Wheal MartynClay Works

Two Victorian china-clay works at Carthew — a scheduled ancient monument, one of the pair preserved in its working state and the only example of its kind open to the public. Clay was first worked here in the 1820s under Elias Martyn and the works ran until 1969; English China Clays established the museum in 1975, and an independent charitable trust has run it since. Working waterwheels, tools, machinery and vintage lorries fill the sheds, and the walk climbs to a viewpoint over the vast, still-working modern pit next door — the industry that made this corner of Cornwall, seen from inside its own history. Full-price tickets convert to free return visits for a year.