The story of china clay begins in the cradle of the Industrial Revolution in which Cornwall was to play a significant role. It was Cornwall's metalliferous wealth that initially was so important, together with associated engineering developments such as improvements in the evolution of the steam engine.

Today, however, china clay has taken over the position as Cornwall's most important extractive industry. The value of clay sold to date is £13.5 billion, compared with tin and copper at £9 billion.

1740

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