Delabole

Coordinates: 50°37′23″N 4°43′54″W / 50.6231°N 4.7318°W / 50.6231; -4.7318

Delabole
Delabole  Delabole shown within Cornwall
Population	2,500 (2001 Estimate)
OS grid reference	SX070840
Parish	St Teath
Unitary authority	Cornwall
Ceremonial county	Cornwall
Region	South West
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	DELABOLE
Postcode district	PL33
Dialling code	01840
Police	Devon and Cornwall
Fire	Cornwall
Ambulance	South Western
EU Parliament	South West England
UK Parliament	North Cornwall
List of places: UK • England • Cornwall

Delabole (Cornish: Delyowboll) is a village in north Cornwall, in the United Kingdom. It is the third highest village in Cornwall, the two highest are also in the former North Cornwall district. Delabole was the birth place of the Cornwall Air Ambulance. Delabole has a few businesses including Delabole Quarry and Delabole Wind Farm, the first commercial wind farm in the UK.

The village of Delabole came into existence in the 20th century; it is named after the Delabole Quarry. There were three hamlets: Pengelly, Medrose and Rockhead. When the railway arrived, the station was named Delabole after the quarry, and the three hamlets merged in order to keep the name consistent and prevent confusion.

Churches and school

The Anglican Church of St John was built ca. 1880 (architects Hine & Odgers) (the parish church is at St Teath). The Methodist Chapel is about 20 years earlier and has a curious 'Italianate' porch^[1]. There is a primary school (secondary education is provided at Sir James Smith's School, Camelford about three miles away).

Recreation

The village is now renowned for its annual carnival, one of the biggest in Cornwall. It was revived in 2001 after a break of nearly forty years. The week of events takes place in July each year.

The village has a King George V Playing Field and until the 1950s there was also a cinema: the Regal.^[2]

The Gaia Energy Centre at Delabole, opened in 2001 as a tourist attraction (on the site of Britain's first commercial windfarm). It cost £5m and was supposed to attract 150,000 visitors a year. It closed after three years of opening when it only achieved one tenth of the required visitor numbers. Most of the funding for the centre came from Europe, with £300,000 grants from Objective One and SWDRA, the South West Regional Development Agency.^[3]

Delabole slate quarry.

The quarry

The Delabole slate quarry is one of the largest of its type in England and has run continuously since the 15th century making it the oldest working slate quarry in England. In the reign of Elizabeth I the five quarries on the site of the now larger pit assumed considerable importance delivering slate to Brittany and the Netherlands. In 1841 the five quarries combined to make the Old Delabole Slate Quarry.

The Old Delabole Slate Quarry Ltd. was liquidated in 1977 by the company's bankers. It was run under receivership by Rio Tinto Zinc until 1999 when a local management team bought it out. The quarry is now owned by a local family. In 1910, 500 people were employed at the quarry but this has since reduced to 80, the decline due to the availability of cheaper roofing materials e.g. Welsh slate or prefabricated tiles.

Delabole Quarry was once the deepest man-made pit in the world, but this is no longer the case due to massive open cast mines and quarries in America and Australia.

See also

• HMS Vulture II (Treligga Aerodrome)

References

1. ^ Pevsner, N. (1970) Cornwall, 2nd ed. Penguin Books
2. ^ http://www.tintagelweb.co.uk/Regal%20Cinema%20Delabole.htm
3. ^ BBC news - September 2004 - Energy tourist attraction shuts

External links

• "About Delabole". http://www.thisisnorthcornwall.com/delabole.html. 
• "Delabole Slate Quarry". http://www.delaboleslate.co.uk/. 
• "Delabole Village Guide". http://www.delabole.org/. 
• "Delabole Village". http://www.delabole.com/. 
• "Delabole Carnival". http://www.delabolecarnival.co.uk/. 
• John T. F. Turner. "A Familiar Description of the Old Delabole Slate Quarries, 1865". http://cornovia.org.uk/htexts/turner01.html. 
• Cornwall Record Office. "Online Catalogue for Delabole". http://crocat.cornwall.gov.uk/dserve/dserve.exe?dsqIni=Dserve.ini&dsqApp=Archive&dsqDb=Catalog&dsqCmd=Overview.tcl&dsqSearch=((text)='delabole'). 
• "About Tregardock and Treligga". http://www.thisisnorthcornwall.com/tregardock.html/. 
• "Catherine Lorigan's Delabole, the Story of the Slate Quarry wins award". http://www.thisiscornwall.co.uk/news/article-240067-details/article.html. Retrieved 2009-04-30.