Photographs Expand The archive includes photographs covering a wide range of topics including clay folk, pastimes, clay villages, railways, road transport, clay pits, machinery and landscapes.
Books and publications Expand We hold copies of most of the books written on the china clay industry, together with many items on associated industries such as mining and railways. We also have an extensive collection of trade publications from the earliest china clay companies through to English China Clays Ltd. and Imerys Minerals Ltd.
Maps Expand We have a large collection of Ordnance Survey maps, e.g. 1907 series 1:2500 sheets covering most of mid-Cornwall and North Cornwall and some sheets from West Cornwall and Devon; 1973 series 1:2500 covering most of mid-Cornwall and some of West Cornwall and Devon, and 1906 series 1:10560 covering most of mid- Cornwall and some of Devon. We also have aerial photographs of the china clay area dating from 1948.
Documents Expand These include leases or “Setts” to work for china clay (granted to the early china clay companies in the 19th century), engineering drawings, plans, correspondence and publications from English Clays Lovering Pochin (ECLP), English China Clays (ECC) and other clay companies. They have mostly been catalogued and it is possible to search for information on particular locations or topics.