Hayle Heritage Centre – Preserving and Sharing Hayle's History

Due to structural issues in John Harvey House, the building has been put on Historic England’s Heritage At Risk register, and therefore we will only be opening the ground floor in 2022.

We are planning a year of fantastic workshops, talks and events as well as re-opening the brilliant ’24 Foundry Square’ exhibition. Going on the HAR has accelerated our long-term plans to expand and rejuvenate the centre. We are working behind-the-scenes to develop a new and improved Heritage Centre for Hayle. We will be updating our website with project progress so watch this space!

24 Foundry Square

New exhibition exploring the 242 year old history of 24 Foundry Square, from an industrial powerhouse as the office for Harvey & Co, to Slade’s engineer’s, a fantasy world as Excalibur’s Meadery to its final incarnation as Hayle heritage centre.

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Welcome To Hayle Heritage Centre

Hayle Heritage Centre has a wide range of displays: Harvey’s Foundry, the Cornish Copper Company, Hayle Regatta and Carnival, Hayle Power Station, J & F Pool, Art in Hayle and more. The Centre explores a host of other social and industrial history topics through temporary and permanent exhibitions.

Learn more about our exhibitions
Collection Highlights

From the family famed for one of the world’s greatest foundries, William Lueg Harvey left his engineering roots for a military career.
His original dress tunic, made for him in 1899, is one of our collection highlights.

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Industrial Heritage

Harvey & Co. were world leaders in engineering throughout the Industrial Revolution. The mammoth Cruquius Engine, the world’s largest ever beam engine cast at Harvey’s Foundry in 1843, was amongst the company’s greatest achievements.

Harvey’s of Hayle – The Story
Conservation

We are currently working on a long-term conservation project, cleaning and repairing a large collection of papers dating from the late 19th century.

Discover more about the Biggleston Collection
"A must for every bookshelf."
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The Port of Hayle - a World Heritage Site
As the world's most important mining port and home to the centre for steam engine manufacturing, Hayle was an industrial powerhouse in nineteenth century Britain. These unrivalled contributions were recognised in 2006 when the Port of Hayle was awarded World Heritage status as part of the Cornwall and West Devon Mining Landscape World Heritage Site.

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