Hayle

Hayle (Cornish: Heyl, lit. "estuary") is a port town and civil parish in west Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is situated at the mouth of the Hayle River (which discharges into St Ives Bay) and is approximately seven miles (11 km) northeast of Penzance.

The parish shares boundaries with St Ives to the west, St Erth to the south, Gwinear and Gwithian in the east, and is bounded to the north by the Celtic Sea. At the 2021 census the population of the parish was 9,772 and the population of the built up area was 9,040.

Hayle was originally three separate settlements that have merged over time: Foundry, Copperhouse and the Towans. In the 19th century, it was known as an important mining port and major centre for manufacturing steam engines.

Although there is a long history of settlement in the Hayle Estuary area dating from the Bronze Age, the modern town of Hayle was built predominantly during the 18th century Industrial Revolution. Evidence of Iron Age settlement exists at the fort on the hill above Carnsew Pool where the Plantation now stands.

It is thought that Hayle was an important centre for the Neolithic tin industry, trading not only with Irish and Breton people, but also the Phoenicians of the eastern Mediterranean. Evidence of this comes from finds of imported pottery including Romano/Grecian Amphorae - containers for wine and oil.

Although the Romans never conquered Cornwall they may have had a military presence in the Hayle Estuary, and it is thought that the rectangular churchyard at St Uny's Church, Lelant on the western shore of the estuary is built within the outline of a Roman fort.

In those times the estuary looked a lot different from that of today. It appears that the estuary was deeper and it was possible for boats to go up the River Hayle as far as where St Erth Bridge is now situated; the tide used to flow in and out of what is now Foundry Square in the town, and at Gwithian reached inland some considerable distance toward Connor Downs.

The departure of the Romans was followed by an influx of Christian missionaries, most of whom are said to have had Irish origins and after whom many Cornish towns take their present name. The lives of Saint Samson and Saint Petroc report that both saints arrived in Cornwall at the Hayle Estuary, indicating that it was an established port at least by the end of the 5th century.