Early history Although there is a long history of settlement in the
Hayle Estuary area dating from the
Bronze Age, the modern town of Hayle was built predominantly during the 18th century
Industrial Revolution. Evidence of
Iron Age settlement exists at the fort on the hill above
Carnsew Pool where the Plantation now stands. It is thought that Hayle was an important centre for the
Neolithic tin industry, trading not only with Irish and
Breton people, but also the
Phoenicians of the eastern Mediterranean. Evidence of this comes from finds of imported pottery including Romano/Grecian Amphorae - containers for wine and oil. Although the
Romans never conquered Cornwall they may have had a military presence in the Hayle Estuary, and it is thought that the rectangular churchyard at
St Uny's Church, Lelant on the western shore of the estuary is built within the outline of a Roman fort. In those times the estuary looked a lot different from that of today. It appears that the estuary was deeper and it was possible for boats to go up the
River Hayle as far as where
St Erth Bridge is now situated; the tide used to flow in and out of what is now Foundry Square in the town, and at
Gwithian reached inland some considerable distance toward
Connor Downs. The departure of the Romans was followed by an influx of
Christian missionaries, most of whom are said to have had
Irish origins and after whom many Cornish towns take their present name. The lives of
Saint Samson and
Saint Petroc report that both saints arrived in Cornwall at the Hayle Estuary, indicating that it was an established port at least by the end of the 5th century. During the mid-6th century, however, the area was held by the
Breton exile
Tewdwr Mawr ( or ''''), who was said to have
martyred many of them—particularly the members of
Saint Breaca's mission—before returning to
his patrimony around 577. A number of inscribed stones from this period have been found in the area. Two early stones have been found at
Phillack, one bearing a 'Constantine' form of a Chi-Rho cross which may date to the 5th Century. The most noteworthy inscribed stone is one uncovered during the construction of a road in the grounds of Carnsew, and is now set into a bank at The Plantation, a public park. The stone was discovered in December 1843 by workmen, lying in a horizontal position at the depth of four feet. When the stone was moved it broke into three parts. A Mr Harvey had it fixed into the wall of his path on Carnsew cliff, within a few feet of the spot where it was discovered, and added a more recent replica which lies next to it, where it has remained since. The stone bears an inscription in
Latin, but it is now unreadable. The version that appears on the replica is translated as "Here Cenui fell asleep who was born in 500. Here in his tomb he lies, he lived 33 years." However, in her discussion of this inscription
Elisabeth Okasha passes over this transcription in silence, and mentions only three early drawings of this inscription and the results of more recent inspections, then tentatively offers her translation: "Here in peace has rested Cunatdo [or
Cunaide]. Here he lies in the tomb. He lived for 33 years." While physical and documentary evidence indicates that the port continued to be of importance through the
Middle Ages, it was the Industrial Revolution that saw the town and port of Hayle grow to resemble the town as seen today.
Medieval period The
Domesday survey in 1086 shows that the town of Hayle was not yet in existence. The manor of Connerton ("Conarditone") is recorded as including the Hayle Estuary with the manor centred on Conerton, close to the present day village of Gwithian. This was held by the King and was the headmanor of the hundred of Penwith. It is from Conerton that the name of the present day settlement of
Connor Downs is derived. A number of scattered farmsteads are recorded but no substantial settlement. By the 13th century Conerton was owned by the
Arundel family until it was purchased by the Cornish Copper Company in the early 19th century. The first documentary evidence of any settlements around the Hayle Estuary is in 1130 when Phillack Church and surrounding dwellings were recorded as "Egloshayle", meaning the church (eglos) on the estuary (heyl), with the church being dedicated originally to
St Felec, as appears in a 10th-century
Vatican codex.
