Baker's Pit is the amalgamation of several of the early clay pits of the
Towednack area, including Bedlam Green, Bohemia, Little Bohemia, Georgia,
Little Georgia and Polhigey. These works date back to the early 19th
century; a pit at Amalebra, nearby but not positively identified, was
described working in 1758.
In 1858 Robert Hunt recorded a clay works at Towednack,
owned Messrs.
Tonkin & Gilbert, and rented by a Mr Truscott. This was producing 300 tons
of
potting clay a year. It seems reasonable (at present) that this also
refers to Bedlam Green as Penderleath (or Porthia) Clay Works, much closer
to Towednack, was not established until 1923.
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In 1868 or 1869 the works was acquired by William King
Baker and Company.
Pumping was carried out by means of a water wheel, with sand removed
inside the pit. Slurry was then
pumped to mica drags by the river near the
kiln. The sand was hauled from the pit in trucks by horse-whim. The better quality clay was dried in the pan kiln while the inferior mica-clay was
dried in an open shed.
Some of the waste was sent to Newtown Brick Works
(q.v.), between Marazion and Long Rock, where it was used to make bricks and tiles. A count-house was originally sited near to the kiln, but its
site
has been lost. A little later Baker had an engine-house built (by the
Nicholls family of masons) and equipment was obtained from a recently
closed mine. The boiler was brought from the vicinity of Knill's Monument.
The journey of the boiler, from somewhere near Knill's Steeple, is
still remembered by some of my contemporaries. I (alas!) was not there to
see; but I have heard my father tell the story. With the true "one and
all" spirit, farmers brought horses and officiated with whips and whoops,
while others held ropes on each side, and children ran out from school to
watch its progress up "Cledry" Hill, then wobbling and whooping over the
downs to its final resting place."
Helen M. Baker, Nancledra Scrapbook, Nancledra WI, 1951.
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A shaft was sunk as the pit deepened, with pumping presumably taken over
by the engine, which also wound the sand trucks. Settling pits and mica
drags were constructed near the engine. A little later Baker went into
partnership with
John and William Lovering, but the works remained in his
name and under his management. The clay was taken to Penzance by horse and
cart, often helped by the farmers of Towednack and Ludgvan.
Baker died in
1910 and the works was taken over by the Loverings, subsequently Lovering
and Pochin Ltd., only to stop for the Great War. The pit reopened shortly
after the end of the war but did not get back to full production,
despite
an attempt to install electrical equipment. Baker's Pit passed into the
hands of the newly formed English China Clays in 1932 and officially
closed in 1942. There are no known records of production.
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