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St. Austell is in the centre of the area of Cornwall known as the Cornish Riviera and has many great attractions and areas of outstanding natural beauty within a short drive of the town. St Austell is a large old market town that lies just a few miles from the south coast.
The town's history was tin mining for centuries then due to the discovery of china clay the area became a major exporter of clay to all over the world. Nowadays the town is more of a tourist destination with a unique landscape that has been shaped by the many years of clay mining with large hills of soil that are often called the Cornish Alps.
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| Picture of St Austell town in Cornwall | |
St Austell is a perfect base for this part of Cornwall with great links to attractions on the coast and inland. St Austell grew rapidly with the discovery of china clay deposits in the 18th century with conical spoil heaps left by the mines a local feature of the landscape today. Just north of the town is the Wheal Martyn China Clay Heritage Centre which gives you a close up view of how the pits operated with tours round the old china clay mines and extensive exhibits even a nature trail on site. St Austell Brewery was founded in 1893 and still provides ales to Cornwall today and runs guided tours around the facility at the top of the town.
A short two mile walk south from the town and you are on the coast at Charlestown an unspoilt port named after Charles Rashleigh who in 1791 began work on the harbour widening its streets to accommodate the clay wagons passing through and in fact the wharves are still used today for loading clay onto the vessels. The Shipwreck and Heritage Centre has a good collection of photos depicting the historic scenes and is entered through tunnels used to convey clay to the docks. Perhaps St Austell's biggest draw today is its proximity to the Eden Project 4 miles north east of the town a transformed disused clay pit covering 34 acres and 160 feet deep a series of huge bio-domes showcasing the diversity of the planets plant life.
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