Carn Brea Trail 6 - Illogan Highway Trail
The Illogan Highway Trail starts at the Railway Inn and ends close by, so convenient for food and drink. Illogan Highway was once a separate settlement area/village and with toll house, alms houses, well and old work house shows a history which has not been completely lost to re-development.
Address: St Uny Crescent, Carn Brea
Lat: N 50° 22′ 63.16″
Long: W 5° 24′ 21.20″
OS Grid Ref: SW 68851 41288
Distance: 2 miles
Terrain: Easy
Facilities available for this trail:
Parking – Parking at St Uny Crescent, Carn Brea
Picnic areas – there area few places along the route to stop.
Eating and shopping – a few places in (inc Morrisons) in Pool.
Public houses – The Plume of Feathers in Pool – marked on map.
Accessibility
Family and children friendly – the route is very family friendly
Cycle Trail – reasonably long trail to cycle or walk.
Horse Riding Trail – parts of the trail are suitable.
Walking Trail – an easy trail.
Disability access – suitable for small scooter.
Carn Brea Trail 6
- Created: 8th March 2017
- Updated: 1st May 2017
- Distance 2 miles
- Time 57 min
- Speed 2 mph
- Min altitude 315 ft
- Peak 443 ft
- Climb 157 ft
- Descent 154 ft
- Distance Instructions
Points of Interest
ST EUNY WELL
St Euny founded a religious settlement by his well at the foot of Carn Brea around 500 AD. Baptism with water from the holy well was believed to safeguard against hanging. A stone cross formerly stood near it.
Location: SW6899 4128
TOLL HOUSE
Blowinghouse. Private Property. Rebuilt in 1864, it bears the date stone 1843, having originally been erected at the bottom of the valley, before the embankment for the Turnpike Road was built.
Location: SW6869 4176
ALMS HOUSE, Agar Road
Private Property. Built in 1806 by Lady Francis Basset of Tehidy as an Almshouse for four widows or aged people. It is now two private houses.
Location: SW6799 4161
ILLOGAN HIGHWAY CHAPEL
Private Property. Thomas Merritt was organist here from 1889 until his death in 1908. The original chapel is the present day Sunday School building. Camborne-Redruth UDC erected a plaque in his memory on the
chapel.
Location: SW6792 4160.
SITE OF CHILI ROAD CHAPEL
(United Methodist Free Church UMFC) Private Property. The chapel opened in 1851 and the organ was built by Hele of Plymouth. It soon became known as the “Top Hat Church”. Thomas Merritt became organist here. The
organ he played and used to compose his carols was moved to St. Andrews Church, Pencoys, Four Lanes in 1973 when Chili Road Chapel closed.
Location: SW6798 4175
RAILWAY INN
Private Property. The Portreath branch line of the Hayle Railway crossed the road and the Camborne-Redruth tram rails at a gated level crossing to the west of the Railway Inn.
Location: SW6778 4150
NEOLITHIC SETTLEMENT SITE
Situated on the eastern summit. This is the earliest known village in Britain and was inhabited around 3,000 BC possibly even 6,000 BC. There was a settlement of 150 to 200 people in rectangular wooden huts, surrounded by massive stone ramparts forming part of the same system as the other ramparts and enclosure on the western summit. The huts have been carbon dated to between 3109 and 2687 BC, which would make this settlement the oldest known in Britain. 700 or more arrowheads were recovered during the 1970-73 excavations, indicating an attack in the Neolithic period and providing some of the earliest evidence of armed conflict.
Location: On top of the hill eastern end. SW 687 408
CARN BREA CASTLE AND MONUMENT
Private property. Allegedly dates from Norman times and was used as a hunting lodge by the Bassets for the deer park.
The monument is 90ft/27.5m high and 738ft/225m above sea level, it is inscribed ‘The County of Cornwall to the memory of Francis Lord de Dunstanville and Basset A.D. 1836’.
Location: SW 686 4085
