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THIS IS A NANO IN A HIGH MUGGLE AREA OF THE TOWN - STEALTH WILL BE REQUIRED - PLEASE REPLACE EXACTLY AS FOUND.
Helston — A Brief History of the Town
The earliest reference to Helston is when Harold, who was Earl of Cornwall, became King after the death of his brother-in-law, Edward the Confessor — this was on the 5th January 1066.
At the Domesday Inquest in 1088, Helston was still held by the Crown and contained 4,760 acres. The Manor of Helston was considerably larger than it is today; taking in the whole of Wendron and large portions of Stithians.
Like most towns, Helston had its own fortification. This was in the form of a castle which was situated in the vicinity of the Bowling Green. It is reputed to have been built during the reign of Edmund, Earl of Cornwall (1272-1300). The location of the fortification was chosen because at that time enemy ships had access to the town from the sea. The incoming tide met with the River Cober and formed a tidal creek. Towards the end of the 13th Century, Helston was completely cut off from the sea by a sudden formation of a bank of shingle known as the Loe Bar. This blocked the mouth of the creek.
On the 15th April 1201, Helston was granted its First Charter by King John. The Charter gave the people certain privileges and probably the greatest was that tenants could hold house and lands under their landlords, instead of being peasants working under conditions of slavery. It also gave the inhabitants the right to be tried in their own courts — a privilege taken away from the townspeople in 1990.
A Charter of 1305 granted by King Richard made Helston one of the five Coinage Towns in Cornwall. The town was surrounded by tin mines and the granting of this Charter made the town very prosperous. Tin mined in the area would be brought to Helston to be assayed and a Coinage Hall was built for this purpose. The Coinage Hall, along with a Duchy Officers' House, a gaol and the Chapel of Our Lady, were built in the middle of the main street, Coinagehall Street as it is known today. These buildings were demolished at the beginning of the 19th Century.
In 1336 another Charter was granted. This gave the town a weekly market and four annual fairs. The income from the market and fairs helped considerably with the finances of the town.
In 1576 a large Market House was built where the Guildhall stands today. This included a Corn Exchange, Meat and Fish market. This was replaced in 1839 by the present Guildhall, a new and larger Market House being built simultaneously. This large Market House was built during a very prosperous time in the town's history. Hundreds of men and women were employed in the local and very productive tin mines, and would converge on the town.
Helston from 1294-1832 was an important Parliamentary constituency returning two Members of Parliament. By the Reform Act of 1832, Helston was deprived of one of its members and by the Redistribution of Seats Act, it was deprived of the other in 1885.
Various members of the Godolphin family represented Helston in the 16th and 17th centuries. Sidney Godolphin was described as the greatest statesman to come out of Cornwall. The Godolphins, who were great benefactors to the town, obtained their wealth from a local tin mine, Great Work.
Their town house in Coinagehall Street, now known as the Angel Hotel, was a covenient base for business meetings and mining transactions. St Michael's Church was struck by lightning in 1727 and rapidly fell into disrepair. The townspeople were not in a position financially to restore the Church and appealed to Francis, Earl of Godolphin, for help. He then undertook to pay for the entire cost of the rebuilding, which amounted to around £6,000. The church was re-opened for divine worship on the 18th of October 1761.
In 1767, Lord Godolphin presented six bells to the church — a further two being added in 1904, making a peal of eight.
Towards the end of the 19th century, Helston was becoming a very depressed town with so many mines closing in the area. The traders were suffering extreme difficulties and many small shops closed to make way for bigger, family-owned businesses. This mode of trading continued well into the 20th century.
The building of what has become the largest Naval base in the country, Culdrose, in 1947 again saw great changes in the town. Civilian employment was one of the key issues and Helston became a very prosperous town again in the 1960s. The 1960s saw a rapid growth in building and new estates sprang up around the town. All this led to the prosperity of the town. Sadly, today we are again witnessing the loss of many small traders, due mainly to the modern 'out of town' shopping complexes.
However, the town still retains many of its ancient features and its time-honoured annual Flora Day festival, the latter being an occasion for Helstonians to celebrate and look to the future.
One must be optimistic that history will, in some respects, repeat itself and Helston will be known once again, as in years gone by, as 'The Metropolis of the West'.
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