Editing Par, Cornwall (section)

==Par Harbour and Canal==
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===Joseph Treffry===
Before 1800 the village was a small group of houses below the cliff overlooking the mouth of the [[River Par (UK)|River Par]]; the river was crossed by a ferry. During the first years of the nineteenth century small scale workings of [[china stone]], [[kaolinite|china clay]], copper and granite were developed.

[[File:Par Harbour from Par Mount.jpg|thumb|Par Harbour in the early 20th century]]
Joseph Austen, born 1782, was an important Fowey businessman; he later changed his name to [[Joseph Treffry]], and as that name is much better known it is used here. He acquired an interest on many mines and pits, and he re-opened the dormant Lanescot copper mine on the hill overlooking Par, and developed it further. With adjacent workings it became the rich and highly productive [[Fowey Consols mine]]. Treffry sought to build a tramway connection to Fowey Harbour from his workings, but was unable to acquire the necessary land, and instead he decided to develop a harbour at Par. He purchased the ferry and replaced it with a bridge in 1824, and started improvement of the harbour in 1829; it was completed in 1840.<ref name = lux>Cornwall Archaeological Unit, ''The Luxulyan Valley Project: an Archaeological and Historical Survey'', Truro, 1988</ref>

===Par Canal===
To bring the copper ore to Par, Treffry built a canal from [[Pontsmill]] to Par by canalising the river; he constructed a tramway on an inclined plane from Fowey Consols down to Pontsmill, so that Par harbour became a key location in the transport chain. The harbour development led to the expansion of Par, and the community was detached from the parish of St Blaise (later [[St Blazey]]) in the mid 19th century.

Treffry later built a new tramway up the Luxulyan Valley to Molinnis, and extended it down from Pontsmill to Par, by-passing the canal; this further developed the importance of Par. However copper was exported to Swansea for smelting and coal for powering mine engines were imported from there; this involved a difficult sea passage around Land's End, and Treffry announced his intention to continue his tramway to Newquay, on the north coast of Cornwall. This was not achieved in his lifetime.<ref name = vaughan/>