Publications

Postcard of Carwynnen Quoit in c.1890

A new postcard featuring a high quality reproduction of of lantern slide of c.1890 showing Carwynnen Quoit is now available. Three other postcards of the prehistoric monuments of West Penwith are also available. The set is a limited edition of 250 copies and the card can be ordered individually from Delcampe.

Carwynnen Quoit in c.1890

Postcard of an Engraving of Carwynnen Quoit in 1808

A new postcard featuring a high quality reproduction of an engraving of 1808 showing Pendarvis or Carwynnen Quoit is now available. Five other postcards of engravings of the prehistoric monuments of Britain are also available. The set is a limited edition of 250 copies and the card can be ordered individually from Delcampe.

Engraving of Carwynen Quoit in 1808

Camborne & Around Through Time

By Ivor Corkell and David Thomas

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The Manor of Tehidy was owned by the Basset family as Lords of the Manor from Norman times until 1916 and they remain a legend with their name on streets, public houses and Camborne's town clock. Their fortune grew through mining, land ownership and marriages with rich local families. When the young Nicholas Holman and Richard Trevithick became friends they could never have imagined the impact they would have on engineering, society and the town of Camborne. Nicholas Holman helped Richard Trevithick with his 'Roaring Puffing Devil' locomotive, which made the famous run up Camborne Hill on Christmas Eve 1801 - an event regarded as the birth of mechanised transportation. Ivor Corkell and David Thomas take us on a journey through time to explain just how these famous names and many other local businesses at the time influenced the industrial town of Camborne into what it is today. Published by Amberley Publishing. ISBN-978-1-4456-1331-4.

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Camborne (Images of England)

By David Thomas

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This book of over 230 old photographs features the parish of Camborne and dictrict from Victorian time to more recent scenes. The work of many local talented Camborne photographers is featured in this book including W.J. Bennetts, J.C. Burrow, E.A. Bragg, E.J. Champion and W.J. Sandry. The Camborne of today is essentially the product of a thriving nineteenth century mining community in the heart of the chief industrial area of west Cornwall. Some of Camborne's important industries are featured in the book including the great Dolcoath Mine and Holman Brothers Ltd. The parish is replete with places of worship of every size, type and denomination which are also well documented, as well as memorable events, formative years at school and a community in moments of leisure. Some of Camborne's best known individuals are captured too, including William Quintrell the Camborne poet, Organ Joe a familiar character in Edwardian Camborne and Mr A Edward Dunn, the liberal candidate in the 1906 General Election. This book will be enjoyed by all who know and love this Cornish town and would enjoy a trip into its past. Published by The History Press. ISBN-978-0-7524-0765-4.

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Gathering the Fragments

By Charles Thomas

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This selection of work by the late Professor Charles Thomas, Cornwall’s leading historian at the time of writing, focuses on the more elusive titles from his long and illustrious career and covers the whole range of his output from folklore and archaeology to military and local history, and from cerealogy to cryptozoology. The book also includes unpublished material, as well as specially composed introductions to each chapter, a full biography and a select bibliography.

Chapters featured include: A Plea for Neutrality (New Cornwall, 1955); Youthful Ventures Into the Realm of Folk Studies - Present-day Charmers in Cornwall (Folk-Lore, 1953), Underground Tunnels at Island Mahee, County Down (Ulster Folklife, 1957), Archaeology and Folk-life Studies (Gwerin, 1960); What Did They Do When it Rained in 1857? (The Scillonian, 1986); Home Thoughts from Abroad (Camborne Wesley Journal, 1948); The Day That Never Came (The Cornish Review, 1968); Camborne Festival Magazine - The Camborne Printing and Stationery Company (1971), The Camborne Students’ Association (1974), Camborne’s War Record, 1914-1919 (1976), The Camborne Volunteer Training Corps in World War One (1983), Carwynnen Quoit (1985); Jottings from Gwithian (The Godrevy Light) - How Far Back Can We Go? (2006), Ladies of Gwithian (2007); Two Funeral Orations (unpublished) - Charles Woolf (1984), Rudolf Glossop (1993); Archaeology and the Mind (unpublished) (1968 inaugural lecture, University of Leicester); The Archaeologist in Fiction (1976); Archaeology, and the Concept of Cornishness (unpublished) (1995 memorial lecture, Cornwall Archaeological Society); A Couple of Reviews - Lost Innocence: Archaeologists as People (Encounter, 1981), The Cairo Trilogy (Literary Review, 2001); An Impromptu Ode - To A.L. Rowse (1997); The Cerealogist - An Archaeologist’s View (1991), Magnetic Anomalies (1991/92); Two Cryptozoological Papers - The “Monster” Episode in Adomnan’s Life of St. Columba (Cryptozoology, 1988), A Black Cat Among the Pictish Beasts? (Pictish Arts Society Journal, 1994).

Professor Charles Thomas CBE DL DLitt FBA FSA was the former President of the Council for British Archaeology, the Society for Medieval Archaeology, the Royal Institution of Cornwall, the Cornwall Archaeological Society, the Cornish Methodist Historical Society and the John Harris Society.

Edited by Chris Bond. Published by The Cornovia Press. Hardcover : ISBN 978 1 908878 02 1; Paperback : ISBN 978 1 908878 03 8.

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Read Frank Ruhrmund's review of the book in The Cornishman.

Dowsing: With an Account of Some Original Experiments

By Thomas Fiddick

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This reprint of a rare and obscure pamphlet, originally published by Thomas Fiddick of Camborne in 1913, details the various experiments which he undertook whilst dowsing for mineral lodes in his native Cornwall, as well as giving a potted history of mineralogical dowsing in the area. It also gives details of his "Dowsing Cone" and instructions for its use. This book is an invaluable resource for those who study or practise the art of rhabdomancy, or for those who wish to learn more concerning the history of mining in Cornwall. Edited and with an introduction by Chris Bond.

Paperback, 44 pages. ISBN 9780952206484.

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"Great stuff! … fascinating." — Professor Charles Thomas.

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Historical Descriptions of Camborne

By Chris Bond

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A fine selection of historical descriptions of the town and parish of Camborne spanning the years 1700 to 1898, including accounts of the parish by Edward Lhuyd, William Penaluna and Joseph Polsue. Also includes Richard Trevithick by Richard Edmonds, the elusive Reminiscences of Camborne by William Richards Tuck (which includes a first hand account of Joseph Emidy, the 18th century West African born slave turned composer and virtuoso violinist), Rodolph Eric Raspe, the author of the Adventures of Baron Munchausen, by Robert Hunt, The Endowed Public Charities of Camborne by Thomas Fiddick junior and The Great Dolcoath by Albert Bluett, this last being illustrated with photographs by J C Burrow of Camborne. The book also contains a comprehensive index. All of the proceeds from the sales of this book are to go to the Camborne Old Cornwall Society, and the President of which, David Thomas, has contributed the Foreword. Paperback: ISBN 978 1 908878 00 7. Hardcover: ISBN 978 0 9522064 7 7.

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Victorian and Edwardian Camborne

By J Arthur Osborne and David Thomas

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Views of Camborne, 1850-1920, through the eyes of the camera; photographs which capture the spirit of the era, now vanished from our sight forever, except through the media of collections of contemporary photographs such as those included in this book. Featuring the best of the material available to the authors, this book is a valuable addition to the library of anyone interested in Camborne's past. Published by J Arthur Osborne.

This book, if available, can be ordered from Amazon.