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THE TREVITHICK SOCIETY
FOR THE PRESERVATION AND STUDY OF CORNWALL'S INDUSTRIAL HERITAGE
Established 1935 |
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About the Trevithick Society |
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The Trevithick Society traces its beginning from 1935 when a small group of individuals formed the Cornish Engines Preservation Committee to acquire the Levant winding engine. The last of these mammoth relics of Cornwall's engineering achievements in the Victorian age were, at the time, finally being replaced and scrapped. In other parts of the country the preservation of such monuments had, generally, to wait another quarter-century or so. The far-sighted efforts of this group must now be seen as a pioneering landmark in Industrial Archaeology. In 1947 the Committee became a registered charity and changed its name to the Cornish Engines Preservation Society. In the ensuing years the CEPS acquired Taylor's 90-inch and Robinson's 80-inch pumping engines and Michell's 30-inch winding engine.
In 1971 the Society combined with the Cornish Waterwheel Preservation Society (formed in 1970) and the name TREVITHICK SOCIETY was chosen in honour of Cornwall's greatest engineer, Richard Trevithick, a key figure in the development of high pressure steam and its application in engines for mining and transport use.
As an educational charity the Society aims to encourage an interest in Industrial Archaeology through lectures, outings and other meetings and by publishing the results of individual research through its Journal and other publications. It encourages the preservation of engine houses and other industrial buildings of worth as a significant part of Cornwall's heritage. The Society encourages the sympathetic re-use of redundant industrial buildings along with the statutory protection and preservation of prime examples of all types. It sees recording as an important part of its work where the preservation of a monument is not possible.
The Society maintains close links with numerous public and private bodies having common interests, both at a local and national level, and is affiliated to the Association for Industrial Archaeology and the National Association of Mining History Organisations. Our contact with the National Trust has been particularly close since they took over from the Society in 1967 the care of five Cornish engines and Trevithick's cottage.
The Society has been responsible for the restoration of the Levant Beam Engine to steam working and has loaned artefacts to numerous industrial sites both inside and outside Cornwall. A long term objective has been the establishment of a museum to house our collections, most of which are on show and in store at King Edward Mine.
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