Perranarworthal (Cornish: Peran ar Wodhel)^[1] is a civil parish and village in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. The village is about four miles (6.5 km) northwest of Falmouth and five miles (8 km) southwest of Truro.^[2] The parish population at the 2011 census was 1,496.^[3]

Perran Wharf is the area of the parish beside the River Kennall (a tributary of Restronguet Creek) where there were wharves and a quay. This has been developed into Perran Foundry where there are new homes and working space settled amidst the history of the site. The other settlements in the parish are Perranwell and Perranwell Station. Perranwell railway station is on the Maritime Line.

Perranarworthal parish is bordered on the north by Kea parish, on the east by Restronguet Creek and Mylor parish, on the south by St Gluvias and Stithians parishes and on the west by Gwennap parish.

History

The name derives from the Manor of Arworthal which has had a number of spellings in the past including Hareworthal (1187), Arwoethel and Arwythel. By the 18th century, two names appear on maps: "Perran Arworthal" meaning St Piran's by the creek or estuary. William Penaluna described the settlement in 1838.^[4]

Iron foundry

The Perran Iron Foundry^[5] was an innovative concern, which at its peak employed more than 400 men.^[6] Run by the Fox family of Falmouth and other Quaker business families, it was set up on the site of a tin smelting works in 1791. The foundry was later operated in partnership with the Williams family, and in 1858, it was sold to them.

The creek serving the factory silted up and mining in Cornwall declined. Eight or nine barges at a time could be found at Perranwharf with a similar number of wagons waiting to be loaded. The wharf had been used to import timber for the mining industry from Scandinavia, as well as coal, lime and guano. The guano trade was estimated to bring in between £20,000 and £30,000 a year.^[7]

The slump in the mining industry during the 1870s hit Perran Foundry badly and it closed in March 1879 with the loss of 400 jobs, causing great distress in the parish. In April 1879, the Royal Cornwall Gazette reported that a soup kitchen had been open since January: "793 people had attended and 1,240 quarts of soup were distributed". In July 1880 a preliminary notice of an intended auction for Perran Foundry was published. Williams's Perran Foundry covered an area of over 4 acres (1.6 ha) and had a lease of 99 years (commencing 24 August 1874) from Colonel Tremayne. The property contained a number of workshops, including a smithy, a hammermill, and a quay at Restronguet with access for 200-ton vessels.^[8] The machinery, plant and stock were auctioned on 30 September and 1 October 1880. Large stocks of boiler plates and machinery at the Boiler Yard, Ponsanooth were auctioned, and at the Pattern Shop, Foundry Yard, 10 tons of copper, brass, lead, tin, pewter and other metals, 6 tons of steel, several thousand fire bricks, 50 tons coal and coke, timber and numerous other lots.^[9] A chemical manure works known as Basset Foundry was sold to Mr T Rickard of Penryn for £101 in January 1883.^[10]

The buildings – including Manor Mill on the opposite side of the road – were later adapted by the Edwards Brothers for the milling and storage of grains and animal foods, and also cloth dyeing; another waterwheel was added.^[11] The site was used for various purposes until it closed in 1986.

In 2005, the owners, North Hill Estates Ltd, applied for planning permission to redevelop the site with a mix of live/work units and residential accommodation.^[12][13][14] The first homes, converted from the hammer mill and other industrial buildings, were completed in 2013.^[6]

Notable buildings

The Norway Inn^[15] was known originally as the Norway Hotel and the name derives from the Norwegian vessels which once brought loads of timber to Perran Wharf,^[16] largely for use in the mines. The timber would be seasoned by being 'pickled' for several months in shallow tidal ponds. The Norway Inn was built in 1828/1829 at the same time that the main Falmouth to Truro road was rerouted to cross the Carnon River on an embankment just above the village of Devoran.^[17]

Perran's Well, built in 1839, provided fresh spring water from the local Bissoe aquifer. The well was frequented by merchants as they took their goods from Penryn harbour to the trade capital of Cornwall, Truro.

Tullimaar House, an early 19th-century mansion, is in the parish. It was the home of Nobel Prize-winning novelist Sir William Golding (1911–1993).

Religious buildings

The 15th-century Anglican parish church dedicated to Saint Piran was rebuilt to the design of James Piers St Aubyn between May 1881 and 1882, at a cost of £1,200. At the time of the consecration ceremony which took place on 16 May 1882, a further £150 was required to install the pews. While the church was closed, services were held in the old Wesleyan chapel.^[18] The original granite tower remains from the 15th-century church. Pevsner described the church as "indifferent".^[19]

The foundation stone of the Wesleyan chapel was laid on 17 March 1879 and the first service was held on Thursday, 5 February 1880. The chapel, designed by James Hicks of Redruth is built in the early English style at an estimated cost of £2,220 and can accommodate 600.^[20]

Cornish wrestling

Perranarworthal has hosted Cornish wrestling tournaments, for prizes in venues such as the Royal Oak near Perranwell Station.^[21]

Notable people

Notable people from Perranarworthal include Charles Fox and Barclay Fox, managers of the Perran Foundry; Saint Piran^[22] or Perran after whom Perran Foundry was named; the poet Jane Crewdson, née Fox, was born here; William Jory Henwood, mining geologist was born at Perran Wharf; William Lobb (1809–1864), a plant collector was responsible for the commercial introduction to England of the "monkey puzzle" tree Araucaria araucana and the Sequoiadendron giganteum.^[23] William Golding, the novelist, died here in 1993 having lived in the village for the last eight years of his life.^[24][25]