Harveys of Hayle

In 1779 John Harvey, a blacksmith from nearby by Carnhell Green established a small foundry and engineering works. By 1800 he employed more than 50 people and continued to grow. Harveys formed partnerships with many of the great engineers and entrepreneurs of the day including Richard Trevithick, William West and Arthur Woolf.

The firm of Harvey & Co certainly built some of the best beam engines ever built which were set to work in both Cornish Mines and in mines worldwide. They also produced a range of products, from hand tools to ocean going ships including the Cornubia.

As Harvey's and the Cornish Copper Company continued to thrive, rivalry between grew into open hostility. Disputes broke out over access to the sea. The Cornish Copper Company controlled the dock and the tidal sluice which they had built at Copperhouse. Harveys eventually solved their problem by constructing their own tidal reservoir and sluice by creating Carnsew Pool.

Harvey's of Hayle reached their peek in the early/mid 1800's. However along with the other foundries and engineering works in Hayle began a long and slow decline. Harvey's acquired the Cornish Copper Company in 1875. But eventuall engineering works and Foundry were closed in 1903 though the company continued to trade as general and builders merchant, eventually merging with UBM to become Harvey-UBM in 1969.

[1] Cornwall Calling Web Site