St Austell

St Austell is a town in mid Cornwall and one of the county’s largest settlements, built on the china clay industry whose white spoil heaps are known as the Cornish Alps. The Eden Project is 2 miles to the north-east, built inside a former clay pit with two massive biomes housing plants from tropical and Mediterranean climates. The Lost Gardens of Heligan are about 5 miles to the south.

Charlestown, 2 miles south of the town centre, is a Georgian harbour village built in the 1790s by Charles Rashleigh. Tall ships are often moored in the harbour, and the village has been used as a filming location for Poldark. The harbour and surrounding area are a designated Conservation Area.

Wheal Martyn is the only china clay heritage centre in the world, set in a former working clay pit just north of town. It traces 270 years of the industry that shaped the local landscape, from open-air clay pits to the modern extraction process.

St Austell Brewery, founded in 1851 by Walter Hicks, remains independent and family-owned. It brews Tribute and Proper Job among other ales, and its visitor centre runs brewery tours. The town centre holds a regular market and connects to the mainline GWR rail service at St Austell station.

Carlyon Bay beach is about 2 miles south-east - a wide sandy beach backed by cliffs. Pentewan, a former harbour village, sits a similar distance to the south with a sheltered beach and cycle trail. The town’s position between the Eden Project, Heligan, Charlestown, and the south coast beaches makes it a practical base for this part of Cornwall.