Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
The Age of Industry
Following the upheavals of the Civil War, the southwest developed as an industrial and
maritime powerhouse over the next century. The huge demand for metals during the Indus-
trial Revolution (particularly tin, iron and copper) heralded the beginning of the golden age
of mining in Cornwall and west Devon, and the advent of new technologies such as steam
power, beam engines and 'blast' extraction enabled the region's miners to reach previously
inaccessible lodes of high-quality metals.
Mining in Cornwall boomed: in 1800 the county boasted 75 mines employing 16,000
people, but by 1837 this had mushroomed to 200 mines employing some 30,000 workers.
Several local engineers played a key role in the industry's expansion. First came
Dartmouth-born Thomas Newcomen (1664-1729), the pioneer of the earliest steam en-
gines, which were subsequently used to power the pumps that extracted water from Devon
and Cornwall's deep-shaft mines, greatly improving the mines' safety and efficiency. Then
came Redruth-born Richard Trevithick (1771-1833), who devised the first steam-powered
locomotive, which he named his 'Puffing Devil' and first demonstrated to an amazed
Cornish crowd in 1801. Another gifted Cornishman had also done much to improve the
miners' lot: the genius chemist Humphry Davy (1778-1829), who invented the safety lamp
(sometimes known as the Davy lamp) in 1815, which prevented the lethal underground ex-
plosions caused by flammable gases being ignited by the miners' candles.
SMUGGLING
In the late 18th century, rising customs duty on imported goods (especially luxury items such as brandy, gin and
tea) led to a huge growth in smuggling along the southwest coastline. Cornwall's remote coves were perfect
hideouts for the enterprising 'free traders', and the sight of government 'preventive' boats in pursuit of smuggling
vessels off the southern Cornish coastline became commonplace.
But the government operatives were often fighting a losing battle. Widespread opposition to the taxes, coupled
with the lucrative returns that could be made from handling contraband goods, meant that collusion between the
smugglers and onshore communities was widespread.
Smuggling rapidly became a hugely profitable industry - according to some estimates, as much as four-fifths of
the tea drunk in England in the late 19th century had escaped official duty - and some smugglers, such as Harry
Carter and Jack Rattenbury, became local celebrities. Harry Carter even published his own autobiography.
The industry continued to flourish until the mid-19th century, when mineral lodes in
many mines were already beginning to fail, turning them into 'knackt bals' (exhausted
mines). Much worse was to follow: a great financial panic in 1866 bankrupted many in-