Industrial revolution Hayle was initially a coal importing and ore exporting port but Hayle was initially dwarfed by nearby
Angarrack, where a tin smelter was built in 1704 and mills and stamps converted/constructed to process the ore. Hayle's role was simply to serve as a convenient point to land coal from South Wales, which was then taken to Angarrack by mule. In 1710 a
copper and
tin smelter was built at Mellanear Farm on the Mellanear stream which prospered for many years Perhaps the first major development at Hayle was the construction of the first modern
quay by John "Merchant" Curnow, in the 1740s, to service the growing mining industry. In 1758 the
Cornish Copper Company (CCCo) moved from
Camborne and set up a
copper smelter at Ventonleague (Copperhouse Creek) and this proved very successful, so much so that a
canal was built to bring vessels right up to the works and additional land was purchased on both sides of the creek for industrial use and providing housing for the workers. The smelting process generated large amounts of waste. The copper slag was cast into large heavy dark bricks or "Scoria Blocks" which were to prove a very useful building material which were used and re-used in the town and can be seen in many buildings. The blocks were sold at 9d (about 4p) for 20 and given free to employees of the CCCo to build their own houses. Sea Lane or Black Road (and Black Bridge) as it is now known was built using these and waste used to fill in the upper reaches of Copperhouse Creek creating Wilson's Pool and dividing it from Copperhouse Pool. Copperhouse Pool was subsequently modified to serve as a tidal reservoir both to allow ships to travel up as far as the dock, (where Home Bargains now stands), and to flush or sluice the channel to keep it clear of sand and silt. In 1779
John Harvey, a
blacksmith from nearby
Carnhell Green, established a small
foundry and engineering works in the area, now known as Foundry, to supply the local mining industry. The business flourished and by 1800 employed more than 50 people. It went from strength to strength through both professional and family partnerships with a series of great engineers and entrepreneurs.
Harvey & Co may be best remembered for producing
beam engines, which not only served locally but were exported worldwide; the largest was used to drain the Haarlemmermeerpolder and is preserved at the
Museum De Cruquius near
Schiphol airport. The company also produced a range of products ranging from hand tools to oceangoing ships, including the
SS Cornubia and the world's first steam-powered rock boring machine. As Harvey's and the Cornish Copper Company continued to thrive, the rivalry between the two grew into open hostility. Disputes regularly erupted over access to the sea as The Cornish Copper Company controlled the dock and the tidal sluice which they had built at
Copperhouse. Harveys acted to break the Cornish Copper Company's
monopoly by constructing their own harbour by deepening Penpol Creek and building a dock. They even constructed their own tidal reservoir and sluice by creating Carnsew Pool. Harvey's operated a "Company Store policy" forcing workers to buy their provisions from Harvey's Emporium and prohibiting the development of any independent shops. When this policy was finally brought to an end a number of shops quickly established. Prior to 1825 anyone wanting to go from Hayle to St Ives or Penzance had to cross the sands of Hayle Estuary or make a significant detour crossing the River Hayle at the ancient St Erth Bridge. Guides took travellers across the sands, but, even with guides, it was sometimes a perilous journey and the shifting sand and racing tide claimed several lives. This barrier to trade led to the 1825 formation of the
Hayle Bridge Causeway Turnpike Trust with parliament passing the Grigg's Quay, Hayle Bridge and Phillack Road (Cornwall) Act 1825 (
6 Geo. 4. c. iv). The
turnpike trust built the causeway which now takes the road below the plantation west to the Old Quay House. Costing £5000 in 1825, the investors charged a toll to use the causeway to recover their costs. As Hayle's prosperity grew the foundry and smelter owners invested in the nearby mining industry. There was relativity little mining in and around Hayle itself, with Wheal Alfred and
Wheal Prosper (near Gwithian), being the only mine of any note, the nearest significant mines being around Helston. As Hayle's involvement in the mining industry around
Helston grew it eventually reached the point in 1833 that it replaced Helston as the local
tin coinage (
Stannary) town, although this was short-lived as the Stannary system was abolished in 1838. From 1831 to 1861 the
