Pub history

The Rann Wartha

The china clay industry has long dominated the landscape around St Austell and the livelihood of its residents. Most of the mines were in the Higher Quarter, or Rann Wartha, to give it its Cornish name. For more than 70 years, until its closure in 2005, these premises housed the St Austell Conservative Club. The oldest part was built in the early 19th century, when there were warehouses in Biddick’s Court connected with the china clay industry.