The Southwest Region - Southern England - page 60

The next main granite bedrock area to the east underlies the Carnmenellis area
( A4 ), although there are other smaller granite areas, such as St Michael's Mount (Fig.
58), across the bay from Penzance, and the intermediate-sized Godolphin granite ( A3 ),
some 8 km to the east. These smaller granite areas show the range in size of 'feed-
ers' that branched off from the major granite body that underlies the whole Southwest
Region (Fig. 44). In all cases the granite bedrock corresponds to high ground in the
landscape - evidence of the greater resistance of the granite in the face of repeated
landscape erosion. Derelict mine engine houses litter the landscape, especially north-
wards near Camborne and Redruth, once prosperous tin-mining centres. To the south,
the landscape is more sheltered and fertile, allowing better farming. Trees are rare be-
cause of their past cutting for fuel for the mining industry, as well as because of the
general exposure of the landscape to the weather.
FIG 58. St Michael's Mount. (Copyright Dae Sasitorn & Adrian Warren/
www.lastrefuge.co.uk)
The same northwest-to-southeast valley pattern that has just been mentioned in
the Land's End granite is also apparent in the area around the Carnmenellis granite, and
appears to be the result of preferential stream erosion parallel to the faults trending in
this direction (Fig. 59).