About Devoran
It is hard to imagine now that this tranquil place was once a hive of industry having a railway line to the mines, extensive wharves, and boatyards with ships and barges coming and going in the creek. It was once an important shipping place for the importation of timber, coals and iron, for the mines, and for the exportation of copper and other ores.
Devoran's brief industrial history began in the early 19th century when a railway was constructed from the Gwennap mines to Point, where the copper ore could be taken aboard ship. The trains would then return with coal and whatever else was needed for the mines.
By the 1840s wharves had been built all along the creek from Devoran to Point, together with boatyards, repair shops and housing for the people. Meanwhile, however, something not so good had been taking place. Waste washed down from the plethora of tin mines in the surrounding countryside was steadily building up and the tidal creek was being choked. Tin had always been extracted from the Fal river area but the heavy industrialisation of the 19th century hugely accelerated the silting up process. Then, a little later and the final blow to all this enterprise, prices fell. Discovery of cheaper tin in other parts of the world made it increasingly uneconomical in Cornwall and by the early 20th century, the port had ground to a halt.
Images around Devoran
Now there is little left to show of the industrial past, the gate as you drive into the village, the village hall was the engine house, bottom left picture and on the quay are the ore hutches. Each hutch in the early days was leased by a separate copper smelting company to hold their various purchases of ore whilst awaiting shipment. The railway ran above these level with the top of the walls above ground level on a wooden trestle structure that ran from the higher ground at the edge of the village.