jacob Beringer A.R.S.M. principal; Thomas Collins, vice-principal ; A. K. Wilton, sec.

A School Board was formed 23 December, 1872, & consists of 7 members; Charles Bawden, Clinton road, clerk to the board; Henry Toy, Green lane, school attendance officer.

Board, Trewirgie (boys, girls & infants), erected in 1885, & enlarged in 1895, for 400 boys, 225 girls & 225 infants ; average attendance, 403 boys, 205 girls & 148 infants.

Board, East end (girls), erected in 1875, for 250 girls; average attendance, 132.

Board, East end (infants), erected in 1862 by Lord Robartes, & used as a British school till 1873; it will bold 200 children; average attendance, 142.