Portreath
Portreath
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 Portreath harbour at low tide |
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 Portreath
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| Portreath shown within Cornwall | |
| Population | 1,336 (2011) |
| OS grid reference | SW655455 |
| Unitary authority | |
| Ceremonial county | |
| Region | |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | REDRUTH |
| Postcode district | TR16 |
| Dialling code | 01209 |
| Police | Devon and Cornwall |
| Fire | Cornwall |
| Ambulance | South Western |
| EU Parliament | South West England |
| UK Parliament | |
Portreath (Cornish: Porthtreth or Porth Treth) is a civil parish, village and fishing port on the north coast of Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. The village is about three miles (5 km) northwest of Redruth. The village extends along both sides of a stream valley and is centred on the harbour and beach. West of the harbour entrance and breakwater are two sandy beaches which are popular with holidaymakers and surfers.
Portreath lies within the Cornwall Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB). Almost a third of Cornwall has AONB designation, with the same status and protection as a National Park.
The name Portreath (meaning "sandy cove") was first recorded in 1485 and tin streaming in the valley was recorded from 1602. Devon contractor Samuel Nott, was engaged to build the first mole (or quay) in 1713 on the western side of the beach, near Amy's Point. The quay was destroyed by the sea before 1749 and the foundations are occasionally seen when the sea washes away the sand. The village also had a fishing fleet, mainly for pilchards. The harbour we see today was started in 1760 to service the expanding ore industry in the Camborne and Redruth area. The quay was extended and the inner basin constructed in 1846 and in the 1860s, New Dock, now known as Little Beach, was constructed.
In the late 1770s, during the American Revolutionary War, lieutenant-colonel of the North Devon militia, Francis Basset, commanded local miners to fortify the port, which helped counter a Franco-Spanish invasion fleet gathered as part of the European theatre of the war, some of them still standing to this day.
By 1827 Portreath was described as Cornwall's most important port and Portreath was, with Devoran on the south coast, one of the main ports for sending the copper ore mined in the Gwennap area to Swansea for smelting. The ships returned with Welsh coal to fire the steam engines used on the mines. The peak of this enterprise was around 1840, when some 100,000 tons of copper ore were shipped out each year.
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Wikipedia