Redruth
Exploring the Town

Tweedy, Williams & Co's Bank (1856)

Turn left in Penryn Street. On the right The Redruth Chambers occupy a granite building erected on the site of Tweedy, Williams & Co's Bank (later renamed The Cornish Bank and rebuilt in 1906 as Barclays Bank). The British Legion Club next door was Tregweath House, the home of the banker Robert Tweedy.

Enter St Rumon's Garden, opened in 2000 in the shell of Druid's Hall (1859) - once Redruth's cultural centre with its library, large assembly room and theatre. In 1910 it became cinema (later known as the Gem Cinema) and then the Zodiac Bingo Club which burnt down in 1984.

Go through the gardens into Cross Street. On your left is Murdoch House, (c.1660) built on the site of the mediaeval chapel of St. Rumon (c.1400), which was a sanctuary for pilgrims going to and from St Michael's Mount - note St Rumon's cross sited outside.

Townspeople also used the chapel in preference to the long walk to St Euny Parish Church. In 1779 William Murdoch came to Redruth as an employee of Boulton & Watt to install and repair their machinery at the mines. His hammer mill once stood nearby. In 1784 Murdoch built an innovative miniature steam-driven self-propelling locomotive and in 1792 he lit his then residence Murdoch House with piped coal gas - probably the first building in the world to be lit this way.

Old Town Hall & Court House (1850)

Turn right to rejoin Penryn Street. Cross over at the pelican crossing and head for the viaduct. Just before is the Old Town Hall & Court House, erected under the Small Debts Court Act by Robert Blee.

Look for his initials on the front of the building. It was also used as a theatre before Druid's Hall was built in 1859. Later it became the office of the solicitor and historian Thurston Peter, who excavated the Neolithic and Iron Age settlements on Carn Brea in 1895.