Chacewater

Not to be confused with Chasewater.

Chacewater (Cornish: Dowr an Chas) is a village and civil parish in Cornwall, England, UK. It is situated approximately 3 miles (4.8 km) east of Redruth.^[1] The hamlets of Carnhot, Cox Hill, Creegbrawse, Hale Mills, Jolly's Bottom, Salem, Saveock, Scorrier, Todpool, Twelveheads and Wheal Busy are in the parish.^[2] The electoral ward is called Chacewater & Kenwyn. At the 2011 census a population of 3,870 was quoted.^[3]

Chacewater Cornish: Dowr an Chas
Chacewater church
Chacewater Location within Cornwall
Population	1,666 (Civil Parish, 2011)
OS grid reference	SW751444
Civil parish	Chacewater
Unitary authority	Cornwall
Ceremonial county	Cornwall
Region	South West
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	TRURO
Postcode district	TR4
Dialling code	01872
Police	Devon and Cornwall
Fire	Cornwall
Ambulance	South Western
UK Parliament	Truro and Falmouth
List of places UK England Cornwall 50.257°N 5.157°W / 50.257; -5.157

Village

Chacewater sits in a valley between hills separating it from the villages of Threemilestone, Scorrier and St Day. Nearby is Wheal Busy, the Poldice Valley and the Coast to Coast cycle route. The village has a pub and a club, the Chacewater Literary Institute.^[4] There are also a health centre, primary school, village hall and small selection of shops.

A free monthly magazine What's on in Chacewater reached its 200th issue in July 2007. It lists events and activities, such as the Football Club,^[5] a Cricket Club,^[6] a Bowling Club,^[7] the Chacewater Old Cornwall Society,^[8] the Chacewater Players, the Carnival (held in August), the Blind Club and a Women's Institute. The Kernow Microscopical Society meets in Chacewater.

Churches

The Anglican church^[9][10] is dedicated to St Paul; it was built in 1828 and rebuilt (apart from the tower) in 1892 by Edmund H. Sedding. The stonework is partly of granite and partly of Polyphant stone: the interior is lofty and the walls unplastered.^[11]

On 29 April 1880 a new organ was installed, for £120, in the Methodist Chapel by Mr Hele of Hele & Co, Plymouth.^[12]

Economy and transport

Chacewater railway station was opened by the West Cornwall Railway on 25 August 1852 but long since closed. The station closed to passengers on 5 October 1964 but continued to be served by goods traffic for many years, latterly for Blue Circle Cement. The Penzance bound platforms can still be seen, complete with a much altered station building. Great Western Railway and CrossCountry services run through the station on the Cornish Main Line. There are two Nursery Gardens in Chacewater; Sunny Corner Nurseries and Roseland House Nursery, which holds a National Collection of Clematis viticella cultivars and of Lapageria rosea, the Chilean Bellflower. Twelveheads Press, an independent publishing company, is based in Chacewater. It is best known for the Cornish Heritage series but also publishes transport and mining books.

Cornish wrestling

There were Cornish wrestling tournaments in Chacewater, for prizes, for at least the last couple of centuries.^[13] Tournaments were held in the field adjoining the Crown Inn^[14] and the recreation ground.^[15]

Richard Williams(1851-1892) was born in Chacewater and was known throughout the world as 'Schiller Williams' after surviving the wreck of the Schiller and helping save some of the other few survivors. He was a famous, champion wrestler in Cornwall, the US, England, Northern Ireland, Bolivia and Mexico.^[16][17] He became lightweight champion of Cornwall in 1887 after beating William Lucking in Wales.^[18] He was Western states champion in the US.^[19] He died in Mexico.^[16]

See also wrestling in Penstraze.

Notable people

Notable people born in Chacewater include Jonathan Hornblower the steam pioneer, Matthew Paul Moyle the meteorologist and geologist, and Andrew Ketcham Barnett, Mayor of Penzance and president of the Royal Geological Society of Cornwall. (See also Category:People from Chacewater.)

Gallery

• 
  St Paul's Church
• 
  Chacewater Methodist Church
• 
  Chacewater Literary Institute
• 
  Chacewater railway station on the Cornish Main Line, not reopened yet.
• 
  Roseland Nursery Garden
• 
  Roseland House
• 
  "The Rambling Miner"
• 
  "The King's Head"
• 
  "The Britannia"
• 
  Chacewater Village from Chacewater Hill

See also

• Cornwall portal

• Killifreth Mine – a former mine nearby
• Wheal Busy – a nearby disused metalliferous mine formerly called Chacewater mine
• Wheal Jane – a nearby disused tin mine

References

1. Ordnance Survey: Landranger map sheet 204 Truro & Falmouth ISBN 978-0-319-23149-4
2. Cornwall; Explore Britain
3. "Ward population 2011 census". Retrieved 5 February 2015.
4. Chacewater Literary Institute was given to the village in 1893 by John Passmore Edwards.
5. Chacewater F.C. Archived June 25, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
6. Chacewater Cricket Club Archived August 17, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
7. Chacewater Bowling Club
8. Chacewater Old Cornwall Society Archived September 28, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
9. "St Paul's Church-History". Archived from the original on 28 September 2007.
10. "St Paul's Church - current information". Archived from the original on 9 October 2007. Retrieved 26 June 2007.
11. Betjeman, J. (ed.) (1968) Collins Pocket Guide to English Parish Churches: the South. London: Collins; p. 147
12. "Chasewater". The Cornishman. No. 96. 13 May 1880. p. 7.
13. West Briton and Cornwall Advertiser, 19 July 1844.
14. Royal Cornwall Gazette, 16 July 1908.
15. West Briton and Cornwall Advertiser, 18 June 1964.
16. Death of Richard (Schiller) Williams, Cornish Post and Mining News, 27 August 1892, p7.
17. Death of Schiller Williams, Cornishman 25 August 1892, p6.
18. Wrestling Match, The Central Glamorgan Gazette, and General, Commercial, and Agricultural Advertiser, 27 May 1887, p6.
19. Letter from the Transvaal, Cornishman, 13 May 1948, p4.

External links

• "Village website".