Devoran

The Souhrada Family Website

Devoran

Source: Feock at Cornish-Links http://www.cornish-links.co.uk/devoran.htm

Cornwall

Devoran is in the deanery and Hundred of Powder. It was created in 1873 from Feock parish to serve an increasing population.

The parish is named after the Cornish word for water, 'Dowr', and lies near the point where two rivers meet. It lies about 4 miles South West of Truro on Restronguet Creek. The land is mostly farmed and many residents work in the nearby City of Truro. Devoran once almost became a town; the village lies at the bottom of the Bissoe valley and at the top of Restronguet Creek. It is hard to imagine now that this tranquil place was once a hive of industry having a railway line to the mines, extensive wharves, and boatyards with ships and barges coming and going in the creek. It was once an important shipping place for the importation of timber, coals and iron, for the mines, and for the exportation of copper and other ores.

Devoran's brief industrial history began in the early 19th century when a railway was constructed from the Gwennap mines to Point, where the copper ore could be taken aboard ship. The trains would then return with coal and whatever else was needed for the mines. By the 1840s wharves had been built all along the creek from Devoran to Point, together with boatyards, repair shops and housing for the people. Meanwhile, however, something not so good had been taking place. Waste washed down from the plethora of tin mines in the surrounding countryside was steadily building up and the tidal creek was being choked. Tin had always been extracted from the Fal river area but the heavy industrialisation of the 19th century hugely accelerated the silting up process. Then, a little later and the final blow to all this enterprise, prices fell. Discovery of cheaper tin in other parts of the world made it increasingly uneconomical in Cornwall and by the early 20th century, the port had ground to a halt.

Today Restronguet Creek is a very peaceful place, but there is a lot less water in the bottom.

View picture of à Street near Carnon River, Devoran, Cornwall

ß Back to Williams and Tallack surnames