Camborne: Cornwall's Mining Capital Where Richard Trevithick Built His Steam Road Locomotive
Camborne is a town in west Cornwall, about 10 miles southwest of Truro and a mile inland from the north coast. The population is around 21,000. The town is inseparable from tin and copper mining. Camborne was at the heart of the Cornish mining district, and the Camborne School of Mines, now part of the University of Exeter's Penryn campus, was founded here in 1888. Richard Trevithick, the engineer who built the first steam-powered road locomotive and demonstrated it on Camborne Hill on Christmas Eve 1801, was born in nearby Illogan. Trevithick Day, held annually in April, celebrates his achievements with a street festival and a parade of steam engines. The South Crofty tin mine, the last working tin mine in Europe, closed in 1998 but there are periodic proposals to reopen it.
The town centre along Commercial Street and Trelowarren Street has a practical rather than picturesque character. The Heartlands heritage site at the former South Crofty mine has a garden, exhibition space, and the Robinsons Shaft headframe as a monument to mining heritage.
Camborne station is on the Cornish Main Line with trains to Truro in about 15 minutes and to London Paddington in about five hours. Redruth is effectively a twin town, about two miles to the east, and the two share many facilities. The A30 dual carriageway runs just south of both towns.
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Camborne is a town in west Cornwall, about 10 miles southwest of Truro and a mile inland from the north coast. The population is around 21,000. The town is inseparable from tin and copper mining. Camborne was at the heart of the Cornish mining district, and the Camborne School of Mines, now part of the University of Exeter's Penryn campus, was founded here in 1888. Richard Trevithick, the engineer who built the first steam-powered road locomotive and demonstrated it on Camborne Hill on Christmas Eve 1801, was born in nearby Illogan. Trevithick Day, held annually in April, celebrates his achievements with a street festival and a parade of steam engines. The South Crofty tin mine, the last working tin mine in Europe, closed in 1998 but there are periodic proposals to reopen it.
The town centre along Commercial Street and Trelowarren Street has a practical rather than picturesque character. The Heartlands heritage site at the former South Crofty mine has a garden, exhibition space, and the Robinsons Shaft headframe as a monument to mining heritage.
Camborne station is on the Cornish Main Line with trains to Truro in about 15 minutes and to London Paddington in about five hours. Redruth is effectively a twin town, about two miles to the east, and the two share many facilities. The A30 dual carriageway runs just south of both towns.
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