St Austell

St Austell ("Saint Ostel", coloquially pronounced "snozzle", Cornish: Sen Ostell) is a town in Cornwall, UK. It has the largest population of any single town in Cornwall. The town initially grew as the first place where china clay was quarried in Europe. Clay was exported through Charlestown, its nearby harbour. China clay is still extracted from the locality, but now is exported from Par docks where the clay drying plant is. The industry went into decline during the 1980s and 90s and the town followed.

Related Topics:
Town - Cornwall - UK - China clay - Quarried - Charlestown - Par

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The St Austell brewery in the town supplies real ale to pubs in Cornwall and the rest of the UK. They are best known for their flagship beer, St Austell Tribute; a number of other ales are brewed but are rarely seen outside Cornwall.

Related Topics:
Real ale - UK

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Today tourism is becoming increasingly important to the economy of St Austell. Tourists are drawn to the area by nearby beaches and the Eden project located in a former clay pit. They do, however, tend to pass the town centre by. Of interest in the town centre is its Market House for those curious about roof structures.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

It is currently going through a redevelopment. With the main car park now demolished, it is harder to park than ever before. There is a lot of congestion because of the near by Eden Project. Every Wednesday there is a sale at Par Market and the congestion gets even worse.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~