The name for the web site has been taken from Crinnis Beach, which forms part of what most people today call Carlyon Bay. Most maps today name Carlyon Bay: from west to east the separate beaches are more correctly called Crinnis, Shorthorn and finally Polgaver Beaches. The name Crinnis is also used for an area of conifer woodland which has been developed by Barrett Homes. Mines have also taken the name Crinnis: these all ceased working many years ago and have also been largely built over

The Beaches. The three beaches that make up Carlyon Bay are in fact of recent deposition and are composed mainly of waste material from the china clay industry. The quartz grains are very similar to the very visible heaps inland from St.Austell. During the mid 19^th century, the Porth stream was diverted via an adit to flow out to sea over Shorthorn Beach. The construction of the adit appears to have started soon after 1842. At that time there was a major problem with sand and other mine waste being carried into the newly constructed Par Harbour ( constructed 1830-1840). Although the Porth Stream has only a small catchment area it includes an area of important china clay workings. A second reason for the construction of the adit is that it allowed for easier drainage of the copper mines on Par Moor. Prior to this time, high tides reached the base of the cliffs at Crinnis, Shorthorn and Polgaver. The upstanding rock on Crinnis Beach (Crinnis Rock) would have been an offshore stack permanently surrounded by sea. The 1881 Ordnance Survey map records for the first time the high water mark no longer reached the base of the cliff. It was 450 feet to the south on Crinnis Beach and 330 feet on the Shorthorn Beach. By 1959 the high tide mark had retreated by a maximum of 650 feet south of the cliffs. The cliffs today are colonised by gorse and ivy with occasional rockfalls producing scree at the base. The beach and area immediately to the rear have had varied fortunes in recent years.  In the mid 70's considerable amounts of money were spent improving the car park and tourist attractions such as the beach railway and crazy golf.  The Cornwall Coliseum was in it's prime and attracted stars like Chleo Lane, Dennis Waterman, Shena Eastman, Franky Vaughan and many others.  The construction of the more competitive Plymouth Pavilions saw the start of the slow decline.  Very recently, Ampersands have bought the site and are set to build five hundred luxury holiday apartments.  The apartments will be protected from the sea by a sea wall. As the beach is composed entirely of recent china clay waste it is interesting to speculate how long it will remain before reverting to the profile that existed in the 19th  century.  Having watched the beach from a geologists point of view for thirty years I am aware that it is constantly changing and very slowly retreating!  The planned sea wall is designed to withstand normal storms. But how many years will it be before a record breaking storm occurs?  Anyone interested in buying one of the apartments should consider reading the article mentioned at the bottom of this page.

China Clay has been worked on St. Austell Moor from the beginning of the nineteenth century. Records show that in 1809, the port of Charlestown exported 2,919 tons of china clay and china stone. By 1851 production had risen to 98,000 tons annually. Output continued to rise rapidly reaching 700,000 tons by 1914. It should be noted that for each ton of useful clay there are about eight tons of waste! The early china clay companies sought to get rid of the finer waste via nearby streams. It is this massive increase in clay production that caused the changes to the beach profiles.

The area has a long and complex history. The Victorians were great recorders but the mines had already been active prior to this time. They were the first to map the whole of the UK to a scale of six inches to the mile and collated statistical returns for mineral production and employment at each mine. Regulations also required that as each mine closed underground plans were lodged at the mining records office in London. Unfortunately bankrupt mine owners did not always pay attention to the letter of the law and where plans exist they are of varying quality. Exports from the Crinnis Mines are recorded through the port of Charlestown which pre date records shown in statistics produced by HMSO.

Appletree Mine. Believed to lie immediately south of West Crinnis Mine. Mine workings are visible in the base of the cliff at Appletree Cove, which is the first bay east of the eastern beach at Charlestown. These short levels do not link up with the main Appletree workings which must have been quite extensive. Records of output are: 1840-66, 16,575 tons of 7% copper ore, 483 tons of Pyrite (Iron sulphide), 234 tons of Blende (Zinc sulphide) and 1 ton of 75% lead ore (Galena/Lead sulphide).

West Crinnis Mine. This mine is situated close to the mail railway line approximately 2 miles east of St. Austell. The earliest workings were known as Wheal Regent but this was later included into a larger mining sett called West Crinnis. Workings extend under much of the residential part of Carlyon Bay. Surface remains have been levelled and bungalows built to form Regents Close. In the rank of shops in Carlyon Bay there was a Wheal Regent Restaurant until a few years ago. Records of output are: Wheal Regent 1815-23, 2,623 tons of 7% copper ore. West Crinnis Mine1855-59, 1,665 tons of 7.5% copper ore, 13 tons of Pyrite (Iron sulphide) and 3 tons of 66% lead ore with a little silver.

Crinnis Mine. This mine was also recorded under the name Great Crinnis & Carlyon Consolidated. Records show that it was producing copper ores as early as 1809. It worked the area along the coast 2 miles South East of St. Austell. The mineral lodes outcrop in the vicinity of Fanny’s Beach, which is the first beach west of Crinnis Beach. Plans show shafts inland of Gull Island. Records of output are: Crinnis 1815-33, 38,330 tons of 5.25% copper ore, Great Crinnis 1854-69 and 1877, 3,758 tons of 6% copper ore, 1854-60, 182 tons of 56 % lead ore (Galena/Lead sulphide), 950 oz. of silver (most likely mined in the form of Argentiferous Galena) and 572 tons of Pyrite(Iron sulphide). Great Crinnis & Carlyon 1878-81, 408 tons of 9% copper ore, 29.5 tons of ‘Silver ore’. In the early years of the twentieth century it is known that small amounts of Sphalerite(Zinc sulphide) were extracted from the cliff workings.

H. G. Dines, ‘The Metalliferous Mining Region of South West England.’ First Edition 1956, Second Edition 1969, Fourth Impression 1994. HMSO, London.

C. E. Everard, ‘Mining and Shoreline Evolution near St. Austell, Cornwall,’ Trans. Roy. Geol. Soc. Corn., Vol. 19, p.199-219.