Joyce Gallery

Excavation at Iron Age cemetery, Harlyn Bay, St Merryn, Cornwall. 1977

View of a trench behind the old museum at Harlyn Bay. The Iron Age cemetery in Harlyn Bay was excavated between 1900 and 1906. When digging foundations for a new house to be built, Mr Reddie Mallett had made an important archaeological discovery by finding a cist containing human remains. Excavations over the next 6 years found Harlyn Bay to be the largest Iron Age burial site in Cornwall. Bronze Age barrows had been discovered in 1864, on the west side of the bay, near the cliff edge, by a labourer digging a pond on land owned by Mr Hellyar. The museum was closed in the 1970s and most of the artefacts transferred to the Royal Cornwall Museum. Photographer: Charles Woolf

© RIC, photographer Charles Woolf

St Constantines well, Constantine Bay, Cornwall. 1961

A good example of a holy well with a well basin, bench seat and well house. The well basin has clear water which forms a narrow channel through the well house. Along with St Constantine's chapel, the well was a place of pilgrimage in medieval times. Pilgrims would wash their feet in the water which was believed to have miraculous properties. It was probably abandoned when the sand shifted and the settlement moved inland. The well is mentioned in 1700 but then disappeared beneath the sand and was seen again in 1911 when the sands moved. The well was restored in 1923 and in the 1950s a slate shelter was built over it. Photographer: Charles Woolf

© RIC, photographer Charles Woolf

Cattle market, Lostwithiel, Cornwall. 1973

A view of the cattle market when empty. The cattle market was situated off North Street in an area now occupied the town car park, which is entered from Restormel Road. Markets have been held in Lostwithiel since the 12th century. What sort of markets is not clear, but prior to the cattle market being opened they were held in Queens Street. The site was formerly known as the old iron mine site, containing the mines offices off North Street. These in turn became the cattle market offices and the market opened in 1908. By the 1930s most farmers were using motor transport and the single entrance at North Street was becoming problematic, forcing some farmers to park their vehicles on Quay Street and drive their cattle through the town via Monmouth Lane (formerly known as Tram Lane) to the Market. The former tramway ran from Restormel Iron Mine, above and near Restormel Castle, down to the harbour in Quay Road, passing through the cattle market site, across North Street into Monmouth Lane across Fore Street, along Quay Street and under the railway bridge into what later became a public park. By 1973 the market was heavily subsidised and it eventually closed in 1976. The sheds in the the photograph are standing on what was the tramway track bed, running right to left. Opposite the sheds, out of picture, are the market offices. They were formerly the iron mine offices, or Count House, which had been modernised for the cattle market administration. The offices still stand today, but have been altered and are used for modern functions. Photographer: Charles Woolf

© RIC, photographer Charles Woolf