HELSTON, or HELLESTON, a borough and market-town and chapelry, in the parish
of WENDRON, possessing separate jurisdiction, but locally in the hundred of
Kerrier, county of CORNWALL, 61 miles (S. W.) from
Launceston, and 274 (W. S. W.) from London, containing
2671 inhabitants. This is a place of considerable antiquity,
and was one of the original stannary towns, though
but little tin is coined here at present. When Domesdaybook
was compiled it formed part of the royal demesne,
and King John granted a.charter to the burgesses for
the foundation of a guild, which, was- confirmed by
Edward III., who gave the privilege of holding a market
and fairs. The town stands on the great road from Plymouth
to the Land's End, on the declivity of a hill, to the
east of the little river Cober; and it comprises four principal
streets arranged in the form of a cross, with a handsome,
market-house and town-hall near the centre: at
the end of the street which takes its name from the
building is situated old .Coinage-hall. The streets are
all paved, and lighted with gas, and a stream of
water flows through them, affording an abundant supply
to the inhabitants, and giving a neat and agreeable
aspect to the place. In the neighbourhood are mines
of tin, lead, and copper, which are very productive,
especially the famous tin mine of Huel Vor, about
three miles westward from the town, the works extending
more than a mile and a half under ground. Five
large steam-engines are used to pump the water out of
the mine, and several smaller ones for raising the ore and
other purposes: there are likewise four large stampingmills
worked by steam; and the operations of roasting
and smelting are carried on upon the spot. The expense
of working this mine has been estimated at £5000
a month, notwithstanding which, the proprietors are
said to have obtained a clear profit of £10,000 in
three months. Markets are held on. Wednesday and
Saturday; and there are fairs on the Saturdays before
Mid-Lent Sunday and Palm Sunday, on "Whit-Monday,
July 20th, September 9th, October 28th, and the first,
second, and third Saturdays before Christmas-eve.
Notwithstanding the grant of many previous charters,
Helston was not made a corporate town till the
reign of Elizabeth, who vested the government in a mayor
and four aldermen, who constituted the common council,
and were to choose twenty-four assistants; and this
charter was confirmed by Charles I., who appointed the
mayor for the current year to be also recorder, and
the mayor for the preceding year to be a justice of the
peace within the borough, with power to hold quarter
sessions. This charter being forfeited, in consequence
of some electioneering intrigues, a new one was obtained
in 1774, under which the corporation consists of a
mayor and four aldermen, with an indeterminate number
of freemen. There is a common gaol within the
borough, under the jurisdiction of the mayor and aldermen;
but it consists of only a single room, capable of
holding only four prisoners, and committals seldom take
place. The petty sessions for the west division of the
hundred of Kerrier are held here on the first Saturday
in every month. The borough has sent members to parliament
ever since the 26th of Edward I.; the right of
election is vested in the corporation, and the mayor is
the returning officer: the patronage of the borough
belongs to the Duke of Leeds.
The living is a perpetual curacy, with the vicarage
of Wendron, in the archdeaconry and diocese of Cornwall.
The church, dedicated to St. Michael, is a handsome
edifice, with a lofty pinnacled tower, standing on
an eminence to the north of the town: it was rebuilt
in 1762, at the expense of £6000, the benefaction of the
Earl of Godolphin. Here are places of worship for
Baptists and Wesleyan Methodists. A National school
has been established in the town; also a dispensary for
the sick poor not receiving parochial relief. In 1704,
Charles Godolphin, Esq. gave land producing a considerable
income, in trust to the mayor and commonalty
" for the education and maintenance of poor scholars,
relief of decayed virtuous gentlemen, redemption of
prisoners, and apprenticing poor children." Here was
anciently a castle, of which some vestiges existed when
Leland visited the town, in the reign of Henry VIII. j
the site is now a bowling-green. At the village of St.
John, adjoining Helston, was a priory, or hospital, dedicated
to St. John the Baptist, the revenue of which,
at the dissolution, was £14. 7. 4. Near this town is
Loo Pool, one of the most considerable lakes in the
county, formed by an accumulation of the waters of the
river, confined by a sand-bank thrown up by the waves
of the sea, through which an opening is made occasionally
to drain the lake. This town has from time immemorial
been noted for a popular festival, held annually
on the 8th of May, called " the Furrey," supposed to
have been derived from the Roman Floralia, or games in
honour of the goddess Flora; on this occasion persons
parade the streets with garlands of flowers, and all ranks
partake of the pleasures of dancing and various rural
amusements.