Hayle and Bristol Steam Packet Company operated Steam Packet services which from 1837 connected with the newly opened Hayle-Redruth Railway. Designed from the outset to carry both goods and passengers the Hayle Railway's terminus was in Foundry Square under the present
viaduct. Steam was introduced onto the Hayle Section in 1843 but the construction of the railway meant that only light engines could be used, whilst the incline at
Angarrack also remained a problem. In 1852 a new railway was opened spanning the valley on the impressive
Angarrack viaduct and passing through Hayle on a new wooden supports over Foundry Square which were later replaced with the current stone pillars. The Harbour Branch line was closed in 1982 and the station buildings and signal box were demolished at the same time breaking direct rail links with the local communities of
Praze-an-Beeble,
Leedstown and Helston. The original station in Foundry Square remained until after the Second World War when it was demolished. Harvey's of Hayle reached their peak in the early/mid-19th century but, along with the other foundries and engineering works in Hayle, began a long and slow decline. Harvey's acquired the Cornish Copper Company in 1875 but the downturn continued. The engineering works and Foundry were closed in 1903, although the company continued to trade as general and builders merchant, eventually merging with UBM to become Harvey-UBM in 1969. The
Royal National Lifeboat Institution opened
Hayle Lifeboat Station in 1866 and a new boathouse was built in 1897. The lifeboat station closed in 1920, the boathouse then being rebuilt as a store for
Hayle Power Station. The first lifeboat was named
Isis. It was replaced in 1888 by the
New Oriental Bank which was soon renamed
E.F. Harrison. The final lifeboat was the
Admiral Rodd which was built in 1906. A memorial to the lifeboat has been placed in the Isis Gardens which were opened in 1995 in Foundry Square. In 1888, the National Explosive works were established on
Upton Towans (giving it the alternative name "Dynamite Towans"). Originally built to supply the local mining industry, it soon grew to supply the military and, during the
First World War, employed over 1500 people. The remote location on the Towans proved a wise move as there were a number of accidents resulting in explosions.
The 20th century Explosive manufacture ceased in 1920, although parts of the site were used as an explosives store until the 1960s. The area is now a
nature reserve managed by the
Cornwall Wildlife Trust. 1910 saw the opening of
Hayle Power Station on Harvey's Towans. It was coal-fired and the coal was supplied by ship from South Wales until the station was closed in 1977. At the same time Hayle Harbour was also closed to commercial shipping, although a locally important
fishing fleet, specialising mainly in
shellfish remained. Until the early 20th century Hayle had two very distinct areas of settlement around the competing foundries but slowly buildings began to appear between the two communities. St Elwyn's Church, the
Passmore Edwards Institute and a new Drill Hall all appeared within a few years of each other, and housing followed. The Passmore Edwards Institute was just one of a series of institutes and libraries built throughout Cornwall by its eponymous benefactor, who had made a fortune in the publishing business. The town council used it for offices for many years but moved to the Community Centre in April 2008. In the years between the World Wars a number of small works were established on North Quay, including a glass works, a small oil depot and an
ICI plant for producing
bromine–a fuel additive for high
octane aviation fuel. This additive increased the power of aircraft such as
Hurricanes,
Spitfires,
Lancasters and
Mosquitoes. All are now closed and most of the buildings have been demolished. The metalworking business of J & F Pool, founded in 1862, survived in Copperhouse producing perforated and fabricated metal. The engineering tradition continues with the more recent small specialist firms of Bassett Engineering and
Rigibore which specialise in tooling and precision engineering products from the Guildford Road Industrial Estate. Rigibore provides tooling to a global market and offers revolutionary products for hole boring. Bassett Engineering offer a wide range of engineering services to the
Ministry of Defence.
21st century In autumn 2011 there was a large landslip on the North Cliff and the coastal footpath had to be diverted. In 2025, Hayle received international press attention when
Frankie, a fledgling
American flamingo, disappeared from Paradise Park Wildlife Sanctuary in the town. Frankie was subsequently located in
Brittany. ==Cornish wrestling==