Descriptive Gazetteer Entry for REDRUTH

REDRUTH, a town, a parish, a sub-district, and a district, in Cornwall. The town stands on the West Cornwall railway, at the junction of the line to Perran-Arworthal, 9½ miles S W of Truro; is conjectured, by some antiquaries, to be one of the most ancient towns in England, and to have been originally called Tre-Druith, signifying " Druids,-town; " is believed, by less sanguinewriters, not to have originated till after the division of the county into parishes; was for some time called, and is still occasionally called, St. Uny; appears to have been built around a chapel dedicated to that saint; seems to have acquired its present name, by a corruption of Tretrot, signifying "the house on the river's bed; " is situated chiefly on the side of a hill, rising to the altitude of414 feet, amid a dreary tract of country, bare of vegetation and strewn with rubbish, but remarkably rich inmineral produce; consists chiefly of one long street, wellbuilt, but insufficiently supplied with water; carries on extensive trade in connexion with neighbouring mines often and copper; is a seat of county courts, and a polling-place; and has a head post-office, ‡ a railway station with telegraph, a banking office, two chief inns, a town hall built in 1850, public rooms built in 1861, a market-place with a clock-tower at the entrance, a theatre, a literary institution, a church, six dissenting chapels, national schools, an extensive brewery, a safety fuse manufactory, and aniron-foundry. The railway station is on the hill; and the railway, in its neighbourhood, passes along a lofty viaduct. The public rooms were erected at a cost of £2,000. The church stands about a mile distant, under Carnbrea hill; is a modern edifice, with a tower; and contains a monument, by Chantrey, to W. Davey, Esq. Markets are held on Tuesday and Friday; and fairs, on 25 March, 2 May, 3 Aug., and 12 Oct. Pop. in 1851, 7,095; in 1861, 7, 919. Houses, 1, 445.

The parish contains also the hamlets of Little Redruth, or Plengwary, and Treleigh; and comprises 3, 907 acres. Real property, £45, 357; of which £11, 742 are in mines, £40 in quarries, £58 in iron-works, £455 in railways, and £83 in gas-works. Pop. in 1851, 10, 571; in 1861, 11, 504. Houses, 2, 159. The mines are chief objects of interest. The Dunstanville pillar is on Carnbrea hill; antiquities of the kind called Druidical, are in various parts, but have been much damaged or destroyed; and a stone circle, now demolished, gave name to Plengwary. The living is a rectory in the diocese of Exeter. Value, £432. Patron, I. F. Basset, Esq. The p. curacy of Treleigh is a separate benefice. Dr. Pryce, the antiquary, was a native. The sub-district is conterminate with the parish. The district comprehends also the sub-district of Illogan, conterminate with Illogan parish; the sub-district of Camborne, conterminate with Camborne parish; the sub-district of Gwennap, containing the parishes of Gwennap and St. Stithians; and the sub-district of Phillack, containing the parishes of Phillack, Gwithian, and Gwinear. Acres, 40, 305. Poor-rates in 1863, £10, 537. Pop. in 1851, 53, 628; in 1861, 57, 173. Houses, 11, 192. Marriages in 1863, 539; births, 2, 194, of which 106 were illegitimate; deaths, 1, 640, of which 890 were at ages under 5 years, and 24 at ages above 85. Marriages in the ten years 1851-60, 4, 921; births, 18, 970; deaths, 11, 728. The places of worship, in 1851, were 19 of the Church of England, with 8, 713sittings; 2 of Baptists, with 542 s.; 4 of Quakers, with 530 s.; 54 of Wesleyans, with 18, 144 s.; 8 of Primitive Methodists, with 1, 780 s.; 7 of Bible Christians, with2, 117 s.; 8 of the Wesleyan Association, with 2, 486 s.; and 5 of Wesleyan Reformers, with 880 s. The schools were 21 public day schools, with 2,080 scholars; 103 private day schools, with 2, 764 s.; 79 Sunday schools, with12, 337 s.; and 3 evening schools for adults, with 52 s. The workhouse is in Illogam, and has accommodation for 450 inmates. .


(John Marius Wilson, Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales (1870-72))

Linked entities:
Feature Description: "a town, a parish, a sub-district, and a district"   (ADL Feature Type: "cities")
Administrative units: Redruth CP/AP       Redruth SubD       Redruth RegD/PLU       Cornwall AncC
Place: Redruth

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